I figured it was Johnny that started out by killing birds but eventually got bored and moved onward to more... challenging targets. The children may have stumbled on a child's grave, littered with birds as well- using the same place rather than finding a new place to bury his victim. The children asking where Johnny is- maybe they've noticed that they haven't seen him in a while, and now that they know what he's been up to, are afraid and saying that he can't be saved. However, they'll keep quiet about the grave because somewhere inside he's still the person they knew, and they don't want him to get angry and come after them instead.
In my head the other boys were killing the birds in secret, found Johnny by the cross were scared he would tell the grownups because he is strange, accidentally killed him and buried him together with the birds and a pact of silence.
Well at the end it sounds like Johnny is still alive, considering they talk about him in present tense. I think he tortured and then murdered the birds before burying them in their dark little grave. He’ll probably grow bored of such easy prey eventually…
Considering that nobody wanted anything to do with him when he was alive (Johnny was quiet and odd and grim, none of us do ever talk to him), and judging by the warnings surrounding the grave (the bloody cross and the line "what does not sleep but hides under the cross's keep?") and the fact that the grave bleeds and antagonizes a swarm of birds, my guess is that Quiet Johnny was a murderer who died not long after his foul deed(s) and this song is about a local superstition involving his grave. Not to mention "Quiet Johnny can't be saved" easily lends itself to the possibility that Johnny is in hell and therefore incapable of receiving any sort of spiritual salvation. But that's just my interpretation of what we have so far.
It also says the grave is "small and not too deep", suggesting a child's grave. I understand the comment about the birds to be a reference to them trying to get at either the flesh of the corpse as the boys (who made their hands spades) uncovered it, or maybe the blowflies that are escaping it. The blowflies would have laid their eggs in it, and those would have hatched new blowflies in a matter of weeks, so it's a new grave. Something about it had me thinking of Quiet Johnny as the victim of the boys. Puts me in mind of a SciFi story about a boy whose family move him to Venus. He can't stand the constant rain, so he talks about the sun. When it's time for the clouds to part, the other children shove him in a closet, only mourning their actions after it's too late. Though thinking on it, it says "none of us /do/ ever talk to him", not "none of us /did/ ever talk to him". He's quiet and odd and grim, Does the song support the notion of him being a child, and also not the occupant of the grave?
Could the teaser trailer for this song hold some clues? With a young boy setting traps to catch birds out in the woods. It sounds like the local children discovered the small shallow grave while playing in the woods. The boys dug up the grave curious of what they would find, while the girls looked on in shock and horror. If the boys where wearing Regency skeleton suits that means they are young boys. Could Johnny be a young boy on the path to becoming a murderer? Psychopaths do have a tendency to torture animals, killings birds he captures with his traps. But feeling guilt for what he has done, makes little graves for them. Or he could have just made the grave so he knows where to bury all of his bird victims (It sounds like he has quite a few different species of birds in the mass grave).
Zombie thread here I know but I get the impression that Johnny is the murderer though in this song it looks like all he's done so far is kill animals. Some are saying that it is Johnny who is murdered but the last lines of the song suggest that they continue not to talk to him so he must still be alive, I figure.
I think it is interesting how the drumming in the background increase as the song progresses - started with 1 beat and then going to 2. The drumming also mimics a rushing heartbeat if you listen to it close enough, an interesting touch since this song talks about death and a grave.
For anybody looking for another rather intriguing song with an incredibly catchy tune with a dark and twisted story attached to it, I suggest listening to "july" by this band.
Lyrics for people like me who like to read along in the comments: Out in the wood Where the children play The children play The children play Out in the wood Where the children play The cock crows every morning All of the boys In their skeleton suits Had gathered round A mound of roots Muddy the cross As black as their boots Planted and bloodied and warning Pale little bonnets They tried to peek They tried to peek They tried to peek Pale little bonnets They tried to peek The cock crows every morning Tell us, o brothers What does not sleep But hides under The cross's keep? Small is the grave And none too deep Who are we, brothers, here mourning? Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny can't be saved Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny, quiet grave Each of the boys Made his hand a spade His hand a spade His hand a spade Each of the boys Made his hand a spade The cock crows every morning They fell in a heap To claw the mud That dyed their knees And sleeves in rud Shovelled until The ground bore blood With all the blowflies swarming Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny can't be saved Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny, quiet grave Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny can't be saved Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny, quiet grave Poked at the grave 'Til it bared its bones It bared it's bones It bared it's bones Poked at the grave 'Til it bared its bones The cock crows every morning Finches and meadowlark Fowl and wren With twisted beaks And eyes of tin Feathers as red As an Indian's skin Savage and painted and warring Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny can't be saved Where, o where is quiet Johnny? Quiet Johnny, quiet grave Johnny was quiet And odd and grim And odd and grim And odd and grim None of us do Ever talk to him The cock crows every morning
So I know for sure that Johnny kills birds but does the song ever specify that he’s murdered people? It’s a dark song but if he’s only murdered animals that’s not the same thing as Unwed Henry or Pretty Lavinia, can Johnny even be considered a murderer?
