Songtext Sixteen tons Stan Ridgway

Sixteen tons

Some people say a man is made out of mud

A poor mans made out of mud and muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones

A mind thats weak and a back thats strong

You load sixteen tons, what do you get

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. peter dont you call me cause I cant go

I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin when the sun didnt shine

I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine

I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal

And the strawboss said, well, bless my soul!
(chorus)

I was born one mornin, it was drizllin rain

Fightin and trouble are my middle name

I was raised in the cane break by an ol mama lion

Caint no high-tone woman make me walk the line
(chorus)

If you see me comin better step aside

A lot of men didnt, a lot of men died

One fist of iron, the other of steel

And if the right one dont get you, then the left one will
(chorus)