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


Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira

16 Shells From A 30.6 Lyrics as written by Thomas A. Waits

Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC, Capitol CMG Publishing

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16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    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.

    scoobydooduuon January 14, 2011   Link

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