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Ram Jam - Black Betty Lyrics



Ram Jam - Black Betty Lyrics
Official




Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Black Betty had a child, bam-ba-lam
+
The damn thing gone wild, bam-ba-lam
+
She said, "I'm worryin' outta mind", bam-ba-lam
+
The damn thing gone blind, bam-ba-lam
+
I said, oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
She really gets me high, bam-ba-lam
+
You know that's no lie, bam-ba-lam
+
She's so rock steady, bam-ba-lam
+
And she's always ready, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Get it
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
She's from Birmingham, bam-ba-lam
+
Way down in Alabam', bam-ba-lam
+
Well, she's shakin' that thing, bam-ba-lam
+
Boy, she makes me sing, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

[ Correct these Lyrics ]

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English

Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Black Betty had a child, bam-ba-lam
+
The damn thing gone wild, bam-ba-lam
+
She said, "I'm worryin' outta mind", bam-ba-lam
+
The damn thing gone blind, bam-ba-lam
+
I said, oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
She really gets me high, bam-ba-lam
+
You know that's no lie, bam-ba-lam
+
She's so rock steady, bam-ba-lam
+
And she's always ready, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Get it
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
She's from Birmingham, bam-ba-lam
+
Way down in Alabam', bam-ba-lam
+
Well, she's shakin' that thing, bam-ba-lam
+
Boy, she makes me sing, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
+
[ Correct these Lyrics ]
Writer: Huddie Ledbetter
Copyright: Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.




Ram Jam - Black Betty Video
(Show video at the top of the page)


• 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.
Performed by: Ram Jam
Genre(s): One Hit Wonder
Language: English
Length: 3:57
Written by: Huddie Ledbetter
Released: June 1st, 1977
Year: 1977
[Correct Info]
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