Ram Jam - Black Betty Lyrics
One Hit Wonders
Ram Jam
Black Betty Lyrics
Oh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Oh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Black Betty had a child
Bama Lamb
The damn thing gone wild
Bama Lamb
Said weren't none of mine
Bama Lamb
The damn thing gone blind
Bama Lamb
I said
oh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
She really gets me high
Bama Lamb
You know that's no lie
Bama Lamb
She's so rock steady
Bama Lamb
And she's always ready
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
She's from Birmingham
Bama Lamb
Way down in Alabama
Bama Lamb
Well she's shakin' that thing
Bama Lamb
Boy she makes me sing
Bama iamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Bama Lamb
Oh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Black Betty had a child
Bama Lamb
The damn thing gone wild
Bama Lamb
Said weren't none of mine
Bama Lamb
The damn thing gone blind
Bama Lamb
I said
oh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
She really gets me high
Bama Lamb
You know that's no lie
Bama Lamb
She's so rock steady
Bama Lamb
And she's always ready
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
She's from Birmingham
Bama Lamb
Way down in Alabama
Bama Lamb
Well she's shakin' that thing
Bama Lamb
Boy she makes me sing
Bama iamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb
Woh Black Betty
Bama Lamb.
Writer: Cleveland, Mike / Ledbetter, Huddie
Copyright: Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHING INC C/O THE RICHMOND ORGANIZATION
Copyright: Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHING INC C/O THE RICHMOND ORGANIZATION
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Black Betty Info:
•
This was originally a 20th-century African-American work song, popularized by Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter
before his death in 1949.
• Civil rights groups NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality called for a boycott of the song when Ram Jam released it, because they felt the lyrics were disrespectful to black women.
• Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th-century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock. In this interpretation:
- The "bam-ba-lam" lyric refers to the sound of the gunfire.
- Soldiers in the field were said to be "hugging Black Betty".
- The child in the song is likely referring to the bullet.
- "that child is wild" meaning the bullet didn't always go where it should.
- "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit, friend or foe.
- "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child
- "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head".
- The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
• Civil rights groups NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality called for a boycott of the song when Ram Jam released it, because they felt the lyrics were disrespectful to black women.
• Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th-century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock. In this interpretation:
- The "bam-ba-lam" lyric refers to the sound of the gunfire.
- Soldiers in the field were said to be "hugging Black Betty".
- The child in the song is likely referring to the bullet.
- "that child is wild" meaning the bullet didn't always go where it should.
- "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit, friend or foe.
- "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child
- "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head".
- The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
Released: June, 1977