16 Tons (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)

(album: Swings Both Ways - 2013)

Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle an' blood
Muscle an' blood an' skin an' bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong

You loaded sixteen tons an' what do get?
Another day older an' 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 morning when the sun didn't shine
Picked up the shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said, "Well, bless my soul!"

You loaded sixteen tons an' what do get?
Another day older an' 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 morning, it was drizzling rain
Fighting and trouble are my middle names
Raised in the canebrake by an' ol' mama lion
Can't no high-tone woman make me walk the line

You loaded sixteen tons an' what do get?
Another day older an' 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 coming, better step aside
A lot of men didn't, a lot of men died
With one fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't get you then the left one will

You loaded sixteen tons an' what do get?
Another day older an' deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store