16 Shells From a 30.6, Big Time, Tom Waits [144]

Roving reporter Jo Neary returns to Song by Song to revisit this track from Swordfishtrombones… and to apologise for her own presence. Meanwhile back in the studio Sam and Martin look at the similarities between this live performance and the original, the lack of priority given to the lyrics, and the shift in recording quality in this album. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: [email protected] Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly. Lyrics - 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six Plugged sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six And a black crow snuck through a hole in the sky And I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule And I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba I leaned it all up against a dandelion tree I leaned it all up against a dandelion tree Gonna whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six Whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six Now 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 Meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree With the strings of a Washburn like a clothes line Now me and that mule scrambled right through the hole Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole Whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six Whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six I will whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six Whittle you into kindlin' Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six Gonna take a 38 hours long gone train I just Long gone train Just long gone train I just long Long