From a Buick 6 Lyrics
But my soulful mama, you know she keeps me hid
She's a junkyard angel and she always gives me bread
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
I'm cracked up on the highway and on the water's edge
She comes down the thruway ready to sew me up with thread
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
She walks like Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch
She keeps this four-ten all loaded with lead
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
I need a dump truck mama to unload my head
She brings me everything and more, and just like I said
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
I think it's a shotgun.
Guys, this song is all about drug addiction. Let's look at some of the words and see the double entendre...
You know she keeps me hid - hiding his drug habit
Junkyard angel - heroin is called junk (as in junkie) and an angel is a supplier
If I go down dyin' - severe withdrawl systoms
Pipeline gets broken - the supply of heroin dries up
Lost on the river bridge - cannot find any heroin to score
She comes down a thruway - she has a much needed supply of heroin
Sew me up with a thread - Sew means needle, a syringe of heroin
She don't need no crutch - not addicted to heroin
She keeps a 4 10 - a 4 10 is a shotgun and also a term of a loaded syringe
Keep away the dead - stay away from junkies
She brings me everything and more - always has a supply of dope
Go down dying - when having withdrawl symptoms you need a blanket because of the chills...
Case closed. Dylan was hanging around the junkies of NYC and he wrote about his experiences (a user himself?) in words that covered up the illegality of what he saw so that his songs were acceptable to the unknowing public.
@castalia2576 absolutely spot on.....
@castalia2576 absolutely spot on.....
Regarding your 410 syringe interpretation, I get the 10 part but how does the 4 come in? Where does that get used ?
Regarding your 410 syringe interpretation, I get the 10 part but how does the 4 come in? Where does that get used ?
@lioness84 maybe something like this?: https://www.amazon.com/Syringe-Kit-Assorted-Blunt-Needles/dp/B002RUD01C
@lioness84 maybe something like this?: https://www.amazon.com/Syringe-Kit-Assorted-Blunt-Needles/dp/B002RUD01C
Seems to be a song in honor of a much appreciated woman. What's a "four-ten"?
A shotgun
A shotgun
@DAS JETS It's a small bore shotgun. Sorta the other end of the spectrum from a 12 gauge--though I think there might have even been 10 gauge cannon things at some point. Whatever, a .410 gauge is the smallest diameter I've ever heard of. Now, not to be graphic, but this is the blues here--don't you want this woman to keep your .410 all loaded with lead? Ummm, keep desire alive so to say?
@DAS JETS It's a small bore shotgun. Sorta the other end of the spectrum from a 12 gauge--though I think there might have even been 10 gauge cannon things at some point. Whatever, a .410 gauge is the smallest diameter I've ever heard of. Now, not to be graphic, but this is the blues here--don't you want this woman to keep your .410 all loaded with lead? Ummm, keep desire alive so to say?
Seems to be a song in honor of a much appreciated woman. What's a "four-ten"?
this song's almost certainly about sara, who he had just fallen in love with at the time and who by all accounts was and is "a junkyard angel"
Its a good way of saying ''junkiie eyed angel'' in a song without actually saying ''junkie eyed angel''.
Its a good way of saying ''junkiie eyed angel'' in a song without actually saying ''junkie eyed angel''.
A .410 is a shotgun.
he's writing from the buick not about it. He probably went on the road in one, saw the truth and realised he needs his woman to keep him alive. Without women wouldn't men be screwed? While he's off living out his illusory life, she's there behind him keeping it real. Without her he couldn't do it.
"And if I don't make it, You know my baby will."
I like to think he's talking about how his music will endure after he's gone. This song is so fucking beautiful it kills me.
@BraveSirRobin You and Wikipedia both confused this song with "It takes a lot to laugh...". Don't suppose you wrote that entry? Or else it's a weird coincidence. I suppose they're both on the same album.
@BraveSirRobin You and Wikipedia both confused this song with "It takes a lot to laugh...". Don't suppose you wrote that entry? Or else it's a weird coincidence. I suppose they're both on the same album.
Oops, wrong song :)
Well, I love this song too. Sounds like a pretty great girl he's singing about.
Well, on its surface this song obviously sounds like it's about a woman; or perhaps about a Buick Six that he refers to as "she" (as people who are fond of certain objects like a guitar or vehicle often do). That being said, you can rarely be absolutely sure with songs written by Bob Dylan. I think that the music of a song can give just as much of a meaning as the lyrics of a song can; upon hearing this song, I immediately felt like I was being portrayed what it would be like to be in a drunken stupor on amphetamines, something that, at this time, Bob Dylan would know a thing or two about...