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Tennessee Ernie Ford - 16 Tons

Brandon DeCamp · 9.8M views · 2012-02-24 · 2:36

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Overview

The classic 1950s recording of Tennessee Ernie Ford singing 'Sixteen Tons', a song about a coal miner trapped in company-store debt.

On Hacker News

Used as a joke reference in threads about debt, housing, and exploitative economic arrangements.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2016–2026

Topics

Music performance & songs
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sixteen tonstennessee ernie fordcompany storedebtcountry music

What people said

amiga386 · 2026-03 · Joke / meme

[VIDEO] 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

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umadon · 2019-06 · Joke / meme

Here's how you perpetrate a wealth transfer from average homeowners to the rich: 1. Deregulate mortgage lending to cause a housing bubble. 2. When it bursts, bail out the banks, and let people lose their homes, resulting in the homes being transferred to banks and landlords, causing more speculation and price increases. 3. Meanwhile, make sure the proportion of economic growth going to workers is kept minimal, even as the stock market booms. 4. Now, these workers not only have to sell their labor to the rich for paltry returns, have their retirement (if any) invested by the rich, borrow from the rich to go to college, but also rent from them in perpetuity. [VIDEO]

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cleaver · 2016-08 · Joke / meme

The 21st century version of "16 tons"[1] becomes "16 terabytes" and the refrain becomes: "I owe my soul to the company stor[age]". [1] [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Brandon DeCamp, played through YouTube.

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