"Somewhere along the line I heard a news piece about Tennessee Ernie Ford and the song Sixteen Tons. I just kind of filed it away in the back of my head, I guess.

"During a bout of frustration and anger with my job at the time, I picked up the guitar and started working on this song. The first thing that came out of my mouth was 'You work fifty years, and what do you get...'

"I just liked the sarcasm of comparing today's cubicle-bound workforce with the backbreaking labor of working on the Erie Canal. The rest of the song came out of me just raging, shaking my fist at corporate culture. There were times where I really thought it was going to kill me."

"I tried to balance the song between the weary intro, the bitter verses, and the hopeful, soft of dreamy choruses."
-- Brad Page

Canal diggers, largely Irish immigrants, were paid about ten dollars a month and plenty of alcohol.

To learn more about the Erie Canal, visit the Erie Canal Home Page.

"The Company Store" © 1998 Brad Page