Sixteen Tons (chromatic) Harmonica Tabs

By Merle Travis
Tennessee Earnie Ford, Jimmy Dean
Key: G

6 7 6 7 7 6 -4 6 6 6 -4
Some peo-ple say a man is made out-ta mud
-4 7 6 6 -4 -4 6 6 6 -4
A poor man’s made out-ta mus-cle and blood
6 6 6 6 6 -7 -7 -7
Mus-cle and blood and skin and bones
-7 -7* -7 7 6 -4 -4 6 6 -4
A mind that’s a-weak and a back that’s strong

-4 5* 6 6 6 7 7 7 6
You load six-teen tons, what do you get
6 7 7 7 6 6 -4 6 6 6 -4
An-oth-er day old-er and deep-er in debt
6 6 6 6 6 7 -6* 6 -7 -7 -7
Saint Pe-ter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
-8 10-7* -8 7 -4 -4 6 6 6 6
I owe my soul to the com-pa-ny 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