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Big Black Mariah Lyrics
Well cutting through the cane break, rattling the sill
Thunder that the rain makes when the shadow tops the hill
Big light on the back street, hill to ever more
Packing down the ladder with the hammer to the floor
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, I seen the big black Ford
Well he's all boxed up on a red belle dame
Hunted Black Johnny with a blind man's cane
A yellow bullet with a rag out in the wind
An old blind tiger, got an old bell Jim
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford
Sent to the skies on a Benny Jag Blue
Off to bed without his supper like a Linda brides do
He got to do the story with the old widow Jones
Got a wooden coat, this boy is never coming home
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, I seen that big black Ford
Cut through the canebrake, oh yeah
Well he's all boxed up on a red belle dame
Flat Blue Johnny with a blind man's cane
A hundred yellow bullets shook a rag out in the wind
An old blind tiger, on a bell you win
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford
Thunder that the rain makes when the shadow tops the hill
Big light on the back street, hill to ever more
Packing down the ladder with the hammer to the floor
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, I seen the big black Ford
Hunted Black Johnny with a blind man's cane
A yellow bullet with a rag out in the wind
An old blind tiger, got an old bell Jim
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford
Off to bed without his supper like a Linda brides do
He got to do the story with the old widow Jones
Got a wooden coat, this boy is never coming home
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, I seen that big black Ford
Cut through the canebrake, oh yeah
Flat Blue Johnny with a blind man's cane
A hundred yellow bullets shook a rag out in the wind
An old blind tiger, on a bell you win
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah
Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford
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It's a paddy wagon - what we would call the police van, rather than the car.
Man's on the run - "cut through the cane break". He's got a lot of serious charges against him, and he's going away for a while when they get him: "Got a wooden coat, this boy is never coming home".
i thought it was about a cop car...cop cars are usually fords, however, hearses are NOT fords...
When I was a kid (in England), police cars were always called Black Mariahs. Which confused me, as they were always pale blue & white back then. Anyone got any ideas about the rest of it? I know a wooden coat is a coffin & would guess that "Benny Jag Blue" is a drug reference, but beyond that I'm stumped. How the hell does Tom Waits write these fantastic, evocative songs & nobody knows what they mean?
a "black Mariah" is not a hearse or a cop car .... well, technically, I suppose it could be called a cop car, but specifically, it's a paddy wagon - usually a truck used to transport prisoners.
a "black Mariah" is not a hearse or a cop car .... well, technically, I suppose it could be called a cop car, but specifically, it's a paddy wagon - usually a truck used to transport prisoners.
Black Mariah is a cop car in England and some other places. It's rumoured to have been named after a particularly fearsome black woman who the police would call for help with difficult prisoners.
Black Mariah is a cop car in England and some other places. It's rumoured to have been named after a particularly fearsome black woman who the police would call for help with difficult prisoners.
Also I think the Ford car company makes cars too, including cop cars so it all fits.
Also I think the Ford car company makes cars too, including cop cars so it all fits.
From the "Black Maria" wikipedia page
Black Maria may refer to:
Black Maria, a slang term for a police van used to transport prisoners, originally these were horse drawn and so could take some time to arrive at a crime scene. “Black Maria” was a famous racehorse of the day, born in Harlem USA in 1826. The name was sardonically applied to the police carriages (which were also usually colored black). Black Maria, the name of the truck that stops to aid the lone survivor in the film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Edison's Black Maria, a film studio created by Thomas Edison
Well, it seems like this guy who's been drinking a lot of wine (box of Red Belle Dame?) and taking pills (Benny Jag Blue) went for ride in his sportscar and either crashed in the sugar cane and died or caused some accident where he's now going to jail. It seems like Big Black Mariah is a hearse, but Wikipedia says a Black Maria is a paddywagon. And one commenter below mentions that hearses are never Ford. So I think it's a man who's committed some crimes and got caught out in the countryside, and the paddywagon with its ladder and hammer to the floor done come take him away for good. He'll be wearing a wooden coat, meaning he'll probably be executed and put in a wooden coffin.
Big Black Mariah is a slang term originating in New Orleans to describe a hearse.
Big Black Mariah is a slang term originating in New Orleans to describe a hearse.
Canebreak is an area of land covered by thick canes.
Red Belle Dame is slang for a type of wine.
Yellow Bullet is a drag race car.
Linda bride I think is a reference to a series of romance novels.