Tina Turner

Released: May 29, 1984

Songwriter: Paul Brady

Producer: John Carter

[Intro]
It's the story of a steel claw

[Verse 1]
It's just a television wonderland
Just one more
Fairy tale about some rich bitch
Lying by the swimming pool
Life is so cruel
Easy living when you make the rules
Last Friday was the first time
It took only about half a minute
On the stairway
It was child's play
The odds turn out even
When you give up believing in the

[Chorus]
Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board you find the lock is on the door
Well I say no way, no way!
Don't try to get out or there'll be hell to pay
I don't know who's right, who's wrong
But it really doesn't matter when you're lying in the gutter
It's a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw

[Verse 2]
The politicians have forgotten this place
Except for flying visits in a black Mercedes
At election time
They cross the line
And everybody runs to watch the pantomime
If they could see what's going on around here
So many people hanging on the edge
Crying out for revolution
Retribution
The odds turn out even
When you give up believing in the

[Chorus]
Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board you find the lock is on the door
Well I say no way, no way!
Don't try to get out or there'll be hell to pay
I don't know who's right, who's wrong
But it really doesn't matter when you're lying in the gutter
It's a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw

[Bridge]
Sometimes I think I'm going crazy
Sometimes I do a line, makes me laugh
Makes me want to take a joyride
On the high tide
Sometimes I'm contemplating suicide
Meanwhile Eddy's on the West Coast now
He's making out with some sweet señorita
Up in 'Frisco, you and I know
The odds turn out even
When you give up believing in the

[Chorus]
Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board you find the lock is on the door
Well I say no way, no way!
Don't try to get out or there'll be hell to pay
I don't know who's right, who's wrong
But it really doesn't matter when you're lying in the gutter
It's a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw
It's cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board you find the lock is on the door
Well I say no way, no way!
Cold law
When you give up believing in the cold law, steel claw

Often dubbed the Queen of Rock & Roll, Tina Turner is arguably among the most iconic of female divas in history, with her prolific career and memorable personality as a performer and a public figure. Hailing from a small town in Tennessee, and born Anna Mae Bullock, Turner has cemented herself as one of music’s greatest entertainers.

Turner’s career in music arose from her frequenting of nightclubs near St. Louis, where she would meet her soon-to-be husband Ike Turner, who would also give her the alias “Tina”. With Ike, she would form the famous Ike And Tina Turner Revue. A dynamic, explosive R&B ensemble, the two became the definition of the genre in the late 60s and early 70s, where R&B/Soul had only tiptoed into the realms of the mainstream. A particularly influential act in popularizing the genre, the Revue went on to release some of music’s most memorable and iconic tracks – a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary”, the Phil Spector-penned “River Deep – Mountain High”, and the electric “Nutbush City Limits”. After a host of drug and abuse problems on Ike’s part, with the male Turner eventually engaging in a violent altercation with his wife, Tina decided to leave her husband for the solo life – and it worked.

As a solo artist, with the help of fellow artists like glam rocker David Bowie, Turner tumbled into mainstream success in the 80s with the only number-one hit of her career – the unconquerable love ballad “What’s Love Got To Do With It” as part of her debut solo album, Private Dancer.

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Private Dancer

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Private Dancer (1984)

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