Sixteen Tons

"Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

[7] The line "another day older and deeper in debt" from the chorus came from a letter written by Travis's brother John.

"[8] Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded "Sixteen Tons" in 1955 as the B-side of his cover of the Moon Mullican standard "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry".

Nevertheless, Ford's version was the most successful, spending four weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January and February 1956.

Eric Burdon's version of "Sixteen Tons" is the opening song of the 1990 American film Joe Versus the Volcano.

[citation needed] It is featured in the second season premiere of The Wire, where The Nighthawks perform a cover version of the song during a bar scene.

In the season 22 South Park episode "Unfulfilled", Ford's version of "Sixteen Tons" plays in the background of a montage of an Amazon fulfillment center, and in The Simpsons episode "Bart Gets an Elephant", "Sixteen Tons" is being played on the radio as Bart is forced by Marge to do housework.