Tom Waits: Don't Go Into That Barn

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

Black cellophane sky at midnite
A big blue moon with three gold rings
I called Champion to the window
I pointed up above the trees
That's where I heard my name in a scream
Coming from the woods, out there
I let my dog run off the chain
I locked my door real good with a chair

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

Everett Lee broke loose again,
it's worse than the time before
Because he's high on potato and tulip wine
fermented in the muddy rain, of course

A drunken wail, a drunken train
blew through the birdless trees
Oh, you're alone alright
You're alone alright

How did I know
How did I know

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

An old black tree, scratching up the sky
with boney, claw like fingers
A rusty black rake
Digging up the turnips of a muddy cold grey sky

Shiny tooth talons
coiled for grabbing a stranger happening by
And the day went home early
and the sun sank down into the muck of a deep dead sky

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

Back since Saginaw Calinda was born,
it's been cotton and soyabeans, tobacco and corn
Behind the porticoed house of a long dead farm
they found the falling down timbers
of a spooky old barn

Out there like a slave ship upside down
Wrecked beneath the waves of grain
When the river is low
they find old bones and
when they plow they always dig up chains

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

Did you bury your fire?
Yes sir!
Did you cover your tracks?
Yes sir!
Did you bring your knife?
Yes sir!
Did they see your face?
No sir!
Did the moon see you?
No sir!
Did you go cross the river?
Yes sir!
Did you fix your rake?
Yes sir!
Did you stay down wind?
Yes sir!
Did you hide your gun?
Yes sir!
Did you smuggle your rum?
Yes sir!
I said: how did I know
How did I know
How did I know

Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea
Don't forget that I warned you
I said: don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
I said: don't go into that barn, yea

No shirt, no coat
Take me on a flat boat
Dover down to Covington
Covington to Louisville
Louisville to Henderson
Henderson to Smithland
Smithland to Memphis
Memphis down to Vicksburg
Vicksburg to Natchez
Going down to Natchez
Take me on a flat boat
Dover Dam to Covington
Covington to Louisville
Louisville to Henderson
Henderson to