[nickcarraway]

Sixteen Tons | Tennessee Ernie Ford | June 27, 1957

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sixteen Tons Lyrics

Sixteen Tons Lyrics

Tennessee Ernie Ford

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

[Feckless]

Great version on You Tube with Billy Gibbons and Jeff Beck

[mjp]

great song

brings back childhood memories

[Steely Tom]

I heard this song on the radio, when my parents were moving us across the country. I loved it as a five- and six-year-old, and I still do.

Also Big Bad John, by Jimmy Dean.

[Steely Tom]

“Got a little hitch in your get-along!”

[Disambiguator]

Sixteen ton weights were often seen or mentioned in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. That’s what I always think of when I hear “sixteen tons.”

https://youtu.be/KYGGZ11D9EE?si=5EkVhOz6bFDlHDt6

[CtBigPat]

Geoff Castellucci - SIXTEEN TONS

This guys voice measures on the Richter Scale!

[Responsibility2nd]

I follow this guy on YouTube and etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXovHX3YNg

Geoff Castellucci.

Now HE has the Bass.

[Fledermaus]

I was born in 1959 but remember this later. Stuck in my head as a kid.

A few others were Counting Flowers On The Wall by The Statler Brothers and Looking Out My Backdoor by CCR.

[dadfly]

a simple country song with lots of deep meaning packed inside. sometimes it’s better for a man to stop digging.

[sjmjax]

Amazing voice and expression.
Back when performers were actually expected to be able to sing with range and enunciation.

[TTFlyer]

Ford’s version is definitive.

[farm_kid]

Here are two of my favorite versions...

Eric Burdon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6m1qgnUw74&list=RDE6m1qgnUw74&start_radio=1

Homer and Jethro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbPppVK5H08&list=RDkbPppVK5H08&start_radio=1

Lyrics and chords:

Sixteen Tons – Homer & Jethro

First part of verse: Am G F E
Second part of verse: Am C Dm Eb E

Some people say a man is made outta dirt
Bow-legged britches and a humpbacked shirt
Ev’ry man has his woman to make him tick
But only the miner has his pick

You load sixteen tons, how do you feel?
Too tired to work, too scared to steal.
Saint Peter, don’t you holler for me today
‘Cause I’m a-diggin’ the other way

Uncle John was a miner, he was long and tall.
Chasin’ after women made him end it all.
He could never catch ‘em, though he tried,
So old Uncle John laid down and died

(Abbreviated chorus, just repeating the words “Sixteen tons”, with sound effects)

I was born one mornin’ when the sun didn’t shine
I remember my mama was a-gone at the time
The doctor looked down, and he said, “Oh, my!
I wonder whether he’s gonna walk or fly.”

(Same abbreviated chorus. with sound effects)

Well, I’ve shoveled this coal ‘til my back is bent.
My get-up-and-go has got up and went.
My wife ran away with my friend Jim.
I don’t miss her but I do miss him.

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Slag in your pants and soaked with sweat.
Tennessee Ernie done made this song
But the pea-picker sung the words all wrong.

[Buttons12]

Most millennials don’t know the song.
I never get tired of it. The folks have quite a few TEF albums.
Geoff Castellucci does an excellent version of 16 Tons.
Just the other day I watched a video of Ford with Andy Williams performing 16 Tons on some old tv show:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPOzrQKJFpc

[Fiji Hill]

In 1955, he made both the country and pop Top 10 with “Ballad Of Davy Crockett,” from the Disneyland TV series.

This ballad about an illegal alien was a hit in Los Angeles.

Pancho Lopez--Lalo Guerrero (1955)

[Fiji Hill]

Also included was 1950’s “The Cry Of The Wild Goose” ...

The Cry of the Dying Duck in a Thunderstorm--Cactus Pryor & His Prickly Pears (1950)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My Grandpa had a very nice singing voice and loved belting songs out in our Church Choir. His fondest dream was to have the voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford. ;)

[cowboyusa]

One of the first songs my dad taught me.

[cowboyusa]

One of the first songs my dad taught me.

[SharpRightTurn]

Tennessee Ernie was definitely one of the greats.