Everyday Systems

A work song to assist with your 14 minutes of shovelin' [best done to Shovel snow/Stoke the oven/Dig coal]

(youtube it if you need to know how it "goes"]

Sixteen Tons

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 nine coal
And the straw 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

One of my favorite songs; I'm sure it will be going through my head when I exercise this morning!

Ah, yes, for those of who are way over the hill, it needs no reminder. . . its most successful version was released in 1955 by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

His voice but with pics of real miners. . .kinda cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWGNQIec ... re=related

Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. . . seems appropriate in this day and time and economy!

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

Perfect for Shovel-glovin'! Thanks for the reminder!

This is great, tripitaka888!

Thanks for posting -- and sorry it took me so long to get around to acknowledging it.

Thanks for the youtube link, LA_Loser.

Yeah, both shovelglove and no-s are pitch perfect for depression II.

Reinhard

The Johnny Cash version of "Sixteen Tonnes" is my startup song for shovelglove. I like to think of it as my Struwwelpeter

This is song I used to sing to my daughters when they were babies to make them sleep. They called it "Muscle and blood." I had the .45 single from Tennessee Ernie Ford so you know I am old. I like the Tom Jones version. He used to be a coal miner himself.

Interesting song to use as a lullaby ... but whatever works!