| Some people say man’s made out mud,
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| Well, a good man’s made out of muscle and blood
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| Muscle and blood, and skin and bones,
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| And mind that’s weak and the back that’s strong.
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| You load 16 tons,
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| And what do you get?
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| Another day older,
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| And deeper in debt.
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| Saint Peter, don’t you call me,
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| Cause I can’t go,
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| I owe my soul to the company store
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| I was born one morning when sun didn’t shine,
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| I picked up my shovel and I went to the mine,
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| Loaded 16 tons of number nine coal,
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| And the straw boss said: «Well, bless my soul!»
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| You load 16 tons,
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| And what do you get?
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| Another day older,
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| And deeper in debt.
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| Saint Peter, don’t you call me,
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| Cause I can’t go,
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| I owe my soul to the company store
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| If you see me coming, you better step aside,
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| A lot of men didn’t and a lot of men died.
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| My one fist is iron, the other one’s steel,
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| And if the left don’t getcha, then the right one will
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| You load 16 tons,
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| And what do you get?
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| Another day older,
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| And deeper in debt.
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| Saint Peter, don’t you call me,
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| Cause I can’t go,
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| I owe my soul to the company store |
| I was born one morning, it was drizzling rain,
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| Fighting and Trouble 's my middle name,
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| I was raised down the Canebrake by an old mountain mine,
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| And there ain’t no hard hearted women make me walk that line!
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| You load 16 tons,
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| And what do you get?
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| Another day older,
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| And deeper in debt.
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| Saint Peter, don’t you call me,
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| Cause I can’t go,
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| I owe my soul to the company store |