My interpretation is that johnny is a quiet andstrange kid who scares the other kids and who has been torturing and killing birds. The other kids find the mass grave of johnny's bird victims.I don't think he has killed a person yet , but even the other kids know that something is wrong with johnny and he can't be saved. He will assuredly have a human victim someday, probably sooner rather the. Later.
The majority of nursery rhymes were done with the same notes, catchy but easy. I haven't note watched this cause I'm too tired but I'm sure it'll follow the same logic. hell nearly every pop song in existence follows it.
I think the intention of each song is to take the listener into the story and the time period of the story. (Hence all the sound effects and vocal tones, etc. that really bring each song to life). And people back then would talk/think like that. It's a reflection of the time the characters lived in to make it more authentic to the listeners
@@reyiify3906 Well, yeah, but it was still produced in modern times. There are plenty of rhymes that could have fit the same scheme that wouldn't be racist, they totally made that a conscious choice.
@@TheAsterik So? If a song is meant to convey a time period, stands to reason they'd use time appropriate language. In the play Assassins, the actor who plays Booth drops the N bomb, hard R. Language is racist when used with ill intent.
My mother always thought I'd be a little Quiet Johnny. Hurting small animals before moving on to bigger targets.... No, Ma, I just sing about a little boy mutilating and burying birds while I do chores! 🤣
is no one else bothered by “feathers as red as an indian’s skin, savage and painted and warring”? i mean, i like this song, but . . . that line feels Not Great.
Not sure if this makes it better, but this song is supposed to take place in early american history. Like REALLY early. Like pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower early. (Not that early for people who have a country older than 250 odd years but whatever) And saying something like that would have been more than okay in that time period. Heck, they almost encouraged it.
@@ceciliasobo281 I think it gives the song a more realistic vibe to it. When I first heard it from a warrior cat oc animatic (which is fantastic I recommend seeing it) I thought it was a cover of an actual nursery rhyme or a song from the pilgrim era
I'm in the same boat. I get the line was put in because it's from the perspective of colonial settlers and they were obviously racist but it still feels icky. Especially now, a year later in 2021, with all the bodies being found in residential schools right now. :/
The way the song is set up the only time you ever hear the name Johnny is during the course and at the very end where it says Johnny is very quiet and Grim and nobody ever talks to him but throughout the entire song it sounds like they're talking about a body that they found a childs body haphazardly buried in the woods the automatically assume Johnny is the one who did it because he's quiet and Grimm
I know it been like 5 years, however. A groups of kids (they specifically mention skeleton suits, boys. And bonnets, girls) come across a makeshift cross and freshly dug soil. The boys curious of who or what was buried start to dig it up until blood starts to come up from the dirt and blowflies (who are the first insects to find dead-bodies swarm) realizing the grace is full of birds and other small animals along with the dead child the group immediately know who did it, the quiet, odd and grim Johnny. So the group ask where is Johnny, he can’t be saved from his sins. But they also know that they must not let it be known they know about what he did so “quiet Johnny, quiet grave” could be seen as “don’t talk about Johnny killing people or that we found a grave” with the ending being none of the other kids talking to Johnny in a way to stay safe.
Thanks to the trailer for the song and his appearance in other music videos Johnny is the murderer, which follows the naming convention of Mary and Edward where the titles character us the killer wether on purpose (Edward) or by accident (Mary).
Is this song about like, colonial Americans? Colonial Americans tended to be extremely cruel to indigenous people, so perhaps Johnny was killed by a native, as like a retribution killing, and this song is about them finding his remains after he was killed? Perhaps Johnny killed natives himself, and the killing was justified? Or maybe he was a child, that did in fact happen during the native colonial genocide , natives would kill white settlers because, obviously, white settlers were incredibly violent to them, genocidal even. That’s all I can think as a history nerd, and the reason the racist part of this song exists 😭 otherwise I can’t really tell what this songs about. Racism aside, the song is pretty good. I find myself humming to it at work.
