can't carry a tune in a bucket

can't carry a tune in a bucket (third-person singular simple present can't carry a tune in a bucket, no present participle, simple past couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, no past participle)

1. (idiomatic, slang) Sings very badly.

• carry a tune
• couldn't carry a note in a bucket
• tin ear

• “can't carry a tune” in Idioms and phrases, TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.