A Murder Of One by Counting Crows

Album: August And Everything After (1993)

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This song contains the band's namesake in the lyrics and reveals the origin. The lyric is:

I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow
Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there
Counting crows
One for Sorrow
Two for Joy

This is a reference to a Mother Goose rhyme which came from an old superstition. It was said that your fortune was dependent upon how many blackbirds you see on your path. This practice was eventually looked upon as silly, as there is another common saying that an action can be "As useless as counting crows." >>>
Suggestion credit:
Alden - College Park, MD
There's a bit of wordplay going on here: a group of crows (counting or otherwise) is called a murder. Really.
The song is part of the first Counting Crows album, August And Everything After. Produced by T Bone Burnett, it was huge, selling over 7 million copies in America thanks to the hits "Mr. Jones" and "Round Here."
"A Murder Of One" is used in the 2004 episode of Scrubs, "My Porcelain God." It also appears at the end of the 2024 "Apologies" episode of The Bear.

Comments: 5

A Wee Birdie from Communist CanadaFantastic song. Got to wonder if something interesting happened during the writing. A crow is of course a representation of the powers of darkness. The song feels like it's written from the point of view of The Holy Spirt ( another bird of a different feather - A dove ). I'm not the first to notice.
Tricia from Stafford, VaAt a concert back in 95 Adam actually said that he wrote this song for his sister :)
April from Nashville, TnOn A&E's "Breakfest with the Arts" Adam claimed to be very good friends with Mary Louise-Parker, who was in a small movie in which she says something to the effect of "Are you just going to stand here counting crows?" So that is where he drew inspiration for the name.
Rainking from Chicago, IlQuite an amazing song. Live versions are best. It's not mainly about Adam. It's about that other girl in a relationship he sees as flawed. He seems to genuinely think so, although it could come across as a jealous attack on her boyfriend. My favorite version is when Adam pleads "Don't waste your life, the way I waste my life." To me, he's begging his love to break free of the abusive relationship she's in, which almost mirrors the abusive obsession he has with her. At it's heart, it's about how sad he's become and how much he wants her to change. He's useless and alone without the girl he loves, but only from afar.
Larry from Chicago, Il"A Murder of One" is basically a description of unity amongst a Murder (flock) of Crows.

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