♫ In The Ghetto ♫ (Redux)

I last played this in November 2020, but it is a timeless story that will likely always resonate.  This song speaks … or should speak … to us all.  On the night I last posted this,  I had read the staggering statistics that 12% of households in the U.S. did not have enough food to eat. That was at the height of the pandemic, so I checked tonight to see if the situation had improved, and no … still some 11.6% of households live below the poverty line.  We have people starving in this country.  We have babies being born with no home to go to, no future to look to.  Yes, tonight … any night, really … this song resonates. 


I’m not a huge Elvis fan … never was, though back in the ’50s and ’60s, most of my friends were in love with Elvis.  However, he has done a few songs that I love, and this is one … his voice coupled with the tragic message of the song stir something inside me every time I hear it.

The song was written by Mac Davis …

“… it’s kind of a convoluted story, but it’s a true story. I had been trying to write a song called “The Vicious Circle” for what seemed like ages. I wasn’t old enough (for it) to be “ages,” but I was in my late 20s. The word “ghetto” was just becoming popular to describe the parts of urban areas where poor people were living and couldn’t get out. They were stuck there, and everybody took off to the suburbs.

I grew up with a little kid whose daddy worked with my daddy, and he was a black kid. We were good buddies, 5 or 6 years old. I remember him being one of my best buddies. But he lived in a part of town, and I couldn’t figure out why they had to live where they lived, and we got to live where we lived. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we didn’t have broken bottles every six inches. It was a dirt street ghetto where he lived.

At any rate, I’d always wanted to write a song about it, where a kid is born, he doesn’t have a male parent, and falls into the wrong people and dies just as another kid comes along and replaces him. It’s just a vicious circle. Long story short — I couldn’t find anything to rhyme with “circle.”

I was sitting in the office one day. Nancy Sinatra had signed me to her publishing company, and a buddy of mine, Freddy Weller, came over … He said, ‘Hey, I got this lick that Joe South showed me.’ He played this lick on the guitar, and boy, I just heard (sings) “In the ghetto.”

I didn’t say anything, went home that night and sat down with that lick. I started singing “In the ghetto,” and by about 2 o’clock in the morning, I had written the song. … of course, I called Freddy up as I was wont to do in those days and sung him the song at 2 o’clock in the morning. There was a long silence, and he said some foul cuss word and hung up on me. He wasn’t upset with me, he was just mad that he didn’t get to write part of that song.

Elvis almost didn’t do the song, though, according to his friend Marty Lacker …

“Elvis was hesitant to do ‘In The Ghetto’.  Colonel Parker had always drilled into his head, ‘Don’t do message songs. If you do a message song it’s just like taking a political side. Whatever side you’re gonna take is gonna offend the others’. I was in the control room after Elvis and the musicians had been working on ‘In The Ghetto’ a little bit. He said, ‘Look, I don’t think I should do this song’. I said, ‘Elvis, if you’re ever gonna do a song like this, this is the one’. He looked over at Chips and Chips said, ‘This is a hit record. But I’ll tell you what, if you don’t want it, can I have the song?’ Elvis didn’t blink. He said, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.'”

Listen to the words … they are powerful and every bit as relevant today as they were when this song was recorded in 1969.

In the Ghetto
Elvis Presley

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

And as her young man dies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries (in the ghetto)
(In the ghetto)
(Aah-aah)

Songwriters: Mac Davis
In the Ghetto lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Raleigh Music Publishing

♫ It’s Now Or Never ♫

I have often said I was not a fan of Elvis Presley … I thought he was a bit too much of a showman and not enough of a serious musician.  However, some of his music I did … and do … really like.  Tonight’s song is one such … for no apparent reason it popped into my head tonight … Oh wait … I remember why!  I was responding to a comment by Roger and used the phrase “It’s now or never” and thus the song popped into my ancient mind!  Anyway … according to SongFacts …

This Elvis classic borrows the chord progression as well as the melody from the Italian song “O Sole Mio,” which was first recorded by Giuseppe Anselmi in 1907. Mario Lanza popularized the song, and Tony Martin released the first English translation as “There’s No Tomorrow” in 1949.

When Elvis was in the US army, he was stationed in Germany and heard “O Sole Mio.” When he was discharged, he asked his record company to write an English translation for him, a task that went to songwriters Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold, who according to Gold, did it in 30 minutes. It was a huge hit, knocking “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” from the top spot in America and staying for five weeks.

