“Red, Red and Black” lyrics and music by Marc Gunn, February 22, 2009

Performed by Marc Gunn
From Happy Songs of Death

Red, red and black
Your Father's lying on his back
Dining with his friends in Paradise.
Run, run, run,
Or the Devil will take your son.
Your brother's family got it twice.

Red, red and black
Take a whip to you back
Purge all the sins from your soul
Jump up and down
Drive the Devil out of town
Fire burns away the blackened coal.

Red, red and black
Now you're lying on your back
Eyes on your Father in Paradise
Burn, burn, burn,
Well, I guess it is your turn.
At least, Death won't visit you twice.

Chords: KEY C

[C]Red, red and black
Your Father's [G]lying on his back
[F]Dining with his friends in Para-[G]dise.
[C]Run, run, run,
Or the [G]Devil will take your son.
Your [F]brother's fami-[G]ly got it [C]twice.

Background

Years ago, I heard an Italian song called “La Pulce de L'Acqua”. I thought it was about the Black Death. I thought that was a great idea for song. I mentioned it to my former Brobdingnagian Bards music partner Andrew McKee, and the idea of a CD called Happy Songs of Death was born. I would've put that song on the CD except I mistranslated the song. It wasn't about the Black Death at all. So I decided to write one based on an old quote I read from a priest in Florence who said “he'll be dining with his father in Heaven”. Add a little inspiration from the book Pillars of the Earth and I came up with this catchy little song for Happy Songs of Death.

There's a Tribute to Michael Younger, to whom the album was dedicated, on show #48 of the Pub Songs Podcast. Show #170 features the album in its entirety.

Red, Red and Black Videos

from Happy Songs of Death CD

from Pub Songs Podcast live video

Podcasts

as featured in the Pub Songs Podcast