The tune of this song was inspired by Merle Travis's "Sixteen Tons" (1947). Travis's song was covered by many artists over the years. The version recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford is perhaps the most popular one. Portions of the Hindi film song "Tu Duniya Mein Sar Ko Utha Ke Chal" ("Heera Moti", 1959) were also adapted from "Sixteen Tons".[1][2]