In the Ghetto

"In the Ghetto" (originally titled "The Vicious Circle") is a 1969 song recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Mac Davis.[4] It was a major hit released in 1969 as a part of Presley's comeback album, and also on the single release of "Any Day Now" as the flip side.

For other uses, see In the Ghetto (disambiguation).
"In the Ghetto"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album From Elvis in Memphis
B-side"Any Day Now"
ReleasedApril 14, 1969
RecordedJanuary 20, 1969
StudioAmerican Sound Studio, Memphis
Genre
Length2:47
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Mac Davis
Producer(s)Chips Moman
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"How Great Thou Art"
(1969)		 "In the Ghetto"
(1969)		 "Clean Up Your Own Backyard"
(1969)
Music video
"In the Ghetto" (audio) on YouTube

Background

The lyrics to the song were written by country music songwriter and singer Mac Davis. The version recorded by Presley is played in the key of B flat. "In the Ghetto" was recorded during Presley's session in the American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It was Presley's first creative recording session since the Elvis '68 Comeback Special. Other hits recorded at this session were "Suspicious Minds", "Kentucky Rain", and the Davis-written "Don't Cry Daddy".

The song was published by Gladys Music, Inc., Elvis Presley's publishing company, and was Presley's first Top 10 hit in the United States in four years, peaking at number 3, and number 2 in Canada. It was his first UK Top 10 hit in three years, also peaking at No. 2. It hit No. 1 on Cashbox and No. 8 Easy Listening.[5] It was a number-one hit in West Germany, Ireland, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.

As a major international hit, Presley included it in his setlist during his return to live performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in 1969. It was a staple of his shows in the first two seasons; however, in his third (August/September 1970), he included it only once,[6] at the dinner show on August 13, for the benefit of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cameras filming the documentary Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970). This version started without pause at the end of another hit from 1969, "Don't Cry Daddy".

Lyrics

A boy is born to a mother who already has more children than she can feed in a Chicago ghetto. The boy grows up hungry, learns how to steal and fight, purchases a gun and steals a car, tries to run, but he does not get far before he is killed. The song ends with another child being born the same day in the ghetto, implying that the newborn could meet the same fate, continuing the cycle of poverty and violence.

Charts
Chart (1969) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set)[7] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 6
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 1
Canada (RPM)[10] 2
Denmark (Hitlisten)[11] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 4
New Zealand (Listener)[14] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 1
Spain (AFYVE)[16] 1
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[17] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[19] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 3
West Germany (Official German Charts)[21] 1

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Ireland — 4,200[22]
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[24] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Lisa Marie Presley duet version

The song was recorded in 2007 by Lisa Marie Presley as a duet to raise money for the Presley Charitable Foundation. The song was released on iTunes.

Cover versions

After Elvis Presley, the song has been performed by many other artists. Among them were Sammy Davis Jr., Marilyn Manson, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, Susan Cadogan, Wet Wet Wet, Candi Staton, Dolly Parton, Bobby Blue Bland, Bobbie Gentry, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ian Stuart Donaldson, Weeping Willows, The Cranberries, Merle Haggard, Leatherface, Three Six Mafia, DNX vs. The Voice, Bad Lieutenant, Fair Warning, Beats International, Eleanor Shanley, Jim Goad[25] and Chris Clark. The Spanish singer and actor Enrique Castellon Vargas, also known as "El Principe Gitano" (The Gypsy Prince), recorded a version of the song, a version sung with such a thick Spanish accent that the English lyrics were almost uninintelligible. In 1990, The KLF used a sample of the Elvis recording in their ambient DJ album Chill Out, while a year later Norman Cook issued a dance version with his Beats International collective, which reached number 44 in the UK charts.[26] In 1996, a 'Fugees-esque' hip-hop trio called Ghetto People had a top ten hit in the German charts with a version recorded with local singer Detlef Malinkewitz.[27] As Malinkewitz was recording under the pseudonym L-Viz at the time, some broadcasters in the UK credited the record to El Vez by mistake.[28] Mac Davis recorded a version of the song for a greatest hits album released in 1979. In 2011, Chris de Burgh covered the song on his album Footsteps 2.

Gospel recording artist Reverend James Cleveland not only recorded a gospel version of the song, but he won his first Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance 1975 with the Southern California Community Choir for his 1974 album release, In the Ghetto.

Dancehall singer Sister Nancy used some of the song's lyrics in the song "Coward of the Country", which appeared on her 1982 album One, Two.

