Sixteen Tons

Merle Travis


Some people say a man is made out of mud.
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood,
Muscle and blood and skin and bones,
A mind that's 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.

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine.
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine.
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal,
And the straw boss said "Well-a, bless my soul"

Chorus

I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain.
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name.
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion,
Cain't no high-toned woman make me walk the line.

Chorus

If you see me comin', better step aside.
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died.
One fist of iron, the other of steel.
If the right one don't get you, then the left one will.

Chorus