A classic: the first hip hop (1982) with an actual message. Spoiler: Lyrics It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under Broken glass everywhere People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care I can't take the smell, can't take the noise Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat I tried to get away but I couldn't get far 'Cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under Standing on the front stoop, hanging out the window Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow Crazy lady, living in a bag Eating out of garbage pails, used to be a f*g hag Said she'll dance the tango, skip the light fandango A Zircon princess seemed to lost her senses Down at the peep show watching all the creeps So she can tell her stories to the girls back home She went to the city and got social security She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her own Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under My brother's doing bad, stole my mother's TV Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy All My Children in the daytime, Dallas at night Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight The bill collectors, they ring my phone And scare my wife when I'm not home Got a bum education, double-digit inflation Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station Neon King Kong standing on my back Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac A mid-range migraine, cancered membrane Sometimes I think I'm going insane I swear I might hijack a plane! Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under My son said, Daddy, I don't wanna go to school 'Cause the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper Or dance to the beat, shuffle my feet Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps 'Cause it's all about money; ain't a damn thing funny You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey They pushed that girl in front of the train Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again Stabbed that man right in his heart Gave him a transplant for a brand new start I can't walk through the park, 'cause it's crazy after dark Keep my hand on my gun, 'cause they got me on the run I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jaw Hear them say "You want some more?", living on a see-saw Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smiling on you, but he's frowning too Because only God knows what you'll go through You'll grow in the ghetto living second-rate And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate The places you play and where you stay Looks like one great big alleyway You'll admire all the number-book takers Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money-makers Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens And you'll wanna grow up to be just like them, huh Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers You say "I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool." But then you wind up dropping outta high school Now you're unemployed, all null and void Walking 'round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did Got sent up for a eight-year bid Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag Spend the next two years as a undercover f*g Being used and abused to serve like hell 'Til one day you was found hung dead in the cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young, so... Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
"This song is our cry against man’s inhumanity to man." (IRA bombing in Warrington). Spoiler: Lyrics Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken. And the violence caused such silence, who are we mistaken? But you see, it's not me, it's not my family. In your head, in your head they're fighting. With their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns. In your head, in your head, they're crying... In your head, in your head. Zombie, zombie, zombie, Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head, in your head, Zombie, zombie, zombie? Another mother's breaking heart is taking over. When the violence causes silence, we must be mistaken. It's the same old theme since 1916. In your head, in your head they're still fighting. With their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns. In your head, in your head, they're dying... In your head, in your head. Zombie, zombie, zombie, Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head, in your head. Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Malcom McLaren's take on Puccini's opera Madam Butterfly (Un bel dì vedremo). Cho Cho san... Spoiler: Lyrics Back in Nagasaki I got married to Cho Cho San That was her name in those days And I was her man I'm going back to visit her She got a problem She got a little Cho Cho Cho Cho San was her name And this is her tale of woe Take it away Cho Cho Today's the day when I see clear A tiny thread of smoke appears Where blue skies fall upon the ocean And shake this staid emotion All the while I sing this song I see a dot on the horizon Growing bigger every second Gleaming white in my direction Who on earth can it be Coming up the path for me? What on earth will he say? Shall I run to him or run away? Freaking out, he's come to get me My feet are stuck but just won't let me Run to him do I dare? Madam Butterfly don't blow it Calling Butterfly, Madam Butterfly That's the name he used to give me He's my man till the day I die Oh, sweet Butterfly, so sweet Butterfly She's waiting He'll be back, I have faith in this love track Pinkerton's the name Lieutenant Colonel Pinkerton, sir U.S. Navy I'm a bounder I married a Yankee girl But I went back to visit old Japan Where there she was, Cho Cho San Gotta have something to believe in My white honkey, I do miss him Someday soon he'll come around Just to stop my nervous breakdown Call me fool, call me stupid Bend my arrow kill this cupid Say it with me He'll be back I have faith in this love track Calling Butterfly, Madam Butterfly That's the name he used to give me He's my man till the day I die Oh, sweet Butterfly, so sweet Butterfly She's waiting He'll be back, I have faith Cho Cho San My little wife My sweet butterfly That's the name I'll give her When I return Little sweet sweet Butterfly I hear him crowing faintly He thinks I'm just still sweet sixteen I guess I'll tease him gently Calling Madam Butterfly His angel plucked right from the sky Hide my baby in mystic places I feel the fear that I might die Right in his arms and his embraces Softly kissing my eyelashes Got no right, no right to doubt it Ain't no doubt, no doubt about it Call me fool, call me stupid Bend this arrow kill this cupid I have faith I'll always pray My white honkey's here to stay Calling Butterfly, Madam Butterfly Butterfly, Butterfly have no fear I'll be back to wipe your tears Oh, sweet Butterfly, so sweet Butterfly She's waiting I'll wait for him with unshakable faith He'll be back He'll be back I'll be back
A lot of popsongs sound alike in the last 45 years, because they have the same basis: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel. As shown in this "4 Chord Song" (or for an updated version.)