Here we have Elvis Presley, the undisputed king of rock and roll, singing a song with a traditional melody that sounds like something Dean Martin would record. It was quite a stretch for Elvis and also a challenge: in 1957 Frank Sinatra said, “When he goes into something serious, a bigger kind of singing, we’ll find out if he is a singer.”

This was one of 17 songs written by songwriter and producer Aaron Schroeder for Elvis. Others include “Stuck on You” and “A Big Hunk O’ Love” but this was the biggest hit that he penned for The King. Another familiar tune to many that he wrote was the theme song for the TV series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Schroeder also discovered, managed and directed the career of Gene Pitney and helped the young careers of acts like Jimi Hendrix and Barry White.

“O Sole Mio” was in the public domain in America, so the only songwriters credited are Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold, who wrote the lyrics for Elvis to sing (earning a tidy sum for 30 minutes of work). In the UK, that song was still under copyright, which delayed its release until it could be cleared, with “O Sole Mio” composer Eduardo Di Capua added to the credits. This built up anticipation for the song, and when it was finally released in Britain, it racked up huge sales. “It’s Now Or Never” hit #1 on November 3, 1960 (two-and-a-half months after reaching the top in America), and stayed for eight weeks, the longest of any Elvis single.

Barry White heard this song in 1960 when he was in jail for stealing tires. The song had such an impact on White, that it convinced him to pursue a career in music.

And without further ado …

It’s Now Or Never

Elvis Presley

It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight

Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait

When I first saw you
With your smile so tender
My heart was captured
My soul surrendered

I spent a lifetime
Waiting for the right time
Now that you’re near
The time is here, at last

It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight

Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait

Just like a willow
We would cry an ocean
If we lost true love
And sweet devotion

Your lips excite me
Let your arms invite me
For who knows when
We’ll meet again this way

It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight

Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait

It’s now or never
My love won’t wait

It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Aaron Schroeder / Wally Gold

It’s Now or Never (Bonus Tracks) lyrics © Gladys Music, Rachel’s Own Music, Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Srl., Abg Epe Gladys Music, Gladys Music Elvis Presley Enterprises Llc.

♫ Unchained Melody ♫

The other night, I stumbled across this song in my archives that I played a couple of years ago.  I took a minute to listen and thought it was about time to play it again, since so many of you loved this one.  When I last played this, a number of readers suggested other versions by artists such as Ann Wilson, Roy Hamilton, The Platters, and Marc Martel, but since I didn’t want to put multiple versions here, I simply provided the links … click on whichever one you might wish to hear.  My favourite remains the Righteous Brothers, but perhaps only because that is the one I’m most familiar with.


This is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. According to the song’s publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of Unchained Melody have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages!  Wow, huh?

In 1955, three versions of the song (by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton) charted in the Billboard Top 10 in the United States, and four versions (by Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace) appeared in the Top 20 in the United Kingdom simultaneously, an unbeaten record for any song.

Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers’ version in July 1965, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release. Hatfield changed the melody in the final verse and many subsequent covers of the song are based on his version. The Righteous Brothers recording achieved a second round of great popularity when featured in the film Ghost in 1990.

I am amazed at some of the artists that have covered this song:

Barry Manilow, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Presley, the Supremes, George Benson, U2 and many more.  Plus … Bono and The Edge also performed the song together with “One” for the charity 46664 Concert in tribute to Nelson Mandela held in Cape Town in 2003.

Unchained melody
The Righteous Brothers

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow
To the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh
“Wait for me, wait for me”
I’ll be coming home, wait for me

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered, for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Songwriters: Alex North / Hyman Zaret
Unchained melody lyrics © Unchained Melody Pub LLC

Friday’s Theme Music

In lieu of my own music post today, I give you my friend Michael’s “Friday Theme Music”. I’m not a big fan of Elvis — too much schmaltz & glitter, too much gyrating to suit me — but he did a few songs that I particularly like, and this is one of them. Thanks, Michael! Cheers!

Michael Seidel, writer

We’ve come to Friday. Full stop. What else needs said? Everyone has a Friday sense, a feel for what Friday means for them. We do that with every day, though, depending on schedules and activities, wants and needs, desires and confusion, determination and goals.

