Sixteen Tons
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Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Song Sheet
Merle Travis
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
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 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, 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
Can'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
"Sixteen Tons" is a song about a coal miner, based on life in coal mines in<br> Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. It was written and first recorded by Merle Travis<br> in 1946. It was first released by Capitol on the album Folk Songs of the Hills<br> (1947). The song became a gold record. The line, "You load sixteen tons and<br> what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt" came from a letter<br> written by Travis' brother John. Another line came from their father, a coal<br> miner. Travis said, “…The chorus is from a saying my Dad often used. He never<br> saw real money. He was constantly in debt to the coal company. When shopping<br> was needed, Dad would go to a [coal company] window and draw little brass<br> tokens against his account. They could only be spent at the company store.<br> His humorous expression was, ‘I can’t afford to die. I owe my soul to the<br> company store.’"<br> As “Sixteen Tons” made plain in its lyrics, indebtedness to the company was<br> also a problem in some coal communities, especially before labor reforms were<br> adopted. Coal miners often became indebted to the “company store,” also known<br> as the general store in some locations. With no competition, the company<br> could keep prices high for everyday items, and employees — especially those<br> with families — often needed to pay in credit with tokens or scrip. A<br> never-ending cycle of debt often resulted, meaning essentially that the workers<br> were perpetually bound to the company. <br> A 1955 version recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford reached number one in the<br> Billboard charts.<br> On March 25, 2015, Ford's version of the song was inducted into the Library of<br> Congress's National Recording.<br> Besides Tennessee Ernie Ford, the song was also recorded by:<br> Frankie Laine (1955)<br> The Weavers (1955)<br> B.B. King & His Orchestra (1955)<br> Ewan MacColl with Brian Daly (1956)<br> Eddy Arnold (1956)<br> The Platters (1957)<br> Bo Diddley (1960)<br> Jimmy Dean (1961)<br> I first learned this from the Tennessee Ernie Ford recording.<br> Merle Travis also wrote "Dark As a Dungeon".<br>
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