Sixteen Tons

Some people say a man is made outta mud

A poor man's made outta muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones

A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong

Chorus:

You load Sixteen Tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me ‘cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

 

Born one morning it was drizzle and rain

Fighting and Trouble are my middle name

I was raised in a canebrake by an old mama lion

Ain’t no high-toned woman make me walk the line

(Chorus)

If you see me coming better step aside

A lot of men didn't and a lot of men died

I got one fist of iron and the other of steel

And if the right one don't get you, then the left one will (Chorus)

Born one morning when the sun didn't shine

Picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine

I hauled Sixteen Tons of number 9 coal

And the straw-boss said, "Well, bless my soul" (Chorus)

 

*Recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford