merle travis
This song about a Kentucky coal miner is solely credited Merle Travis, and first recorded by him in 1946. It became world wide known with Tennesee Ernie Ford's finger-snapping recording from 1955, then growing to be a standard among working songs, recorded by hundreds of artists. Even Cartwright Pa Lorne Greene included it with his rare '65 album "The Man". The first version I can recall, is Dave Dudley's.
It's been discussed if this is a rip-off. Folk singer, and himself a former coal miner George S. Davis, claimed to have written it in the thirties, as "Nine-to-ten tons", but he never sued neither Travis nor BMI. Maybe he found it a bad idea; that he might have been just another day older and deeper in debt ... claiming copyrights in the USA may be an expensive affair.
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 weak and a back that's strong
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 bless my soul"
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
can't no high-toned woman make me walk the line
if you see me comin' better step aside
a lotta men didn't and a lotta men died
one fist of iron and the other of steel
if the right one don't get you then the left one will
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
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
Bm Bm/A Bm/G F# some people say a man is made outta mud Bm Bm/A Bm/G F# a poor man's made outta muscle and blood Bm D E Edim muscle and blood and skin and bones Bm F# Bm a mind that's weak and a back that's strong