Rain is falling on this Oregon coast August 19th. The sun’s reappearance was dampened by clouds but still took place at 6:23 this morning. Turning away from Sol — which often invokes Pink Floyd and someone singing, “On the turning away” — takes place at 8:19 this evening. By that time, we’ll expect to be at 67 F, a small jump from our current 16 C. They say it feels like 60. Whatever, it’s loaded with soft salty fishy oceany fragrances sprinkled with dirt, sand, and asphalt, along with plant smells. Know that melange? It’s a relaxing scent to inhale, one that unfolds the soul and…

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♫ One Moment In Time ♫ (Redux)

I have only played this one once before, and that was waaaaaay back in 2019, so … REDUX!


This song, sung by the late Whitney Houston was written by Albert Hammond and John Bettis for the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea.  The song was Houston’s third number one in the UK Singles Chart, and reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The song’s melody was inspired by the timeless figure of Elvis Presley, with Hammond imagining it as being sung by Presley at the opening of the Olympics. It appeared on the album 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time, produced in conjunction with NBC Sports’ coverage of the Seoul games and which, in addition to Whitney Houston who sang it live at the main ceremony, also featured artists such as: The Four Tops, The Bee Gees, Eric Carmen, Taylor Dayne and the film composer John Williams. The track is an anthem for believing in yourself against all odds as Houston asks for “One moment in time/when I’m racing with destiny/Then, in that one moment of time, I will feel eternity.”

One Moment in Time
Whitney Houston

Each day I live
I want to be
A day to give
The best of me
I’m only one
But not alone
My finest day
Is yet unknown

I broke my heart
Fought every gain
To taste the sweet
I face the pain
I rise and fall
Yet through it all
This much remains

I want one moment in time
When I’m more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity

I’ve lived to be
The very best
I want it all
No time for less
I’ve laid the plans
Now lay the chance
Here in my hands

Give me one moment in time
When I’m more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity

You’re a winner for a lifetime
If you seize that one moment in time
Make it shine

Give me one moment in time
When I’m more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will be
I will be
I will be free
I will be
I will be free

Songwriters: Albert Hammond / John Bettis
One Moment in Time lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

♫ Bridge Over Troubled Water ♫ (Redux)

Today I am depressed, my mind jumbled by the level of utter ignorance and cruelty in the nation where I live.  I played this one back in 2018 and again in 2020, but … it just seems so appropriate for the current times that I’m playing it again.  These days I feel that we are living under a bridge over troubled waters with no shoreline in sight.


Did you know that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel met in grade school when they both appeared in a production of Alice in Wonderland. Paul was the White Rabbit and Art was the Cheshire Cat.  They began recording together in high school as Tom and Jerry — yes, as in the cartoon cat and mouse.

Simon and Garfunkel split up in 1970, and Garfunkel went on to become a math teacher at a private school in Connecticut.

The album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was the last the duo recorded together before their breakup, and it remains, to this day, the biggest selling album ever for Columbia Records.  Paul wrote the title song, although Art Garfunkel sang it alone.  It was one of the few songs to top the US and UK charts at the same time. It was #1 in the US for six weeks, #1 in the UK for three.

In 1971, this won five Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Contemporary Song, Best Engineered Record, and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists. The album also won Album of the Year.  Just about everybody and their brother has tried to jump on this bandwagon with a recording of their own, including Elvis Presley, Mary Blige & Andrea Bocelli, and Aretha Franklin.

In June 2017, a charity version was recorded by Artists For Grenville, a group comprising 50 well-known British vocalists and musicians. They were collected together by Simon Cowell to record a charity single to raise money for the families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. The song immediately climbed to #1 on the UK singles chart.

Bridge over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel

When you’re weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes, I’ll dry them all (all)
I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you (ooo)
I’ll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
Oh, if you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

Songwriters: Paul Simon
Bridge over Troubled Water lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain ♫

I’ve mentioned a few times that I am NOT a fan of country music, but there are exceptions and one of those exceptions is Willie Nelson.  Now, I don’t like all of Willie’s music, but there are a few that I do love, and tonight’s selection, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, is one such.

Written by songwriter Fred Rose and originally performed by Roy Acuff, this song has been covered by many artists, including Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Russell, and Charley Pride. But the best-known version was recorded by Willie Nelson as part of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger.

This is, as are most country music fare, a rather depressing song, and singing the song night after night took an emotional toll on Nelson, who was a notorious drinker in the late ’70s.  Willie recalls …

“It’s really difficult to sing ‘Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain’ or ‘Always On My Mind’ without getting emotionally involved, especially when the audience gets emotionally involved and you feel their feelings. You can only wallow in your own misery for so long without saying, ‘Wait a minute, I want a drink!'”

