Tom Waits 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six

From his 1983 album Swordfishtrombones

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

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tom
• Waits
• 16
• Shells
• From
• Thirty-Ought
• Six
• Swordfishtrombones

[007nathan]

mr. Waits is a true artist. hands down.

[syr1811]

Definitely Waits best song ever - Love everything about this.

The only surprising thing to me is how much I Love this song, & how (mostly) indifferent I am about all his other work. Oh Well . . .

[Foxclass]

I made a ladder from a pawn show marimba once. It was awful.

[CityMadHull]

Thanks for uploading this masterpiece.

[AlegroTM]

what 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six means ???

[rockingirlsusan]

@syr1811 waits is my dads fav and i used 2 dance around the living room 2 this as a little girl

[Irishandy5]

There needs to be a "Love" button on Youtube. "Like" just doesn't cover it. Tom Waits always blazed his own trail, but the direction he took with this album was inspired. Thank you for posting it!

[Temple00011]

Hats off to Mr. Waits

[Temple00011]

Hands down to Mr Waits



[lyricalgod100]

Happy Birthday Mr. Waits!

[kamrade1]

@syr1811 I would add "Gun St. Girl" and "Get Behind the Mule".