16 tons

Some people say a man is made outta mud

But a poor man's made outta muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones

With a mind that's weak and a back that's strong

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?

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

Well, I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain

Fightin' and trouble are my middle name

Raised in the cane-brake by an old mama lion

Can't no high-tone woman make me walk the line

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?

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

Well, if you see me comin', better step aside

A lotta men didn't, and a lotta men died

One fist of iron, the other one of steel

If the right one don't getcha, then the left one will

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?

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