"In The Ghetto"

From The Peopling of New York City

Elvis Presley's 1969 song "In The Ghetto"

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

The 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 in the street with a gun in his hand

In the ghetto.

And as the young man dies,

On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’,

Another little baby child is born

In the ghetto.

And his mama cries.