This my view of the song Johnny kills the birds and kids who play in the woods find out what happened freak them fuck out as they should , but here the kicker they are saying where oh where is quit Johnny he obviously dead I think he was killed by an adult maybe a priest who killed Him
I figured it was Johnny that started out by killing birds but eventually got bored and moved onward to more... challenging targets. The children may have stumbled on a child's grave, littered with birds as well- using the same place rather than finding a new place to bury his victim. The children asking where Johnny is- maybe they've noticed that they haven't seen him in a while, and now that they know what he's been up to, are afraid and saying that he can't be saved. However, they'll keep quiet about the grave because somewhere inside he's still the person they knew, and they don't want him to get angry and come after them instead.
and I was thinking that is just a story about funeral and Quiet Johny can't be saved because he is dead :D
This makes sense
Wow
THX for the info
I had no clue what it meant
In my head the other boys were killing the birds in secret, found Johnny by the cross were scared he would tell the grownups because he is strange, accidentally killed him and buried him together with the birds and a pact of silence.
But then again kids are always terrifying and up to something in my head.
I had something completely different in my head but holy shit do I like your version more
Well at the end it sounds like Johnny is still alive, considering they talk about him in present tense. I think he tortured and then murdered the birds before burying them in their dark little grave.
He’ll probably grow bored of such easy prey eventually…
Still confused as to whether Johnny is the murderer or the victim here. Still, nice to have the lyrics aside from the chorus and repeating bits.
Considering that nobody wanted anything to do with him when he was alive (Johnny was quiet and odd and grim, none of us do ever talk to him), and judging by the warnings surrounding the grave (the bloody cross and the line "what does not sleep but hides under the cross's keep?") and the fact that the grave bleeds and antagonizes a swarm of birds, my guess is that Quiet Johnny was a murderer who died not long after his foul deed(s) and this song is about a local superstition involving his grave. Not to mention "Quiet Johnny can't be saved" easily lends itself to the possibility that Johnny is in hell and therefore incapable of receiving any sort of spiritual salvation. But that's just my interpretation of what we have so far.
It also says the grave is "small and not too deep", suggesting a child's grave. I understand the comment about the birds to be a reference to them trying to get at either the flesh of the corpse as the boys (who made their hands spades) uncovered it, or maybe the blowflies that are escaping it. The blowflies would have laid their eggs in it, and those would have hatched new blowflies in a matter of weeks, so it's a new grave. Something about it had me thinking of Quiet Johnny as the victim of the boys. Puts me in mind of a SciFi story about a boy whose family move him to Venus. He can't stand the constant rain, so he talks about the sun. When it's time for the clouds to part, the other children shove him in a closet, only mourning their actions after it's too late.
Though thinking on it, it says "none of us /do/ ever talk to him", not "none of us /did/ ever talk to him". He's quiet and odd and grim, Does the song support the notion of him being a child, and also not the occupant of the grave?
Could the teaser trailer for this song hold some clues? With a young boy setting traps to catch birds out in the woods.
It sounds like the local children discovered the small shallow grave while playing in the woods. The boys dug up the grave curious of what they would find, while the girls looked on in shock and horror. If the boys where wearing Regency skeleton suits that means they are young boys.
Could Johnny be a young boy on the path to becoming a murderer? Psychopaths do have a tendency to torture animals, killings birds he captures with his traps. But feeling guilt for what he has done, makes little graves for them. Or he could have just made the grave so he knows where to bury all of his bird victims (It sounds like he has quite a few different species of birds in the mass grave).
+Anthony Deming Johnny is portrayed by a child called Frank Karpe, it seems, for Pretty Lavinia.
Zombie thread here I know but I get the impression that Johnny is the murderer though in this song it looks like all he's done so far is kill animals. Some are saying that it is Johnny who is murdered but the last lines of the song suggest that they continue not to talk to him so he must still be alive, I figure.
I just found American Murder Song thanks to the lovely Daria Cohen, and this is definitely my favorite so far
Jayla same! :D my favorite is pretty Lavinia
Same!!!!!!
I came for the Graverobber...
I think it is interesting how the drumming in the background increase as the song progresses - started with 1 beat and then going to 2. The drumming also mimics a rushing heartbeat if you listen to it close enough, an interesting touch since this song talks about death and a grave.
This is so creepy but the music is so good! Very catchy like a dark nursery rhyme!
Mary Helsing most nursery rhymes are really messed up, this is just more blunt about it XD
Found this from a Warrior Cats OC Animatic.
I love it.
Me too
Same ^^
Mudpaw?
We all love Mudpaw
Same here!
There is something so offsetting but so calming about this song.
bless you boys.
the need to sing with this song is strong, and now i properly can.
For anybody looking for another rather intriguing song with an incredibly catchy tune with a dark and twisted story attached to it, I suggest listening to "july" by this band.
