Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man’s made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong
(Chorus)
You load Sixteen Tons and 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 walked to the mine
I loaded Sixteen Tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said, “Well-a bless my soul”
(Chorus)

I was born one mornin’, it was drizzlin’ rain
Fightin’ and a-trouble are my middle name
I was raised in a canebrake by an ole mama lion
Cain’t no high toned woman make me walk the line
(Chorus)

If you see me comin’ better step aside
A lotta men didn’t and a lotta men died
I got one fist of iron, the other of steel
if the right one don’t-a get you then the left-a one-a will
(Chorus)