Early in the movie Raising Arizona (1987), after Hi (Nicholas Cage) and Edwina (Holly Hunter) have kidnapped Nathan Jr., Edwina is heard singing a song to the baby. If you listen carefully, you will notice that it is not a happy lullaby but a song about murder. What is the song?
The song has a long history and was not original to the film. It is called “Down in the Willow Garden,” although it is sometimes entitled after the murder victim, “Rose Connelly.”
“Down in the Willow Garden”
“Down in the Willow Garden” is a traditional Appalachian murder ballad, about a man who kills a woman named Rose Connelly. Much is ambiguous about the song, but it appears she was pregnant. And the singer tells us he killed her because his father offered to pay him.
My father he had told me,
His money would set me free,
If I would poison that dear little girl,
Whose name was Rose Connelly.
And so, the singer “drew a sabre through her” (and apparently poisoned her too). He then throws her body in the river and runs. But then he tells us what happened to him, with the twist that his father now must watch his son be hanged.
My father weeps at his cabin door,
Wipin’ his tear dimmed eyes;
For soon his only son shall hang
From yonder scaffold high.
My race is run beneath the sun,
My sentence is waiting for me,
For I did poison that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly.
We hear Holly Hunter sing that last verse to the baby Nathan Jr. in Raising Arizona. At the time, Hi has just awakened from a nightmare about the crime he and his wife just committed.
There is a bit of dark humor there in the movie scene: The kidnapper is singing about another crime and about the perpetrator being caught and punished.
Although it may seem odd to sing about a murder to a baby, it is not that unusual for murder ballads to be used this way. And a lot of songs we sing to children have dark undertones that only we as adults appreciate. I often sing “Goodnight Irene” to my newborn, but once you leave the chorus, the song is about a man losing his wife and contemplating suicide. I know others who sing “You Are My Sunshine” to their children. But again, once you leave the chorus, you realize the song is about a woman leaving the singer.
Here, in Raising Arizona, there is something sweet about Hunter singing the song. Its tune is comforting to the baby even as the words speak of something darker. The baby, who only hears the music, is reassured, while the lyrics reflect on the lingering guilt hanging over the adults.
Versions of “Down in the Willow Garden”
Early recorded versions of “Down in the Willow Garden” go back to the 1920s. And the song’s origins most likely go back through Appalachia to Ireland in the 1800s. The tune accompanying the lyrics reportedly come from the song “Old Rosin the Beau.”
In more modern times, the song has been recorded by Flatt and Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Jerry Garcia, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Art Garfunkel, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Chapin Sisters. Bringing it back the Coen Brothers’ movie Raising Arizona, Bon Iver and The Chieftains recorded a version used to close one of the episodes of the second season of The Coen Brothers’ inspired Fargo TV series.
One of the most famous groups to record the song was The Everly Brothers. They included the song on their 1958 album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us.
More recently, on an album of songs in tribute to The Everly Brothers, Billie Joe Armstrong (of Green Day) and Norah Jones recorded their harmonious version of “Down in the Willow Garden.” Their version appeared on Foreverly (2013), which they recorded as Billie +Norah.
The timeless song continues to live through these modern recordings. And, as noted above, it has also appeared in movies and TV shows, including recently at the end credits of the HBO show Sharp Objects.
Why is “Down in the Willow Garden” so timeless? We do not know if there was a real Rose Connelly, but the story rings true. It reminds us of the stupidity, foolishness, and cruelty of humans. Something we are reminded of all too often. But it also finds some beauty in the way we do not let the tale be forgetten.
And that is the Story Behind the Song.
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