Ghetto Defendant Lyrics

[Ginsberg]
Starved in metropolis
Hooked on necropolis
Addict of metropolis
Do the worm on the acropolis
Slamdance the cosmopolis
Enlighten the populace

[Verse 1: Strummer]
Hungry darkness of living
Who will thirst
in the pit?
(Hooked in necropolis)
She spent a lifetime deciding
How to run from it
(Addicts of metropolis)
Once fate had a witness
And the years seemed like friends
(Girlfriends)
Now her child has a dream
But it begins like it ends

[Ginsberg]
Shot into eternity
Methadone kitty
Iron serenity
[Chorus]
Ghetto defendant
It is heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
That stops you taking the city

(Strung out committee)
Walled out of the city
Clubbed down from uptown
Sprayed pest from the nest
Run out to barrio town

(The guards are itchy)
Forced to watch at the feast
Then sweep up the night

Flipped pieces of coin
(Broken bottles)
Exchanged for birthright

[Chorus]
Ghetto defendant it is heroin pity
(Strung out committee)
Not tear gas nor baton charge
That stops you taking the city
(Not sitting pretty)
(Grafted in a jiffy)
Not tear gas nor baton charge
That stops you taking the city
The ghetto prince of gutter poets
Was bounced out of the room
(Jean Arthur Rimbaud)
By the bodyguards of greed
For disturbing the tomb
(1873)
His words like flamethrowers
(Paris commune)
Burnt the ghettos in their chests
His face was painted whiter
And he was laid to rest
(Died in Marseille)

Ghetto defendant it is heroin pity
(Buried in Charleville)
Not tear gas nor baton charge
That stops you taking the city
(Shut up in eternity)

[Ginsberg]
Guatemala
Honduras
Poland
100 years war
TV re-run invasion
Death squad Salvador
Afghanistan
Meditation
Old Chinese flu
Kick junk
What else
Can a poor worker do?

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About

Genius Annotation

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg sings lyrics he wrote on this song as “the voice of God”. His lines are in brackets here.

The lyrics included in the Combat Rock booklet are for the Rat Patrol version of this song, and differ from what is actually sung on the album.

Three versions of this song exist: the original Rat Patrol recording, which features an entire extra verse compared to the other versions, a shorter version released on Combat Rock without the final verse and with some lyric changes, and a further “edited” version on Clash On Broadway which is around 30 seconds shorter and has an edited ending.

The one presented here is the one closest to the album recording.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Mastered by
Harmonica
Sound Effects
Photography
Tape Operation
Copyright (c)
Manufactured by
Phonographic Copyright (p)
Record Company
Recorded At
Ear Studios - London, England / Electric Lady Studios - New York, NY / Warnford, Hampshire - England
Release Date
May 14, 1982
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