Sixteen Tons lyrics by Tennessee Ernie Ford, 10 meanings. Sixteen Tons explained, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons lyrics

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Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons lyrics
(Merle Travis)

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
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Lyrics taken from /lyrics/t/tennessee_ernie_ford/sixteen_tons.html

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Songwriters: Merle Travis
Sixteen Tons lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Sixteen Tons meanings Post my meaning

  • k
    + 18
    Karen Spence 2013-11-08 23:24:46
    There was a time when companies didn't pay its employees cash, but instead a voucher to buy their goods and necessities that a store the company owned would offer. Most, if not all employees weren't given enough voucher credits to afford all they needed so they would ring up debt for the difference and would then have to pay it back by continuing to work. It kept the companies owning them for life because they could never really work it off, not to mention they had no money to buy things like homes, cars, etc. It was a terrible system. Now the banks do the same in many ways as others have mentioned here.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 16
    Unregistered 2015-03-14 10:58:05
    Number nine coal refers to a particular seam of coal of Kentuckian minefields that is at a medium depth (the seams in Kentucky are numbered from the shallower n. 13 to the deepest n.1). Usually the depth of a coal seam is associated with higher degrees of metamorphism and therefore higher hardness (so it is more hard work extracting it) and more energy content per unit of mass (therefore it is more valuable on the market).

    In the verse "I loaded sixteens tons of number nine coal" the singer condenses the hard and valuable work he did.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 12
    Unregistered 2012-08-21 16:18:52
    It means that no matter how good or how hard you work, or how smart you are- it will never be enough to get out of that hole that's been dug for you. It means that the wealthy always win and the workers won't even get to die to escape their debt. I fear it's our future and our past. My dad used to sing it to me and I thought he was just being a sour puss. He was smarter than I gave him credit. I looked it up because I'm thinking of the next election.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 4
    Unregistered 2012-04-10 18:57:40
    Back in the day when trains abd all ran on coal they needed alot of coal. The big business men didn't pay men that mined it well and the only store around was run by the company with things extremly overpriced. They used credit in the stores and that's how they became in debt that's why he owes his soul to the company store. Well sixteen tons is what they expected a man to mine in one day. No matter how much he mined or hard work he put forward it was never enough plus credit piling up and he was a rough man. That's the story behind it the meaning is that the big businesses will always take advantage of the little man, no matter how tough he is.
    1 reply
  • s
    + 3
    Steph1933 2018-06-03 16:37:46
    I was hauling dirt from the neighbors who is putting in his pool. He loaded my wheel barrel 9 times already so I could fill my low spots and hide my pine tree roots. He loaded it over his fence, and I wheeled it to my low spots. I thought of this song and I remembered Tennessee Ernie Ford sang it. Mind you I am 84 years old. I'm almost done, it started to rain today. So I had to quit, resume tomorrow maybe if it don't rain.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 3
    Unregistered 2016-06-05 21:21:18
    These days, of course, we're so much more enlightened. Now we don't owe our souls to the company store, instead we owe them to the bank that owns the company. As the French say "Plus ca change, plus ca reste la meme chose". So come on America. Get behind Bernie, and let's change the world for the better.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 2
    Unregistered 2020-08-14 14:33:56
    Thank the Lord, and our United States Constitution that we have the freedom to speak out against the injustice of unions and "straw bosses" and to expose such unfair practices. We have the freedom to look for a better job, to declare bankruptcy and start over, to take ourselves out of a dead-end situation like this one and find, or start an honest company.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 2
    Unregistered 2016-04-28 03:51:26
    And the song continues - from poverty wages in third-world countries and China etc. to the decreasing benefits for.
    American workers - and the businesses convince the public that public employees should not have reasonable pensions etc. The standards of wages and benefits decrease worldwide while business big shots earn more than ever.
    Add your reply
  • U
    0
    Unregistered 2023-12-19 21:03:27
    As I understand it, the miner and his family were required to live in housing provided by the company and I wonder what happened to the family if the miner was killed. Back then I doubt there was much in the way of a settlement for the widow, because they didn't really care about making working conditions safe for the miners. Were the widow and children kicked out of the company owned house? Where could they go? Were they required to pay off the debt to the company store, and if so, how could they do that? How old were children when they were hired to start working in the mines?
    Add your reply
  • t
    0
    TraciHouse 2023-07-29 20:53:14
    This song reflects the way I feel today. I've got sixteen tons strapped onto my back, loaded down until I can hardly move physically or mentally. I live with chronic pain. I use all the tools available to me. There are so many traps, potholes and other obstacles to navigate that I can clearly relate to the songwriter's sentiments. Our healthcare system in the United States has been broken for as long as I can remember. I have been working through, on/in/with the system for more than 20 years. It is so convoluted that any average person without a disability would have trouble getting what they need. I am disabled and determined. I hope someone might read this and find some significance or relationship to this posted comment. I thank whoever came up with the idea of putting this song, this forum online so that I might find it and guide others to it as well. I am praying that each person who finds themselves in this situation and can relate will find someone who can help them navigate the muddied waters of this unfortunate circumstance. God bless each and every one of you taking the time to read this post!
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    • k
      + 18
      Karen Spence
      There was a time when companies didn't pay its employees cash, but instead a voucher to buy their... Read more →
    • U
      + 16
      Unregistered
      Number nine coal refers to a particular seam of coal of Kentuckian minefields that is at a medium... Read more →
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    [Intro][Verse][Pre-Chorus][Chorus][Hook][Bridge][Outro]