Ghetto Child

When I was seventeen, I ran away from home

And from everything I had ever known

I was sick and tired, living in a town

Filled with narrow minds and hate

They used to laugh at me, the children called me names

I would run and hide, feelin' so ashamed

Just for being born, I was just a boy

Punished for a crime that was not mine

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Oh baby, life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

No one tried to understand

Papa did the best a man could do

A child's reality is paid for by his folks

Fancy fairy tales are bought and sold by those

Who can well afford time to make believe

Childhood dreams can still come true

Uh-huh, so I've been wonderin', travelin' all around

Guess it ain't my style to live in just one town

Still I'll never know why a child is blamed

Ridiculed and shamed, we're all the same

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

I'm a witness that

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Yeah

Ooh, yeah

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Oh, baby, life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Yeah, life can be rough

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

When going gets tough

And, but remember

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Things gotta change, things gotta change, gotta change, yeah, yeah

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child

Whoa, I, I'm a ghetto boy

Life ain't so easy when you're a ghetto child