And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
Talking Heads, "Once In A Lifetime"
A shotgun house (or shotgun shack) is a building (usually residential) where every room is aligned in a single linear pattern, as opposed to the more common setup where rooms are scattered in some sort of rectangular pattern.
SHOTGUN NORMAL
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Shotgun houses first gained popularity on the frontier, where lots were often longer in one direction than the other and required more intelligently built and spaced housing. There's no real etymology to the term, though it likely derives from the "straight shot" appearance of the building. (Perhaps this arrangement was also ideal for barricading yourself inside against a wayward Apache attack!) Soon they littered the new West, although urbanization led them into decay in the 20th century. Elvis Presley was famously born in a shotgun house built by his father's own hands.
Shotgun houses are typically more economical than other accommodations, and many starter homes are designed in this manner. In recent years, the shotgun house has evolved into the trailer home motif, bringing with it the common "trailer trash" stereotype that accompanies such places of living. Still, a shotgun house is an excellent place of living for those on a budget who still enjoy the comforts of a home over an apartment. (avalyn reports shotgun houses are still prominent throughout The Big Easy, but have been redecorated into a more festive - read: garish - and tightly cramped cavalcade of skinny long buildings.)
Now you know what David Byrne was talking about. Sort of.