Sixteen Tons
Merle Travis * Track #3 On Folk Songs of the Hills
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Sixteen Tons by Merle Travis
Performed by
Merle TravisProduced by
Lee GilletteWrited by
Merle TravisAbout
“Sixteen Tons,” is about the lives of miners in Kentucky, where Travis was born. The chorus comes from a letter his brother, John, wrote to him about the death of World War II journalist Ernie Pyle. John wrote, “it’s like working in the coal mines. You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another...
Sixteen Tons Lyrics
[Chorus]
You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
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
(Spoken)
Yes, sir, there's many a Kentucky coal miner that pretty nearly owes his soul to the company store. He gets so far in debt to the coal company he's a-workin' for that he goes on sometimes for years without bein' paid one red cent in real, honest-to-goodness money. But he can always go to the company store and draw flickers or scrip. You know, that's little brass coins that you can't spend nowhere, only at the company store. So they add that against his account. And every day, he gets a little farther in debt. Sounds pretty bad, but even that's got a brighter side to it
[Verse 1]
Now some people say a man's made out of mud
But a poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood, skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
[Chorus]
You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
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
[Verse 2]
Well, I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines
Loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss a-hollered "Well, bless my soul!"
[Chorus]
Sixteen tons and what do you get?
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
[Verse 3]
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble is my middle name
I was raised in the bottoms by a mama hound
I'm mean as a dog, but I'm gentle as a lamb
[Chorus]
I load sixteen tons and what do you get?
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
[Verse 4]
Well, if you see me comin', you better step aside
A lotta men didn't and a lotta men died
I got a fist of iron and a fist of steel
If the right one don't get you, then the left one will
[Chorus]
You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
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
Sixteen Tons Q&A
Who wrote Sixteen Tons's ?
Sixteen Tons was written by Merle Travis.
Who produced Sixteen Tons's ?
Sixteen Tons was produced by Lee Gillette.