Here's Homer & Jethro's parody, which I was able to hear on Spotify:


SIXTEEN TONS
As sung by Homer & Jethro on "The Very Best Of" (2010)

Some people say a man is made out o' dirt,
Bowlegged britches an' a hump-backed shirt.
Ev'ry man has his woman to make him tick,
But only the miner has his pick.

You load sixteen tons; how do you feel?
Too tired to work, too scared to steal.
Saint Peter, don't you holler for me today,
'Cause I'm a-diggin' the other way.

Uncle John was a miner; he was long an' tall.
Chasin' after women made him end it all.
He could never catch 'em, though he tried,
So old Uncle John laid down and died.

Sixteen tons—
Sixteen tons—
Sixteen tons—

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine.
I remember my mama was gone at the time.
The doctor looked down an' said, "Oh my!
I wonder whether he's gonna walk or fly?"

Sixteen tons—
Sixteen tons—
Sixteen tons—

Well, I've shovelled this coal till my back is bent.
My get up an' go has got up an' went.
My wife ran away with my friend Jim.
I don't miss her, but I do miss him.

You load sixteen tons; what do you get?
Slack in your pants and soaked with sweat.
Tennessee Ernie done made this song,
But the pea-picker sung the words all wrong.