C Instrument - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1417391 Composed by Alan Galbraith, Andrew Mckay, Benny Trowell, and Mark Matthews. Arranged by John Fries. 20th Century,Country,Pop,Standards. Lead Sheet / Fake Book. 2 pages. John Fries #998938. Published by John Fries (A0.1417391). TYPE JOHN FRIES IN THE SEARCH BAR TO SEE ALL I HAVE TO OFFER. Thanks, John. Sixteen Tons is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The line another day older and deeper in debt from the chorus came from a letter written by Travis's brother John. This and the line I owe my soul to the company store are a reference to the trucking system and to debt bondage. Under this scrip system, workers were not paid cash; rather they were paid with non-transferable credit vouchers that could be exchanged only for goods sold at the company store. This made it impossible for workers to store up cash savings.