Lyrics for people like me who like to read along in the comments:
Out in the wood
Where the children play
The children play
The children play
Out in the wood
Where the children play
The cock crows every morning
All of the boys
In their skeleton suits
Had gathered round
A mound of roots
Muddy the cross
As black as their boots
Planted and bloodied and warning
Pale little bonnets
They tried to peek
They tried to peek
They tried to peek
Pale little bonnets
They tried to peek
The cock crows every morning
Tell us, o brothers
What does not sleep
But hides under
The cross's keep?
Small is the grave
And none too deep
Who are we, brothers, here mourning?
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny can't be saved
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny, quiet grave
Each of the boys
Made his hand a spade
His hand a spade
His hand a spade
Each of the boys
Made his hand a spade
The cock crows every morning
They fell in a heap
To claw the mud
That dyed their knees
And sleeves in rud
Shovelled until
The ground bore blood
With all the blowflies swarming
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny can't be saved
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny, quiet grave
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny can't be saved
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny, quiet grave
Poked at the grave
'Til it bared its bones
It bared it's bones
It bared it's bones
Poked at the grave
'Til it bared its bones
The cock crows every morning
Finches and meadowlark
Fowl and wren
With twisted beaks
And eyes of tin
Feathers as red
As an Indian's skin
Savage and painted and warring
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny can't be saved
Where, o where is quiet Johnny?
Quiet Johnny, quiet grave
Johnny was quiet
And odd and grim
And odd and grim
And odd and grim
None of us do
Ever talk to him
The cock crows every morning
What an oddly useless comment.
@@not_the_useless_cake856Or maybe other folk want to sing alone.
Omg, I loved this band!
Your work is amazing!
Hello from Brazil ^^
Haruka Miyasaki Hiiii
I found this because of daria cohen
ELEANA JEENER500 DARIA SQUAD HAS ROLLED UP!!! ( or stumbled up to the place)
DARIA SQUAD HEHEHE
Haha same :D
same :))
Same
So I know for sure that Johnny kills birds but does the song ever specify that he’s murdered people? It’s a dark song but if he’s only murdered animals that’s not the same thing as Unwed Henry or Pretty Lavinia, can Johnny even be considered a murderer?
The beginning aske 'Who are we mourning' not what. Also birds back then wouldn't be buried under a cross. people would.
My interpretation is that johnny is a quiet andstrange kid who scares the other kids and who has been torturing and killing birds. The other kids find the mass grave of johnny's bird victims.I don't think he has killed a person yet , but even the other kids know that something is wrong with johnny and he can't be saved. He will assuredly have a human victim someday, probably sooner rather the. Later.
I could swear I have heard that melody somewhere before, is it inspired by a particular traditional song?
The majority of nursery rhymes were done with the same notes, catchy but easy. I haven't note watched this cause I'm too tired but I'm sure it'll follow the same logic.
hell nearly every pop song in existence follows it.
Tfw you're listening to a song you really enjoy and out of nowhere you're slapped by racism
RIGHT??? so uncalled for like damn 😭
I think the intention of each song is to take the listener into the story and the time period of the story. (Hence all the sound effects and vocal tones, etc. that really bring each song to life). And people back then would talk/think like that. It's a reflection of the time the characters lived in to make it more authentic to the listeners
@@reyiify3906 Well, yeah, but it was still produced in modern times. There are plenty of rhymes that could have fit the same scheme that wouldn't be racist, they totally made that a conscious choice.
@@TheAsterik So? If a song is meant to convey a time period, stands to reason they'd use time appropriate language. In the play Assassins, the actor who plays Booth drops the N bomb, hard R. Language is racist when used with ill intent.
@@TheAsterik yes, a conscious choice because the song reflects time and opinions back then. chill out lmao.
Same and now I'm a fan of a lot of AMS music
This song made my imagine Saar in a Skeleton suit because of that line, thanks Terrance
everybody gansta until the quiet kid starts killing birds
My mother always thought I'd be a little Quiet Johnny. Hurting small animals before moving on to bigger targets....
No, Ma, I just sing about a little boy mutilating and burying birds while I do chores! 🤣
Eh good enough to my search *Johny johny yes papa murder*
This is amazing xD
I know where Johnny is! He's out there being bitten by snakes! (Who else gets that joke? Anyone?)
I see what you did there 7u7
Ayyyy
creature feature! :D
Blazer the Delphox ayyy I get you
Creature Feature! Yet another dark and amazing series of songs focusing on death, much like these.
This song actually reminds me a bit of The Scarecrow. I can't be the only one.
BlackSun dc?
