How Deep Is The Red?

Lind: Is this is not a pretty tale? Is this not a riddle? A bow shoots arrows through the air A bow drags notes from a fiddle But who is the beau of poor girl’s dreams? That a king may send to battle Is this not a pretty tale? Is this not a riddle? If red is the breast of soldier’s tunic hung with a silver medal And red is the thorn that protects the rose, a deeper red than the petal How deep is the red our redeemer bled, the debt of our sins to settle? How deep is the red? How deep is the red? How deep is the red our redeemer bled? How deep is the red? Additional lyrics Intro from 2005 performances of The Secret Songs: Andersen: They said that Jenny too was once an ugly wretch And how her dress was torn and ragged Back when her life was brief and rugged She had no sense for fine perfume And still her eyes cast down as she walks through each gilded room You'll note her gowns are never hung with a string of pearls No one who sees her, plain and modest, senses the illegitimate girl Hidden within ... So, hark and hail "The Swedish Nightingale"

How Deep Is The Red? Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by T Bone Burnett Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, Gibson Century of Progress acoustic guitar T Bone Burnett - Kay 161 electric guitar Dennis Crouch - double bass Stuart Duncan - fiddle Jerry Douglas - dobro Mike Compton - mandolin Jim Lauderdale - background vocals Recorded March 31-April 2, 2008, Sound Emporium Studio, Nashville Released June 2, 2009 Albums Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, 2009 Background:  Written for Elvis' unfinished chamber opera The Secret Songs. First known performance:  October 8, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark - sung by Gisela Stille  October 15, 2005, Indianapolis, IN - sung by Elvis Costello Last known performance:  November 6, 2013, Troy, NY - performed solo      (18 known performances)

Covers

no known covers

Internal links

• Lyrics  •  Additional lyrics  •  Covers