Chords for Merle Travis - Sixteen Tons (original version) from 1947
Tempo:
83.15 bpm
Chords used:
Em
F#
C
E
Am
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Em] You load 16 tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
St.
Peter, don't you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
[N] Yes, sir, there's a man here, a Kentucky coal miner,
that pertinently owes his soul to the company store.
He gets so far in debt to the coal company he's a-workin' for
that he goes on sometimes for years
without being paid one red cent in real honest-to-goodness money.
But he can always go to the company store and draw flickers or script.
You know, that's little brass coins that you can't spend nowhere only at the company store.
So they add that against his account, and every day he gets a little farther in debt.
That sounds pretty bad, but even that's got a brighter side to it.
[Em]
Now some people say a man's [F#] made out of [E] mud,
but a [F#] poor man's made out of muscle and [D#] blood.
Muscle and [C] blood, skin and [Em] bones,
a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
He loads 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.
Well, I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine.
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
Loaded sixteen [C] tons of number nine coal,
and the straw balls I hollered, well, [F#] bless my [Em] soul.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to [E] the company store.
[A]
[Em] Well, I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain,
[G] fighting and trouble is [F#m] my middle [Em] name.
I was raised in [C] the bottoms by a mama [C#] hound.
I'm mean as a dog, but I'm as gentle as [Em] a lamb.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older [B] and deeper [Em] in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company [A] store.
[Em] [F#]
[Em] Well, if you see me coming, you better step aside.
A lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died.
I got a fist of [C] iron and a fist of steel.
If the [E] right one don't get you, then the left one will.
You load [Em] sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
Saint Peter, don't you [C] call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
St.
Peter, don't you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
[N] Yes, sir, there's a man here, a Kentucky coal miner,
that pertinently owes his soul to the company store.
He gets so far in debt to the coal company he's a-workin' for
that he goes on sometimes for years
without being paid one red cent in real honest-to-goodness money.
But he can always go to the company store and draw flickers or script.
You know, that's little brass coins that you can't spend nowhere only at the company store.
So they add that against his account, and every day he gets a little farther in debt.
That sounds pretty bad, but even that's got a brighter side to it.
[Em]
Now some people say a man's [F#] made out of [E] mud,
but a [F#] poor man's made out of muscle and [D#] blood.
Muscle and [C] blood, skin and [Em] bones,
a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
He loads 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.
Well, I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine.
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
Loaded sixteen [C] tons of number nine coal,
and the straw balls I hollered, well, [F#] bless my [Em] soul.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to [E] the company store.
[A]
[Em] Well, I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain,
[G] fighting and trouble is [F#m] my middle [Em] name.
I was raised in [C] the bottoms by a mama [C#] hound.
I'm mean as a dog, but I'm as gentle as [Em] a lamb.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older [B] and deeper [Em] in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company [A] store.
[Em] [F#]
[Em] Well, if you see me coming, you better step aside.
A lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died.
I got a fist of [C] iron and a fist of steel.
If the [E] right one don't get you, then the left one will.
You load [Em] sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
Saint Peter, don't you [C] call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
Key:
Em
F#
C
E
Am
Em
F#
C
_ _ _ [Em] You load 16 tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
St.
Peter, don't you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
_ _ [N] Yes, sir, there's a man here, a Kentucky coal miner,
that pertinently owes his soul to the company store.
He gets so far in debt to the coal company he's a-workin' for
that he goes on sometimes for years
without being paid one red cent in real honest-to-goodness money.
But he can always go to the company store and draw flickers or script.
You know, that's little brass coins that you can't spend nowhere only at the company store.
So they add that against his account, and every day he gets a little farther in debt.
That sounds pretty bad, but even that's got a brighter side to it.
_ [Em] _
Now some people say a man's [F#] made out of [E] mud,
but a [F#] poor man's made out of muscle and [D#] blood.
Muscle and [C] blood, skin and [Em] bones,
a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
He loads 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.
_ _ _ Well, I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine.
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
Loaded sixteen [C] tons of number nine coal,
and the straw balls I hollered, well, [F#] bless my [Em] soul.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to [E] the company store.
_ [A] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ Well, I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain,
[G] fighting and trouble is [F#m] my middle [Em] name.
I was raised in [C] the bottoms by a mama [C#] hound.
I'm mean as a dog, but I'm as gentle as [Em] a lamb.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older [B] and deeper [Em] in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company [A] store. _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ _
_ _ [Em] _ Well, if you see me coming, you better step aside.
A lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died.
I got a fist of [C] iron and a fist of steel.
If the [E] right one don't get you, then the left one will.
You load [Em] sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
Saint Peter, don't you [C] call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to the company store. _ _ _
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
St.
Peter, don't you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company store.
_ _ [N] Yes, sir, there's a man here, a Kentucky coal miner,
that pertinently owes his soul to the company store.
He gets so far in debt to the coal company he's a-workin' for
that he goes on sometimes for years
without being paid one red cent in real honest-to-goodness money.
But he can always go to the company store and draw flickers or script.
You know, that's little brass coins that you can't spend nowhere only at the company store.
So they add that against his account, and every day he gets a little farther in debt.
That sounds pretty bad, but even that's got a brighter side to it.
_ [Em] _
Now some people say a man's [F#] made out of [E] mud,
but a [F#] poor man's made out of muscle and [D#] blood.
Muscle and [C] blood, skin and [Em] bones,
a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
He loads 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.
_ _ _ Well, I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine.
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
Loaded sixteen [C] tons of number nine coal,
and the straw balls I hollered, well, [F#] bless my [Em] soul.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to [E] the company store.
_ [A] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ Well, I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain,
[G] fighting and trouble is [F#m] my middle [Em] name.
I was raised in [C] the bottoms by a mama [C#] hound.
I'm mean as a dog, but I'm as gentle as [Em] a lamb.
I load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older [B] and deeper [Em] in debt.
Saint Peter, don't [Am] you call me, cause I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company [A] store. _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ _
_ _ [Em] _ Well, if you see me coming, you better step aside.
A lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died.
I got a fist of [C] iron and a fist of steel.
If the [E] right one don't get you, then the left one will.
You load [Em] sixteen tons, and what do you get?
You get another day older and [F#] deeper in [Em] debt.
Saint Peter, don't you [C] call me, cause I can't [Em] go.
I owe my soul to the company store. _ _ _
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