By Steve Rhodes
Because I couldn’t find a copy of “Bmore Banga,” which goes “They knew we was hopeless / they told us believe / put it on the benches / they know we ain’t read.”
Title: Baltimore
Written by: Randy Newman
Time: 4:02
From the record: Little Criminals
Released: September 23, 1977
Label: Warner Bros.
Quote: “There’s one song about a child murderer. That’s fairly optimistic. Maybe. There’s one called ‘Jolly Coppers on Parade’ which isn’t an absolutely anti-police song. Maybe it’s even a fascist song. I didn’t notice at the time. There’s also one about me as a cowboy called ‘Rider in the Rain.’ I think it’s ridiculous. The Eagles are on there. That’s what’s good about it. There’s also this song ‘Short People.’ It’s purely a joke. I like other ones on the album better but the audiences go for that one.”
Players: Backing Vocals: Glenn Frey, J.D. Souther; Bass: Willie Weeks; Drums: Andy Newmark, Rick Marotta; Guitar: Glenn Frey; Percussion: Milt Holland
The song:
Lyrics:
Beat up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin’ to find the ocean
Lookin’ everywhere
Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain’t nowhere to run to
There ain’t nothin’ here for free
Hooker on the corner
Waitin’ for a train
Drunk lyin’ on the sidewalk
Sleepin’ in the rain
And they hide their faces
And they hide their eyes
Cause the city’s dyin’
And they don’t know why
Oh Baltimore
Man it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to life, just to live
Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Buy a big old wagon
To haul us all away
Live out in the country
Where the mountain’s high
Never comin’ back here
‘Til the day I die
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live
Covers:
Nina Simone recorded a version in 1978 for her album Baltimore.
Here’s her version put to scenes from The Wire.
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Nils Lofgren recorded a version in 1979 for Nils.
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David Gray doing perhaps the best version, recorded live at the 9:30 Club.
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Previously in Song of the Moment:
* Iron Man
* The Story of Bo Diddley
* Teach Your Children
* Dream Vacation
* When The Levee Breaks
* I Kissed A Girl
* Theme From Shaft
* Rocky Mountain High
* North to Alaska
* Barracuda
* Rainy Days and Mondays
* Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
* Baby, It’s Cold Outside
* Man in the Mirror
* Birthday Sex
* Rio
* My Sharona
* Alex Chilton
* Surfin’ Bird
* By The Time I Get To Arizona
* Heaven and Hell
* Sunday Bloody Sunday
* Lawless One
* Tell It Like It Is
* The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
* Lake Shore Drive
* On, Wisconsin!
* Anarchy in the U.K.
* Ballad of a Thin Man
* White Riot
* Know Your Rights
* Chicago Teacher
* Youngstown
* Over The Cliff
* Almost Gone (The Ballad of Bradley Manning)
* Party at the NSA
* V.E.N.T.R.A.
* Plutocrat (The Ballad of Bruce Rauner)
* Fight The Power.
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Plus:
* Mayor 1%.
* Songs Of The Runoff.
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See also:
* Songs of the Occupation: To Have And To Have Not
* Songs of the Occupation: Johnny 99
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Comments welcome.
Posted on April 29, 2015