An industrial ballad for our time.
When Jane Henry was a little baby
Sitting on her momma’s knee
She picked up a computer, a keyboard and a mouse
Said coding’s gonna be the life of me
Said coding’s gonna be the life of me
Well the CTO said to Jane Henry
I’m bringing Artificial Intelligence out
I’m gonna my AI out on the job
Gonna churn that code on out
Gonna churn that code on out
Well Jane Henry said to the CTO
I can only do what I can do
But before I let that AI push me out
I’ll code one more application for you
I’ll code one more application for you
Jane Henry sat at the keyboard
Her fingers were all in a blur
No matter how many modules and unit tests
The AI turned out more than her, Oh no!
The AI turned out more than her
Jane Henry said to the CTO
I believe that system’s gonna crash
The boss said my AI can still save the day
Give it a more data centers and all of my cash
More data centers and all of my cash
Jane Henry hammered on the keyboard
Her fingers they jumped and flied
She worked so hard that she broke her poor heart
She laid her head on her keyboard and she cried, poor girl
She laid her head on her keyboard and she cried
We don’t know the end of the story
But when the story is finally told
While the AIs can give us acres of slop
It takes a human to give it a soul, Good Lord!
It takes a human to give it a soul, Good Lord!
By Terry SoRelle, July 30, 2026
Arion SoRelle
Will you do a tech/AI version of Sixteen Tons next🤭
Terry SoRelle
Ok, I’ll make a start. If anyone wants to contribute a verse. Join in.
I was born one morning when the sun didn’t shine
I walked to the office and a wrote a few lines
I wrote 16 gigs of pretty good code
The CTO said “Well, bless my soul”
Rick Herndon
Very good! And I’m definitely up for the 16 Tons remake.
Terry SoRelle
Oh no! I can’t help myself.
You wrote 16 gigs and what do you get
A pile of exceptions and technical debt
St Peter won’t call me and I know why
God replaced him with a new AI