I was born one mornin' it was drizzlin' rain.
Fightin' and trouble are my middle names.
I was raised in the den by an old mother lion,
Ain't no high-toned woman make me walk the line.
Well, you see me comin', better step aside.
A lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died.
One fist of iron, the other of steel,
If the left one don't get you then the right one will!
Gee... that last line sounds a bit like the IRS ...!
My Great Grandfather used to sit me down and make me listen to that song over and over when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I still remember.
I later saw pictures of him working in the steel mills.
For the good captain....
Having had a few burshes with hard times, I concur with FReeper keithtoo. It is sometimes impossible to hold back the change of the tide.
Responding to Finny, I recently had the opportuntiy to wittness the loading of a 40' container of mayonnaise for my client. A young man loading was joshing me about my cushy job and I asked him if he was lamenting like Tennessee Earnie Ford? He looked at me like I was crazy...... he was black and hip, but it was Knoxville, I thought he knew.
I had to explain in detail about loading 16 tons and deeper in debt etc. Until I explained that he had done better, loading 20 tons with his buddy he didn't understand the magnitude of his accomplishment. Two trailer loads was 20 tons apiece handled manually that day.
The wisdom of the song is lost to the current generation.