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0-9 (    
 Sixteen Tons 
 
(Merle Travis)
Copyright Hill & Range Songs Inc. 
Original  by Merle Travis on August 8, 1946
Live concert - December 17,   1955 - Louisiana Hayride - Municipal auditorium Shreveport - Louisiana
- Unreleased
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 a-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 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, a-bless my soul"
 
 
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', it was drizzlin' rain
 
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
 
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
 
Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line
 
 
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
 
 
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 a-get you
 
Then the left one will
 
 
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