Merle Travis 1946
Eric Burdon: Eric Burdon – Sixteen Tons – Joe Versus the Volcano Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6m1qgnUw74
Chorus: You load sixteen tons and what do 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. Now some people say a man’s made out of mud, But a poor man’s made outta muscle and blood. Muscle and blood, skin and bones; A mind that’s a-weak and a back that’s strong. Well, I was born one morning, When the sun didn’t shine, I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine. Loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal, And the straw boss hollered, “Well, bless my soul.” This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net Well, I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain. Fighting and trouble is 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. WeIl, if you see me a-comin’ you better step aside. A lotta men didn’t and a lotta men died. I got a fist of iron, and a fist of steel. If the right one don’t get you, then the left one will.