@@redrasegarden yes
BlackSun thought so
Gyro wouldn't be proud of you for this, Johnny
@ALEXANDRA METZERI MANZANO - TAIZAN He can't! He can't run!
This whole time I thought it was Pirate Johnny not quiet Johnny
is no one else bothered by “feathers as red as an indian’s skin, savage and painted and warring”?
i mean, i like this song, but . . . that line feels Not Great.
Not sure if this makes it better, but this song is supposed to take place in early american history. Like REALLY early. Like pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower early. (Not that early for people who have a country older than 250 odd years but whatever) And saying something like that would have been more than okay in that time period. Heck, they almost encouraged it.
yeahhhh it's a v good song & I understand that it's supposed to take place in the 19th century but it still feels :/
@@ceciliasobo281 I think it gives the song a more realistic vibe to it. When I first heard it from a warrior cat oc animatic (which is fantastic I recommend seeing it) I thought it was a cover of an actual nursery rhyme or a song from the pilgrim era
I'm in the same boat. I get the line was put in because it's from the perspective of colonial settlers and they were obviously racist but it still feels icky. Especially now, a year later in 2021, with all the bodies being found in residential schools right now. :/
@@jasonmydreams18It’s been two years and so… where’s the bodies? Would love to know.
please explain the song
Kuri Look through the comment section
It's crow murder
and child murder
Am I the only one who notices the jig tempo in this song? Sounds like an Irish reel or jig…
Kid heard this song and came running saying "JOHNNY JOHNNY EATING SUGAR!?"
if thay made some ads on youtube thay would become famus, cause there music is really catchy and spaciel
The way the song is set up the only time you ever hear the name Johnny is during the course and at the very end where it says Johnny is very quiet and Grim and nobody ever talks to him but throughout the entire song it sounds like they're talking about a body that they found a childs body haphazardly buried in the woods the automatically assume Johnny is the one who did it because he's quiet and Grimm
"Out in the wood where the children play, the WUT grows???"
Now I see that what I heard really is what it is XD
WillowRustle64 It says crows and cock is referring to a rooster here.
Spawn of Death Pfft sorry I was just having that moment of fifth grader level humor.
I had to look twice as well. I was like dafuq?
XD
I just thought you had actually misheard/misread it.
Can someone explain the song please im getting hints but im afraid im wrong
I know it been like 5 years, however. A groups of kids (they specifically mention skeleton suits, boys. And bonnets, girls) come across a makeshift cross and freshly dug soil. The boys curious of who or what was buried start to dig it up until blood starts to come up from the dirt and blowflies (who are the first insects to find dead-bodies swarm) realizing the grace is full of birds and other small animals along with the dead child the group immediately know who did it, the quiet, odd and grim Johnny. So the group ask where is Johnny, he can’t be saved from his sins. But they also know that they must not let it be known they know about what he did so “quiet Johnny, quiet grave” could be seen as “don’t talk about Johnny killing people or that we found a grave” with the ending being none of the other kids talking to Johnny in a way to stay safe.
.....im confused
Quiet Johnny has gone from killing birds to killing a child, and they've found the corpse of his first human victim.
Wait, could it be that Johnny is in the grave?
Thanks to the trailer for the song and his appearance in other music videos Johnny is the murderer, which follows the naming convention of Mary and Edward where the titles character us the killer wether on purpose (Edward) or by accident (Mary).
@@TheNoble117 Oh! So this is a whole continutity! I appreciate it, thanks!
Oh wheres johnny
He lives at the house 777
Only some will get the reference
Johnny Joestar?
@@mr.bluependant1871 no sorry...its a jthm reference
Same
Jack merridew and Simon dynamic.
American horror story version soundtrack.
Found this because of Daria Cohen
Is this song about like, colonial Americans? Colonial Americans tended to be extremely cruel to indigenous people, so perhaps Johnny was killed by a native, as like a retribution killing, and this song is about them finding his remains after he was killed? Perhaps Johnny killed natives himself, and the killing was justified? Or maybe he was a child, that did in fact happen during the native colonial genocide , natives would kill white settlers because, obviously, white settlers were incredibly violent to them, genocidal even.
That’s all I can think as a history nerd, and the reason the racist part of this song exists 😭 otherwise I can’t really tell what this songs about. Racism aside, the song is pretty good. I find myself humming to it at work.
johnny johnny yes papa
This my view of the song Johnny kills the birds and kids who play in the woods find out what happened freak them fuck out as they should , but here the kicker they are saying where oh where is quit Johnny he obviously dead I think he was killed by an adult maybe a priest who killed Him
Que estranho kk
o my god so so scawy 😢😢