Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood
Skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons
Whatta 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
Loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
Strawboss said,
"Well, bless my soul!"
Sixteen tons
Whatta 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 cane break by my ol' Mama Lion
Cain't no high-tone woman make me walk the line
Sixteen tons
Whatta 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 comin', better step aside
Lotta man didn't, lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the bottom don't get you the left one will
Sixteen tons
Whatta 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