I owe my soul to the company store

[EC]

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 9 coal
And the store 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.

16 Tons - Tennesee Ernie Ford

[durablend]

1. Too bad you can't tap into Wal-Mart's PA system...

And pipe that in.

I wonder if the employees would get it.

[jus_the_facts]

2. I actually have that 45......

.....not in mint condition but I still own it!! :)

[Debbi801]

3. me too. :-)

I always liked that song.

[jus_the_facts]

6. so have I...eventhough way back when I didn't grasp it's meaning...

....was one of the 45's I *inherited* from my grandparents that I'll aways keep. :hi:

[EC]

12. me too...n/t

[CBGLuthier]

4. Merle Travis

Ernie Ford made a great recording of this but the late Merle Travis wrote that song.

I only want to mention it because he used to come by and pick a little with my grandfather (before I was born) and my grandfather bought my first guitar so I like to claim a little connection even if I can't play anywhere as well as Merle did. :-)

[ET Awful]

5. Up in the morning, out on the job

Work like the devil for my pay

But that lucky old sun got nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

I work for my woman, toil for my kids
Sweat 'til I'm wrinkled and gray

But that lucky old sun got nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

Oh, Lord above, can't you hear, hear me cryin'
Tears are in my eyes

Send down a cloud with a silver linin'
Take me up to paradise

Show me that river, take me across
Wash all my troubles away

Like that lucky old sun give me nothing to do
but roll around heaven all day

[EC]

11. Allot of artists have covered this one

Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Dylan, Johnny Cash, Vaughn Monroe,and written by Smith/Gillespie? was it?

[ET Awful]

13. Yup.

Best version I've heard (and I've heard dozens) was actually Jerry Garcia Band :)

[bobbieinok]

7. remember when I first heard that song....someone was singing it

after assembly when I was in high school in the late 50s.....it blew me away.....

this song, 'Sounds of Silence', and 'King of the Road' are the 3 pop songs that just stunned me the first time I heard them

Artist/Band: Miller Roger
Lyrics for Song: King Of The Road
Lyrics for Album: All Time Greatest Hits

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let...fifty cents.
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but..two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

Third boxcar, midnight train
Destination...Bangor, Maine.
Old worn out clothes and shoes,
I don't pay no union dues,
I smoke old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

I know every engineer on every train
All of their children, and all of their names
And every handout in every town
And every lock that ain't locked
When no one's around.

I sing,
Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but, two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. I love this one too.

It's especially cool that it mentions Bangor, ME. I grew up around that area. :)

[EC]

10. I even got chills reading it...

I've always liked it...my Dad used to sing this and 16 Tons and with such feeling because he could identify....My grandfather "belonged" to the coal mines in West Virginia, and my Dad was an autoworker, before the Union got strong, he even had to live in sleeping rooms while my Mom and me and my sister had to go back to West Virginia and live with the Grandparents...this was still early 50's when the depression was well over, so it took alot of time to work out of the depression to where we had it, Now Bush seems destined to repeat history...Believe me, I'm glad the bank doesn't own me....

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

8. That's a great song...

I used to hear that a lot on country radio stations when I was a kid.