What does Bullets in the Gun mean?

Toby Keith: Bullets in the Gun Meaning

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Album cover for Bullets in the Gun album cover

Bullets in the Gun Lyrics

They used to call me “Lightening”
I was always quick to strike
Had everything I own
In the saddles on my bike
I had a reputation
For never stayin’ very long,
just like a wild and restless drifter,
like a cowboy in a song

I met a dark...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 21st 2011 !⃝

    I like the song Bullets in the Gun. Basically it tells the story of a drifter who comes into a town in southern Arizona. While there, he meets a woman who has to dance for money in a bar, and they get together.

    She was sittin’ on my lap
    We still had shots to kill
    When a man pulled up who owned the bar
    In a Cadillac Deville
    Grabbed her by her raven hair
    And threw her in the floor
    Said “No free rides for the cowboys
    That ain’t what I pay you for, no”

    She jumped up and grabbed my pistol,
    Stuck it in the fat man’s back
    Said “Open up the safe
    and put your money in the sack”
    Tied his hands behind him
    and put a blindfold on his eyes
    “If you’re dumb enough to chase us, man,
    You’re dumb enough to die”

    Then a man (possibly the woman's boss) comes into the bar. Seeing her seated on the guy's lap, the man walks over, grabs her by her black hair and tells her that he doesn't allow "free rides for the cowboys". She replies by jumping up and grabbing the guy's pistol and threatening her boss at gunpoint to give them all the money in a sack, which he does.

    We rode across the border
    Down into Mexico
    When you’re runnin’ from the law,
    ain’t that where everybody goes?
    We came to a town
    with a name I couldn’t spell
    She gave me what I came for
    in that Mexican motel

    I woke up to sirens
    and the sound of runnin’ feet
    There were 50 Federales
    locked and loaded in the street
    She grabbed my 44
    I grabbed the money in the sack
    She kissed me for the last time
    and we headed out the back

    Every gun was on us
    and every heartbeat poundin’
    There’s only one thing left to do
    when they got you all surrounded
    She fired that old pistol,
    But we didn’t stand a prayer
    Money hit the gravel,
    Bullets filled the air...

    Basically, they head across the border to Mexico, and they get a motel room. There, the woman gives the man what every man wants (hence the line "She gave me what I came for in that Mexican motel).

    Then the next morning, the guy wakes up to sirens and "the sound of runnin' feet". There are all these policemen (possibly the Mexican police) with guns.

    The guy and his girlfriend try to defend themselves (done by the woman firing the man's .44 pistol), but they never stand a chance...

    Never see it comin’
    It just hits you by surprise
    It’s that cold place in your soul
    and that fire in her eyes
    That makes you come together
    Like wild horses when they run
    Now the cards are on my table
    And bullets in the gun

    The "it" in this song is possibly referring to a crush, lust or romance. The "cold place in your soul" refers to something mysterious in the soul. The "fire in her eyes" refers to how feisty the brunette was. The "bullets in the gun" means that the gun is loaded with bullets.

    The music video for this song is a play on the story about Bonnie and Clyde and gives a modernized account of a vagabond outlaw couple.

    Kudos to Toby for writing such an awesome and inspiring song! :)


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