Sixteen Tons

E870116

"Sixteen Tons" is a 1955 country and folk song, famously performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford, that portrays the hardships and debt-driven life of coal miners.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sixteen Tons canonical 7

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (68)

Predicate Object
instanceOf single ⓘ
song ⓘ
chartPosition number 1 on Billboard country chart ⓘ
number 1 on Billboard pop chart ⓘ
composer Merle Travis ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
firstRecordingArtist Merle Travis ⓘ
genre country music ⓘ
country pop ⓘ
folk music ⓘ
hasMusicalFeature bass-baritone lead vocal in Tennessee Ernie Ford version ⓘ
snap-clap rhythm in Tennessee Ernie Ford version ⓘ
hasTheme company town life ⓘ
economic injustice ⓘ
labor exploitation ⓘ
inspiredBy experiences of Kentucky coal miners ⓘ
label Capitol Records ⓘ
lyricist Merle Travis ⓘ
lyricQuote Another day older and deeper in debt ⓘ
I owe my soul to the company store ⓘ
You load sixteen tons, what do you get? ⓘ
notableLine I owe my soul to the company store ⓘ
Saint Peter, don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go ⓘ
notablePerformer Johnny Cash ⓘ
Tennessee Ernie Ford ⓘ
The Weavers ⓘ
Tom Jones ⓘ
originalLanguage English ⓘ
popularizedBy Tennessee Ernie Ford ⓘ
recordedBy B.B. King ⓘ
linked to: B. B. King

Bo Diddley ⓘ
Eric Burdon ⓘ
Johnny Cash ⓘ
LeAnn Rimes ⓘ
Merle Travis ⓘ
Robbie Williams ⓘ
Tennessee Ernie Ford ⓘ
The Browns ⓘ
The Chieftains ⓘ
The Dandy Warhols ⓘ
The Dave Brubeck Quartet ⓘ
The Fendermen ⓘ
The Flying Pickets ⓘ
The Grateful Dead ⓘ
linked to: Grateful Dead

The Jordanaires ⓘ
The Kentucky Headhunters ⓘ
The Long Ryders ⓘ
The Man in Black Johnny Cash ⓘ
The Mavericks ⓘ
The Meat Puppets ⓘ
linked to: Meat Puppets

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ⓘ
The Oak Ridge Boys ⓘ
The Platters ⓘ
The Residents ⓘ
The Shadows ⓘ
The Spinners ⓘ
The Statler Brothers ⓘ
The Ventures ⓘ
The Weavers ⓘ
Tom Jones ⓘ
Tom Jones and Jerry Lee Lewis ⓘ
linked to: Jerry Lee Lewis

Tom Morello ⓘ
ZZ Top ⓘ
releaseYear 1955 ⓘ
subjectMatter coal miners ⓘ
debt bondage ⓘ
hardship of working-class life ⓘ
writer Merle Travis ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tennessee Ernie Ford → notableWork → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Tennessee Ernie Ford → notableSong → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Merle Travis → notableWork → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Ernest Jennings Ford → notableWork → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Ernest Jennings Ford → notableSong → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Ernest Jennings Ford → signatureSong → Sixteen Tons ⓘ
Down to Earth → hasTrack → Sixteen Tons ⓘ