"16 Tons" lyrics - NINA HAGEN

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
St. Peter, don't you call me
'Cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
(We're not going back to those days of sixteen tons)
St Peter, don't you call me
'Cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
(We're not going back to those days of sixteen tons)

I was born one morning 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 bus said well bless my soul

[Chorus:]
Well, sixteen tons and what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me
'Cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
(We're not gonna be takin' the Red Line, we're taking the Green Line to prosperity)

I was born one morning
It was drizzling rain
Fightin' and trouble are my maiden name
I was raised in the chain break by an old mama lion
God no, no don't make me walk the line

[Chorus:]
Sixteen tons and what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. 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 and a lotta men died
I got a fist of iron and a fist of steel
If the right one don't get you
Then the left one will

[Chorus:]
Load sixteen tons and what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me
'Cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store