Iron & Wine – The Rooster Moans

Know something about this song or lyrics? Add it to our wiki.
Send "The Rooster Moans" Ringtone to Cell

Crack of dawn, the rooster moans
Wake up boy, you're far from home
Serpentine, the tracks in flames
Longest path the devil laid
Led you straight aboard this rusty train

Lift your head because you can't sleep
Bite your lip because you can't eat
Darkest den the devil made
Jesus weeps but he's been paid
Not to ride inside this rusty train

Buzzard's breath, the rooster moans
Stow it boy, you're far from home
Stow your sorrow, stow your fear
What did you do to end up here?
End up on the devil's rusty train

Send "The Rooster Moans" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by slickboot

Track duration: 03:25


The Rooster Moans song meanings
Add your thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • -1
    General Comment:This song is about purgatory, and the trip to hell.
    Flag fishmuffinon December 14, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Holocaust.

    The Nazis used trains to transport Jews from ghettos to concentration camps.

    Also, "Lift your head cause you cant sleep" ( forced to work) and "Bite your lip cause you cant eat" ( given minimal food)

    Stow it boy, you're far from home
    Stow your sorrow, stow your fear
    What did you do to end up here?
    - I feel like he is saying "what was your crime? why are you here?... you've done nothing to deserve this."
    Flag catty8264on October 02, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:kyle, you need to add the next line as a continuation of that thought: "Jesus weeps, but he's been paid, not to ride this dusty train"

    To me, the train is symbolic of a person or place that's inherently evil, or ill-willed. It has some type of connotation to me anyways of someone doing something terrible to a child, like abuse or exploitation. Something like that.
    Flag aopps42on December 11, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song is so chilling. The line "Jesus weeps, but he's been paid" is so sacreligious that it just creeps me out. At first I thought this was a literal song about a trip through the deep South.

    I love the imagery. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a real account or a big metaphor of doing something terribly wrong.
    Flag kyle171on July 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is beautifully menacing in the way John Tuturro's character from Secret Window got under my skin. It's seems to me to be about a boy's trip to the pits of despair where he'll spend the rest of eternity. It could be taken as a southern church hymnal, in that it gets you turn to away from the Devil. I don't know, but I find it to be a wonderful song.
    Flag OpinionHeadon August 13, 2005   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain