In the Ghetto

For other uses, see In the Ghetto (disambiguation).

"In the Ghetto"
Single by Elvis Presley
B-side	"Any Day Now" (Burt Bacharach, Bob Hilliard)
Released	April 1969
Genre	Folk rock, gospel
Length	2:45
Label	RCA Records
Writer(s)	Mac Davis
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"His Hand in Mine" (1969) "In the Ghetto" (1969) "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" (1969)

"In the Ghetto" (originally titled "The Vicious Circle") is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music in 1969. It was written by Mac Davis and made famous by Elvis Presley who had a major comeback hit with the song in 1969. It was released in 1969 as a 45 rpm single with "Any Day Now" as the flip side.

Song information

It is a narrative of a generational poverty: a boy child is born to a mother who already has more children than she can feed in the ghetto of Chicago; the boy grows up hungry, steals and fights, purchases a gun and steals a car, attempts to run, but is shot and killed just as his own son is born, with the strong implication that the newborn's fate will be the same as his father's and the circle unbroken. The feeling of an inescapable circle is created by the structure of the song, with its simple, stark phrasing; by the repetition of the phrase "in the ghetto" as the close of every fourth line; and finally by the repetition of the first verse's "and his mama cries" just before the beginning and as the close of the last verse.

"In the Ghetto" was recorded during Presley's session in the American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It was Presley's first creative recording session since the '68 Comeback. Other hits recorded at this session were "Suspicious Minds", "Kentucky Rain", and "Don't Cry Daddy".

The song was Presley's first Top 10 hit in the US in four years, peaking at number 3, and his first UK Top 10 hit in three years.

Lisa Marie Presley duet version

The song was recorded in 2007 by Lisa Marie Presley as a duet to raise money for the Presley Foundation. The song was released on iTunes, it reached #1 on iTunes in the US.

Cover versions

After Elvis Presley, the song has been performed by many other artists. Among them were, most notably, Sammy Davis Jr., Susan Cadogan, Candi Staton, Dolly Parton, Bobbie Gentry, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cranberries, Merle Haggard, Leatherface, Three Six Mafia, Skrewdriver, DNX vs. The Voice, Ghetto People feat. L-Viz, Frank Flynn, Natalie Merchant, Bad Lieutenant and Fair Warning. The KLF used a sample of the Elvis recording in their ambient DJ album Chill Out. Mac Davis recorded a version of the song for a greatest hits album released in 1979. In 2011, Chris de Burgh covered the song on his Footsteps 2 CD.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds version

"In the Ghetto"
Single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
from the album From Her to Eternity
Released	June 18, 1984
Format	7"
Recorded	March 1984
Label	Mute Records
Producer	Flood
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds singles chronology
"In the Ghetto" (1984) "Tupelo" (1985)

"In the Ghetto" is the debut single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was recorded at the Trident Studios in London and released as a 7" on June 18, 1984 with the B-side "The Moon Is in the Gutter". It reached 84 on the UK Singles Chart.

Parodies

Paul Shanklin recorded a parody called "In a Yugo" for Rush Limbaugh, in which an environmentally conscious family buys a Yugo to save gas, only to get killed by a truck after swerving to miss a duck. Later, Shanklin updated his parody for a new generation too young to remember the Yugo, replacing it with its perceived equivalent, "In A Hybrid".

El Vez recorded a version titled "En el Barrio" that mixed humor with details about Chicano struggles.

Danish Radio group "Selvsving" also recorded a parody called "Ned i NATO", which makes fun of former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's path to a leading post at NATO.

External links

• “In the Ghetto” lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line
• Elvis and Lisa Marie Presley: "In the Ghetto" (music video) at Spinner.com