“Sixteen Tons” by Kate Hunsberger
In 1947, Merle Travis composed and recorded a popular Folk song called “Sixteen Tons.” A few years later, Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded that same song himself. The song began to skyrocket through the charts as it became exceedingly popular in Ford’s version. The song tells the story of a coal miner in Kentucky trying to make ends meet. The coal mines of this century are notorious for their bad working conditions. The miners were forced to work long days with little compensation in these treacherous conditions. The song uses a catchy tune paired with appealing lyrics to describe life in the coal mines.
The lyrics start out with an allusion to the Bible as it reads, “a man is made out of mud.” The allusion points to the story of Adam, the first man ever created. Travis uses this allusion to contrast with the thought that “A poor man’s made out of muscle and blood.” It drives the readers to think about how the miners are not just men born to live life to the fullest, but rather to work and use their muscles to provide. Like that, Travis describes a poor man has a “mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong.” Travis implies that poor men were not intelligent, but rather, only suitable for labor. At this time, the working class was not very educated because they were stuck in poverty. All they knew was work and could not attend places as standard as church. Travis states this by singing, “Saint Peter don’t you call me, cause I can’t go.” The narrator has no time to express his religion only time to endure his work. In the chorus of the song, we get the summary of the mining life. Travis explains that mining puts you “another day older,” meaning the labor puts such an immense burden on your life that you are physically deteriorating. The mines themself present many dangers to the health of a worker. For example, a condition called “Black Lung” occurs when coal dust blows into your lungs leading to breathing issues and sometimes death. This condition is just one of many health dangers that the miners would have to face each day. Not only were the conditions flawed, but the pay did not reflect the work done. The narrator believes he “owe[s] [his] soul to the company store.” In this age, the workers would be paid in money that was only permitted for the company store. The money would stay within the company, and the company would never struggle financially. To conclude, the lyrics describe the rough conditions that the miners faced, but the music leaves a catchy fun tune for the listeners.
For starters, the background of the track holds a repeating beat that sounds like a pickaxe hitting a stone. The purpose of that is to almost make it seem like the song is being recorded in the middle of a mine. It gives a sense of originality to the track and a catchy beat. The music stays in a minor key giving a more somber feel to the song. The musical aspect of the song perfectly reflects the meaning behind the words. The tune itself is a melody that would get stuck in your head. The purpose is to ensure that the music stays in the heads and ears of the listeners.
The song reflects the ways people had to spend their lives during the mining period. With the outburst of silver and gold, mining became an extremely popular job for men. The song perfectly represents the lives and minds of a coal miner in this century. Overall, the song “Sixteen Tons” incorporates the catchy verses and score to entice engagement in the lives of coal miners.
