Jimmy Dean - Sixteen Tons

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Music Video

Song Lyrics

Some people say a man is made outta mud.
A poor man`s made outta muscle and blood.
Muscle and blood, skin and bones;
A mind that`s weak and a back that`s strong.

You load sixteen tons an` what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St 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` when the sun didn`t shine.
I picked up a shovel, an` I walked out to the mine.
I loaded sixteen tons of Number 9 coal,
An` the store boss said: "Well, bless my soul."

You load sixteen tons an` what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St 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` an` trouble was my middle name.
I was raised in the canebreak by an old mama lion,
Can`t no high-toned woman makes me walk the line.

You load sixteen tons an` what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St 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, an` a lotta men died.
One fist of iron, the other of steel.
If the right one don`t get you, then the left one will.

You load sixteen tons an` what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St Peter don`t you call me cause I can`t go:
I owe my soul to the company store.

Release History

1961

Big Bad John And Other Fabulous Songs And Tales

1. Big Bad John (3:00)
2. Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette (2:45)
3. Sixteen Tons (2:40)
4. Make The Waterwheel Roll (1:55)
5. Gotta Travel On (2:17)
6. Oklahoma Bill (3:42)
7. Night Train To Memphis (2:28)
8. Grasshopper MacClain (3:14)
9. I Won't Go Huntin' With You Jake (But I'll Go Chasin' Wimmin) (2:49)
10. To A Sleeping Beauty (5:16)