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16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six Lyrics
I plugged 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
and a 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 pawn shop marimba
and I leaned it up against
a dandelion tree
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
and I blew me a hole
'bout the size of a kickdrum
and I cut me a switch
from a long branch elbow
Chorus
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow 16 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
you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
with the strings of a Washburn
stretched like a clothes line
you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
Repeat Chorus
Now I hold him prisoner
in a Washburn jail
that stapped on the back
of my old kick mule
strapped it on the back of my old kick mule
I bang on the strings just
to drive him crazy
I strum it loud just to rattle his cage
strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Repeat Chorus
and a 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 pawn shop marimba
and I leaned it up against
a dandelion tree
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
and I 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 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
whittle you into kindlin'
Black Crow 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
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
you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
with the strings of a Washburn
stretched like a clothes line
you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
in a Washburn jail
that stapped on the back
of my old kick mule
strapped it on the back of my old kick mule
I bang on the strings just
to drive him crazy
I strum it loud just to rattle his cage
strum it loud just to rattle his cage
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
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.
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.
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
cool interpretation i think its my favourite the washburn jail could be a washburn guitar
@Stevenp68 giant-impact hypothesis
@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.