pail of tears

[Dan Goodman]

Laurence Horn wrote:

> At 3:44 PM -0500 12/26/03, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>
>>No, that's not "vale of tears."  In the NY Times last week, I saw another
>>gem:  Someone wrote an article that mentioned someone crying "a pail of
>>tears."  (Sorry, I always seem to recycle my newspapers before I remember
>>to clip for ADS referencing.)  Now, if the writer is a Northerner, I
>>suppose the phrase makes sense,
>
>
> Bob Dylan's a Northerner (< Hibbing, Minnesota), and for him it's buckets:
>
> Buckets of rain, buckets of tears,
> Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears
>
> --of course "pails of tears" wouldn't have scanned as well.

But he's put a lot of work into  not sounding like a Northerner.
Despite coming from "So far north that Moosehead isn't a beer, it's a
misdemeanor".   (Sorry; I can't recall which Twin Cities comedian said
that.)