UB40

Released: June 30, 1997

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: UB40

We were partners in crime
Spending our days, serving our time
In the usual way
We went behind the lines
To even the score
I won the battle but you won the war

I used to be a gun for hire
Then I was killed by friendly fire
I used to be a real high flyer
Then I was killed by friendly fire

A shot rang out
And knocked me flat
Ain't no coming back from a lick like that
I never saw it coming, it came out of the blue
I never did believe my assassin would be you

I got the message down the wire
That I was killed by friendly fire
I used to be a gun for hire
Then I was killed by friendly fire

UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. UB40 have sold over 70 million records. The ethnic make-up of the band’s original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Yemeni parentage.

Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought”, “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”. Their two most successful albums, Labour of Love (1983) and Promises and Lies (1993), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

On January 24, 2008, it was announced that Ali Campbell would be leaving the group after 30 years. It was reported by some Birmingham newspapers on 13 March 2008, that Maxi Priest would be the new lead singer of UB40 and had recorded a cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” with the band.

more tracks from the album

Guns in the Ghetto

From the album

Guns in the Ghetto (1997)

UB40 popular songs

Friendly FireUB40

UB40

Guns in the Ghetto