Willie Nelson first made the Hot 100 as a songwriter in 1961 with Crazy (#9, recorded by Patsy Cline) and Hello Walls (#12, recorded by Faron Young), but this was his first trip to the chart as an artist. It was also his first #1 country hit, and it earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Nelson’s singing career took off, and he soon became a household name.

This was the last song Elvis Presley played before he died. In the early morning of August 16, 1977, he played it on his piano in Graceland. Later that day, he died from an overdose of prescription drugs.

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
Willie Nelson

In the twilight glow I see
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we’d never meet again

Love is like a dyin’ ember
Only memories remain

Through the ages I’ll remember
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain

Some day when we meet up yonder
We’ll stroll hand in hand again

In a land that knows no partin’
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain
Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Rose Fred
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain lyrics © Sony/atv Milene Music, Campbell Connelly And Co.ltd., Acuff Rose Music, Inc.

♫ Always On My Mind ♫

I am not a fan of country music, cannot tolerate bluegrass or gospel music, but there are a few country singers who strike a chord with me, and at the top of that short list is Willie Nelson.

This was written by the songwriting trio of Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson. It was originally recorded by Brenda Lee in 1971.  The Country Music Association named this Single Of The Year in 1982. It also did very well at the Grammys, taking the awards for Song Of The Year, Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and Best Country Song. It was the first country song to take Song Of The Year, and it wasn’t until the 2007 ceremonies when another country act got one.  

I did not know that Elvis had ever recorded this song, but he did in 1972.  I am also surprised to find that while his version didn’t chart in the U.S., it reached #9 in the UK. It returned to the UK chart at #17 in 2007 when it was issued as part of a series of Elvis re-releases.  In 1987, the British electronic duo Pet Shop Boys released a dance version of Always On My Mind that was a surprise hit, becoming the Christmas #1 in the UK that year and reaching #4 in the US in May 1988.

Willie Nelson had never heard the song before Johnny Christopher brought it to him and Merle Haggard, who were busy recording the album Pancho & Lefty.  Says Nelson …

“‘Always On My Mind,’ bowled me over the moment I heard it, which is one of the ways I pick songs to record. There are beautifully sad songs that bowl me over … haunting melodies you can’t get out of your mind, with lines that really stick.”

Nelson figured he and Merle Haggard would do the song together, but Haggard didn’t care for it. After they finished recording their album, Nelson stayed in the studio and recorded the ballad solo, just to see what it would sound like. Of course, it sounded like a hit, but Nelson wondered, “We’ll never know what would have happened if Merle had really heard the song right.”

With that said, I give you Willie Nelson and You Were Always On My Mind

Always on My Mind
Willie Nelson

Maybe I didn’t love you
Quite as often as I could have
And maybe I didn’t treat you
Quite as good as I should have

If I made you feel second best
Girl I’m sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

And maybe I didn’t hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
I guess I never told you
I am so happy that you’re mine

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me
Tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died
And gi-ve me
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
I’ll keep you satisfied

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind (you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind (you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: James Mark / Christopher John Lee Jr
Always on My Mind lyrics © Screen Gems-emi Music Inc., Lovolar Music, Budde Songs Inc

♫ Can’t Help Falling In Love ♫

Most of you know that I am not a huge Elvis fan … I always thought him to be a bit pompous, a bit too much of a showman.  That said, though I may not have cared for his public persona, he had a magnificent voice, and he did a handful of songs that I truly love … In the Ghetto is my #1 favourite, Suspicious Minds is another, and this one is somewhere in the lineup, maybe #3 or #4.

This was featured in the 1961 Elvis movie Blue Hawaii. It was written by the songwriter George Weiss, who claimed that neither the movie producers nor Elvis’ associates liked the song demo, but Elvis insisted on recording this song for the movie. Weiss, who died in 2010 at age 89, was a military bandleader in World War II.

This was Elvis’ most popular and famous “love song,” but it was not sung to his love interest in Blue Hawaii – It was sung to his grandmother on the occasion of her birthday. Elvis presented her with a music box, which she opened and it played the song, which Elvis then sang along with.

The melody is based on a French song called Plaisir D’Amour, which was penned in 1784 by a German with an Italian name, Jean-Paul Egide-Martini.  

