Lyric discussion by tsuchan 

Cover art for Sixteen Tons lyrics by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Does anyone have any thoughts about the meaning of this verse?

If you see me comin', better step aside A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died One fist of iron, the other of steel If the right one don't a-get you Then the left one will

Song Meaning

Considering this is from the workers perspective, sounds like its talking about the big wigs.

@tsuchan I always interpreted it as a worker who went nuts and killed 'the man,' but I think TheDeaderMan probably has it right. Such a bad@$$ line.

He's a tough man who claims to have been in a lot of fights and won most or all of them. He has no interaction with the upper class and I doubt he wants any. He was born poor and it's all he knows. I don't think he faults anyone specifically for his position in life and he takes pride in his strength, toughness, and perseverance under the conditions he was born into.

Any nation of working class people that didn't take pride in themselves and the system they lived under would have been overpowered by their neighbors in the...