Woman of the Ghetto (Live) - Marlena Shaw
(ging gi-gi-gi-gi-ging )
(la-la-la-la-la-la-la )
I was born raised in a ghetto
I was born and raised in a ghetto
I'm a woman of the ghetto
Won't you listen won't you listen to me legislator
(ging gi-gi-gi-gi-ging )
How do you raise your kids in a ghetto
How do you raise your kids in a ghetto
Do you feed one child and starve another
Won't you tell me legislator
Enthralled through
I know that my eyes ain't blue
But you see I'm a woman
Of the ghetto
I'm proud free
Black that is me
But I'm a woman of the ghetto
(ging gi-gi-gi-gi-ging )
How does your heart feel late at night
How does your heart feel late at night
Does it beat with shame or does it beat with pride
I won't you tell me tell me legislator
(na-na-na-na-na-na-na )
Puts me in the mind of
Come and cross the water in a boat
Chained tied together
They said "no no they're really not man and women
Just chain 'em up tie 'em up chain 'em up tie 'em up
Chain 'em up tie 'em up work work work"
There's where the movement came from
Say no no
My children learned just the same as yours
As long as nobody tries to close the door
They cry with pain when the knife cuts deep
They even close their eyes when they wanna sleep
Now peace you say
Is all that you ask
But self-respect is a separate task
You may be sitting up there
In your ivory tower
60 stories tall
I know that you may have checked out at least one ghetto
But I wonder have you lived there at all
Places like Watts
Ah Holland tell me
Chicago ah tell me
Washington got some too
I have been up on the mountains I
And I'm free at last
I say I'm free at last
I've seen the children dying
And I've been one of the mothers who was crying
(ging gi-gi-gi-gi-ging )
I am a woman
I am a woman
I am a woman yes I
I said that I am
I mean that I am
I'm the woman I'm the woman I'm the woman of the ghetto
Strong true
A woman
A woman
You can walk through the streets of the ghetto at night
Whole lotta pretty some ugly sites
Along comes the sleek limousine
Say "hey baby I got ten
Look at me I'm clean"
So she takes a little **
What the hell everybody got to go
I got a baby
I got a baby
I got a baby i want to feed and I'm not really giving it all
Up just a little ten-cent piece or two
Ah the black woman
But I ain't gonna raise your babies no more
I got a few on my own
I wanna keep strolling
I say I am a woman
Gi-gi-gi-gi-ging I am
I
I am
I am
Remember me
I'm the one who had your babies I
Gi-gi-gi-gi-ging I am
I am a woman
Of the ghetto
Woman
I'm a woman yeah yeah yeah
Just a woman