Merle Haggard — In the Ghetto

[Verse] As the snow flies on a cold and gray Chicago morn 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 little 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 someday Take a look at you and me, are we too blind to see? Do we simply turn our heads and look the other way as the world turns? A hungry little boy with a runny nose Plays in the streets 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 And he buys a gun and he steals a car and he tries to run But he don't get far and his mama cries As a crowd gathers round and the angry young man Face down the street with a gun in his hand in the ghetto As her young man dies On a cold and gray Chicago morn Another little baby child is born in the ghetto And his mama cries