The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Plugged sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
And the Black Crow snuck through a hole in the sky
So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule
And I made me a ladder from a pawnshop marimba
And I leaned up against a dandelion tree
Leaned up against a dandelion tree
Leaned up against a dandelion tree
I'm gonna cook them feathers on a tiny spit
And I filled me a sachel full of old pig corn
And I beat me a billy from an old French horn
And I kicked that mule to the top of the tree
Kicked that mule to the top of the tree
Blew me a hole 'bout the size of a kickdrum
And I cut me a switch from a long branch elbow
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Well, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed
And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three
Well, you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
With the strings of a Washburn stretched like a clothesline
Oh, you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Now I hold him prisoner in a Washburn jail
That I strapped on the back of my old kick mule
Strapped him on the back of my old kick mule
Bang on the strings just to drive him crazy
Oh, I strum it loud to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Oh, I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
And the Black Crow snuck through a hole in the sky
So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule
And I made me a ladder from a pawnshop marimba
And I leaned up against a dandelion tree
Leaned up against a dandelion tree
Leaned up against a dandelion tree
I'm gonna cook them feathers on a tiny spit
And I filled me a sachel full of old pig corn
And I beat me a billy from an old French horn
And I kicked that mule to the top of the tree
Kicked that mule to the top of the tree
Blew me a hole 'bout the size of a kickdrum
And I cut me a switch from a long branch elbow
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Well, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed
And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three
Well, you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
With the strings of a Washburn stretched like a clothesline
Oh, you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Now I hold him prisoner in a Washburn jail
That I strapped on the back of my old kick mule
Strapped him on the back of my old kick mule
Bang on the strings just to drive him crazy
Oh, I strum it loud to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Oh, I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
16 Shells From A 30.6 Lyrics as written by Thomas A. Waits
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC, Capitol CMG Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Sounds way too complicated to me DollarShort. Song is about missing a crow after shooting at it 16 times. He gets mad, chases it, gets it, stuffs it in his guitar, and pisses it off later to amuse himself.
Old mate seems to be a little mad and insane. Going with the general theme of the album, I think this is about an ex soldier a little messed up after returning home from war. I agree- a rocking song! Love the bridge school benefit version
I get the impression the song is told from the perspective of a desperate, dedicated lawman, obsessed with capturing some notorious criminal who always seems to evade him. The lawman has been on the trail a long time, and the longer it takes, the more his hatred of the object of his pursuit grows. Great song.
I could be completely wrong, but this is how I interpret the song.
A crow means many things in different cultures but one I am familiar with is that it brings a sense of foreboding, something bad is going to happen. So I take it that the crow is actually symbolism, he knows something is about to go down. With all the references to guitars I imagine that is really what the "16 shells from a thirty-ought-six" is referring to. Imagine carrying a rifle and holding a guitar. I think that what is really going on is something along the lines of the "Crossroads", selling your soul to be able to play. The more he gets into it the deeper he gets, and the crow is his sign that something is going on but instead of preventing it or doing something to change it he just traps this feeling in what he plays. The "whittle into kindlin" is using the impending eruption to fuel his music. Its torture when he hears what he plays, hence the "banging on the strings just to drive him crazy", and trapping this crow in the guitar, in what he creates musically. I could be completely off the mark, but that is how I take the song, and I love a song that can be listened to by a thousand different people and be taken a thousand different ways.
SUCH a rocking song.
At first I was thinking wtf.Now I think this song is either about learning guitar or how to make music.The crow being the devil, a muse, or the ego he has to capture it. The 30 ought 6 might be a guitar and the knuckles of the skinnybone tree are the frets. When he finally catches it he keeps it prisoner in a Washburn jail and bangs on the strings just to drive him crazy and strums it loud just to rattle his cage.
I like the interpretation of DollarShort. Tom Waits songs seem to be a little deeper than the face value of the lyrics.
I don't think there's anything wrong with interpreting lyrics at face value. If the interpretation works it works, whether it's "deep" or not. For example, see the lyrics to Chocolate Jesus. They're very simple without much further meaning behind them than what's said in the song aside from some very clever metaphors.
At first I was thinking wtf.Now I think this song is either about learning guitar or how to make music.The crow being the devil, a muse, or the ego he has to capture it. The 30 ought 6 might be a guitar and the knuckles of the skinnybone tree are the frets. When he finally catches it he keeps it prisoner in a Washburn jail and bangs on the strings just to drive him crazy and strums it loud just to rattle his cage.
cool interpretation i think its my favourite the washburn jail could be a washburn guitar
@Stevenp68 giant-impact hypothesis
This is a song about a kind of dreamland character who is tormented by a crow that has appeared from a hole in the sky. He becomes obsessed with capturing it so spends all his money on a pack mule, builds a ladder and makes the mule climb up to the top of a tree. He uses the strings from his guitar to climb up to the hole where he catches the crow. Now he holds the crow prisoner in the Washburn (guitar) and rides off with it strapped to the back of the mule. He likes to bang on the strings & "strum it out loud" so he can now be the one who torments the crow.
I always thought that the crow was the singer's impending death, that he chased down in the netherworld he entered through the hole, exhausted the crow by shooting at him, then imprisoned the crow in the guitar, and now enjoys his new-found immortality by torturing Death (as we are all tortured by the thought of our demise) by strumming the guitar-prison.
I always imagined this taking place around turn of the century (aside from the 'buckets from a red corvette' line) and the last scene would be the singer in the modern world with old fashioned clothes on strumming his guitar with a big grin.
I'll meet you guys by the knuckles of the skinny bone tree.