On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)
'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
an angry young man some day?
Take a look at you and me
Do we simply turn our heads,
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)
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)
As a crowd gathers 'round
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)
