Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Two-oh-oh-eight

A happy new year to all of us working stiffs.

One more year to feed the machine til it spits us out. But we dont mind. We know what all this toil is for.




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

(lyrics Sixteen Tons, attributed to Merle Travis)

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5 comments:

fionski said...

Happy New Year and New Dear!!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, Jeg!

Jego said...

I wish a great 2008 for all of us.

Amadeo said...

I know I date myself with this comment. But was surprised to see Sixteen Tons quoted in toto.

But mention of Travis got me puzzled. To us, that song is owned by Tennessee Ernie Ford and folowed at a distance by Frankie Laine. I got both copies in MP3.

Then, I Googled. And light.

Jego said...

It's a great song. One of those timeless classics. I guess that's why new versions of it come out every so often. I heard a version that changed "A poor man's made outta muscle and blood" to "A working man's made..."