Sixteen Tons
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Sixteen Tons
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Chord Chart
Verse/Chorus
AmAm
AmAm
FF
EE
AmAm
AmAm
FF
EE
AmAm
AmAm
DmDm
DmDm
AmAm
AmAm
EE
AmAm
Chords used:
Am
Dm
E
F
Lyrics
Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
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 morning when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number 9 coal
And the straw boss said, Well bless my soul!
I was born one morning, it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an old mama lion
Can't no high-toned woman make me walk the line
If you see me comin' better step aside
A lot of men didn't, a lot of men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't getcha then the left one willDemo Videos
About This Song
Sixteen Tons is a coal mining protest song written by Merle Travis in 1946 and made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1955 recording. While not originally bluegrass, its dark minor key and working-class themes fit naturally into the genre's repertoire.