Following the death of the song's writer Mac Davis, Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker recorded a duet version of the song to honor him. It was released on November 11, 2020, immediately following a live performance at the 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards.[29]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds version
"In the Ghetto"
Single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
from the album From Her to Eternity
ReleasedJune 18, 1984
RecordedMarch 1984
LabelMute Records
Songwriter(s)Mac Davis
Producer(s)Flood
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds singles chronology
"In the Ghetto"
(1984)		 "Tupelo"
(1985)

"In the Ghetto" was covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and was their debut single. It was recorded at the Trident Studios in London and released as a 7" on June 18, 1984, with the B-side "The Moon Is in the Gutter".[30] It reached 84 on the UK Singles Chart.[31] While originally not present on any album, it was later included on the CD reissue of the band's first album, From Her to Eternity.

Charts
Chart (1984) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[32] 1

Parodies and cultural references

In the South Park episode "Chickenpox", Eric Cartman sings the song on the way to and inside Kenny's house, which is located in a bad part of town, most likely poking fun at the environment of Kenny's house.

Rich Banks recorded a parody called "In the Grotto" for The Adam Carolla Show.

Paul Shanklin recorded a parody called "In a Yugo" for Rush Limbaugh, in which an environmentally-conscious family buys a Yugo to save motor fuel, only to get killed by a truck after swerving to miss a duck.[33] Later, Shanklin updated his parody for a new generation too young to remember the Yugo, replacing it with its perceived equivalent, "In a Hybrid".

El Vez recorded a version titled "En el Barrio" that mixed humor with details about Chicano struggles.

The Danish satire duo Strengedrejerne recorded a parody called "Nede I Netto" in 2000 about a boy, who gets lost from his mother in a supermarket and compensates for the lack of attention by stealing a shopping cart full of cod roe. The song follows the original storyline precisely but parodies the rich welfare state of Denmark, where only luxury problems exist.

The Danish radio program Selvsing also recorded a parody called "Ned i NATO", which makes fun of former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's path to a leading post at NATO.

The BBC radio comedy program Radio Active broadcast a version titled Tim the gecko.

Dutch television celebrity and comedian Paul de Leeuw, as his alter ego Bob de Rooy, released a Dutch-language translated version in 1992. The first Dutch-language version of the song was recorded by Flemish crooner Will Tura, whose version uses the wrong definite article "de" preceding the word "ghetto".

In the Fox sitcom New Girl, Jessica Day performs the song as an Elvis impersonator at her roommate Nick's father's funeral.

References
  1. Carlin, Richard (2014). Country Music - A Biographical Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. p. 316.
  2. Herrington, Chris (August 6, 2015). "The 50 Best Elvis Songs, 50-46: "In the Ghetto," "Stuck on You" and more". USA Today. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  3. In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley on AllMusic; " A hauntingly lovely, dirge-like ballad rooted in gospel, "In the Ghetto" ..."
  4. "Song info".
  5. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 192.
  6. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  7. "Go-Set Australian charts - 23 August 1969". www.poparchives.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. "Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  9. "Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  10. "Song artist 2 - Elvis Presley". tsort.info. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  11. "Billboard". 23 August 1969.
  12. "Irish Singles charts 1967-1969". UKMIX Forums. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  13. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Elvis Presley" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  14. "flavour of new zealand - NZ listener charts". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. "Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto". VG-lista. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  16. "Listas de superventas: 1969". Listdesuperventas.blogspot.com. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  17. "8 juli 1969". NostalgiListan.se.
  18. "Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  20. "Elvis Presley". Billboard.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 30, 2020. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Elvis Presley"
  22. Stewart, Ken (August 16, 1969). "Single Slump Hits Ireland". Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  23. "British single certifications – Elvis Presley – In the Ghetto". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  24. "American single certifications – Elvis Presley – In the Ghetto". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  25. "S.W.A.T. — Deep Inside A Cop's Mind". Discogs. 5 August 1994. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  26. "BEATS INTERNATIONAL | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  27. "Detlef Malinkewitz - about". Detlef-malinkewitz.de. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  28. "BBC Two - TOTP2, Elvis Special". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  29. "Kelsea Ballerini Among Country Music Stars to Perform at CMA Awards". Entertainment Tonight. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  30. "Nick Cave Discography on "From The Archives"". From The Archives. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  31. "Everyhit.com". everyhit.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
  32. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. "MP3 file". Mfile.akamai.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
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