Hal Blaine played drums on this. He became one of the most successful session drummers of all time, playing on hits by The Beach Boys, The Association, Sam Cooke, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, and many others. He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.  George Weiss was a prolific songwriter in the ’40s, ’50s ’60s and ’70s. Among the string of hits he penned in addition to this song were What a Wonderful World (one of my all-time favourites!) recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967, The Stylistics 1975 UK chart-topper Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love), and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a reworking of a South African Zulu song recorded by The Tokens in 1961.

The song hit #1 in the UK, #2 in the U.S., and #4 in Canada, and charted in a number of other countries.

Can’t Help Falling in Love
Song by Elvis Presley

Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can’t help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can’t help falling in love with you?

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be

Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can’t help falling in love with you

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be

Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can’t help falling in love with you
For I can’t help falling in love with you

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George David Weiss / Hugo E. Peretti / Luigi Creatore
Can’t Help Falling in Love lyrics © Raleigh Music Publishing

♫ In The Ghetto ♫ (Redux)

It was almost one year ago to the day (11/23/2019) that I last played this.  Tonight, as on that night, it begs to be played again.  I am not much of an Elvis fan, but this song … this song was made for his voice.  This song speaks … or should speak … to us all.  Tonight, I read the staggering statistics that 12% of households in the U.S. did not have enough food to eat, and that in just the last week, 78,000+ people became unemployed.  Add to that the fact that we are now seeing more than 2,000 deaths daily from the pandemic, and we have a situation that is untenable.  We have people starving in this country.  We have babies being born with no home to go to, no future to look to.  Yes, tonight this song resonates. 


Today, thinking about the people who are suffering while our so-called president plays games over an ego-wall, thinking about the income disparity in this nation, the wealthy who cannot even see those living below the poverty line, this song seems to call out to me, saying … play me!

The song was written by Mac Davis …

“… it’s kind of a convoluted story, but it’s a true story. I had been trying to write a song called “The Vicious Circle” for what seemed like ages. I wasn’t old enough (for it) to be “ages,” but I was in my late 20s. The word “ghetto” was just becoming popular to describe the parts of urban areas where poor people were living and couldn’t get out. They were stuck there, and everybody took off to the suburbs.

I grew up with a little kid whose daddy worked with my daddy, and he was a black kid. We were good buddies, 5 or 6 years old. I remember him being one of my best buddies. But he lived in a part of town, and I couldn’t figure out why they had to live where they lived, and we got to live where we lived. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we didn’t have broken bottles every six inches. It was a dirt street ghetto where he lived.

At any rate, I’d always wanted to write a song about it, where a kid is born, he doesn’t have a male parent, and falls into the wrong people and dies just as another kid comes along and replaces him. It’s just a vicious circle. Long story short — I couldn’t find anything to rhyme with “circle.”

I was sitting in the office one day. Nancy Sinatra had signed me to her publishing company, and a buddy of mine, Freddy Weller, came over … He said, ‘Hey, I got this lick that Joe South showed me.’ He played this lick on the guitar, and boy, I just heard (sings) “In the ghetto.”

I didn’t say anything, went home that night and sat down with that lick. I started singing “In the ghetto,” and by about 2 o’clock in the morning, I had written the song. … of course, I called Freddy up as I was wont to do in those days and sung him the song at 2 o’clock in the morning. There was a long silence, and he said some foul cuss word and hung up on me. He wasn’t upset with me, he was just mad that he didn’t get to write part of that song.

Elvis almost didn’t do the song, though, according to his friend Marty Lacker …

“Elvis was hesitant to do ‘In The Ghetto’.  Colonel Parker had always drilled into his head, ‘Don’t do message songs. If you do a message song it’s just like taking a political side. Whatever side you’re gonna take is gonna offend the others’. I was in the control room after Elvis and the musicians had been working on ‘In The Ghetto’ a little bit. He said, ‘Look, I don’t think I should do this song’. I said, ‘Elvis, if you’re ever gonna do a song like this, this is the one’. He looked over at Chips and Chips said, ‘This is a hit record. But I’ll tell you what, if you don’t want it, can I have the song?’ Elvis didn’t blink. He said, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.'”

Listen to the words … they are powerful and every bit as relevant today as they were when this song was recorded in 1969.

In the Ghetto
Elvis Presley

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

And as her young man dies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries (in the ghetto)
(In the ghetto)
(Aah-aah)

Songwriters: Mac Davis
In the Ghetto lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Raleigh Music Publishing