As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto

And his mama cries
Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads

And look the other way
Well the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto

As her young man dies,
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries



Lyrics submitted by emu

Track duration: 02:57

"In the Ghetto" as written by Moses Anthony Davis, A. Dillon, J. Hanna, L. Lee

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


In The Ghetto song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:great song and performance
    The original sub-title was `The Vicious Circle'
    Flag rickeapon January 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's not about having sympathy for irresponsibility, it's about equal rights. Any person's undeniable right to a decent life shouldn't be hindered by any factors, whether they're societal or some other factors.
    Flag ho-juon June 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i agree
    surely one of his greatest. lolxxxxxxxxx
    Flag babyfireflyon May 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:one of the best songs of elvis
    Flag babyfireflyon May 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Haha :):):) Zek, completely agree with you. But I still love this song though. Oh man, Elvis was one talented son of a bitch. He had the most amazing voice. Kinda feel sorry for him too. This is definitely his best song I've heard. Although, the guy probably didn't make his own music, right? Well, whoever wrote this is a genious. the melody is so beautiful.
    Flag MissNeuroticon January 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:As the snow flies
    On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
    A poor little baby child is born
    In the ghetto
    And his mama cries
    'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
    it's another hungry mouth to feed
    In the ghetto

    Child born in the ghetto which mom will have a hard time tryin' to take care of.

    People, don't you understand
    the child needs a helping hand
    or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
    Take a look at you and me,
    are we too blind to see,
    do we simply turn our heads
    and look the other way

    Help the kid or he'll grow up to be an enemy. Do you just ignore him?

    Well the world turns
    and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
    plays in the street as the cold wind blows
    In the ghetto

    Most of you turn and he's hungry and sick.

    and his hunger burns
    so he starts to roam the streets at night
    and he learns how to steal
    and he learns how to fight
    In the ghetto

    the stage when he grows to be an enemy.

    Then one night in desperation
    a young man breaks away
    He buys a gun, steals a car,
    tries to run, but he don't get far
    And his mama cries

    The climax; he dies trying to get the heck out of the ghetto.

    As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
    face down in the street with a gun in his hand
    In the ghetto

    Crowd watches him dead

    As her young man dies,
    on a cold and grey Chicago mornin',
    another little baby child is born
    In the ghetto
    And his mama cries

    As he dies another mom has a baby and the process starts all over again

    Just my attempted interpertation. To shorten it up. I could be wrong I could be right.
    Flag L0zzixlikesrocklotson March 26, 2007   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Ok, yeah. It's a sad song.

    But if you can't take care of a kid, either stop screwing or wear a damn condom. I mean, come on. We're supposed to have sympathy for irresponsiblity?
    Flag Zekon November 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is easily one of the greatest songs of all time!
    Flag DAVIDINTELon October 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:elvis's best song! so full of emotion and sad, brings a tear to my eye just listening to it, well nearly
    Flag seargent pepperon August 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:La Femme mortr89 I think your full of shit!!! as for the song I love it and I think chamiga got it and different people get different meanings
    Flag rhondadej8on June 23, 2006   Link

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