album cover
artist
Merle Travis
Sixteen Tons
63,511
Singer/Songwriter
Sixteen Tons was released on June 9, 1947 by Capitol Nashville as a part of the album Folk Songs of the Hills
album cover
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OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Composer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You load 16 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
[Verse 2]
Now some people say a man's made out of mud
But a poor man's made out of muscle and blood
A-muscle and blood, skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
[Verse 3]
You load 16 tons and 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
[Verse 4]
Well I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine
I picked up the shovel and I walked to the mine
Loaded 16 tons of number 9 coal
And the straw boss a-hollered, "Well, bless my soul"
[Verse 5]
You load 16 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
[Verse 6]
Well I was born one morning, it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the bottoms by a mama hound
I'm mean as a dog but I'm as gentle as a lamb
[Verse 7]
You load 16 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
[Verse 8]
Well if you see me coming, you'd better step aside
A lot of men didn't and a lot of men died
I got a fist of iron and a fist of steel
If the right don't get you then the left one will
[Verse 9]
You load 16 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
Written by: Merle Travis

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