[Idiom] One day the bottom will drop out.

[beachboy]

Reflexes got the better of me
And what is to be must be
Every day the bucket goes to the well
But one day the bottom will drop out
Yes, one day the bottom will drop out, but I say


This is an excerpt from the song Ishot the sheriff, sung by Eric Clapton, but written by Jamaican Bob Marley. What do the third and fourth lines mean?

 

[jutfrank]

This verse is a recognition of the fact that he must die for what he did.

In the past, when someone was about to be hanged to death, they would stand on a bucket. When the bucket was kicked away, the victim would hang.

 

[beachboy]

This verse is a recognition of the fact that he must die for what he did.

In the past, when someone was about to be hanged to death, they would stand on a bucket. When the bucket was kicked away, the victim would hang.

Is the expression still used in everyday English?

 

[jutfrank]

What expression? One day the bottom will drop out? No, that's not an expression. (However, the expression kick the bucket still remains as a euphemism for 'die'.)

About the phrase you ask about: I think that the symbolism of the bucket here is as a vessel (like your body) that holds water (your soul, or life force). What happens when the bottom of a bucket drops out? The water drops out too.

 

[beachboy]

What expression? One day the bottom will drop out? No, that's not an expression. (However, the expression kick the bucket still remains as a euphemism for 'die'.)

About the phrase you ask about: I think that the symbolism of the bucket here is as a vessel (like your body) that holds water (your soul, or life force). What happens when the bottom of a bucket drops out? The water drops out too.

O.K. I thought it could have become an expression, and it could be used nowadays in a specific context. I got what you meant.