Sixteen Tons Lyrics

Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford

...

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

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. 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 16 tons of number nine coal

And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

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

Can't no high toned woman make me walk the line

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

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

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Merle Travis

Sixteen Tons lyrics © Unichappell Music Inc., Campbell Connelly And Co. Ltd., Merle's Girls Music, Elvis Presley Music Inc., Elvis Presley Music, Inc.