Lyrics Sixteen Tons - Merle Travis

Sixteen 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