UB40

Released: June 30, 1997

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: UB40

Daddy don't go out tonight
Just stay home till morning light
Me and mamma don't feel right
Please hold us tight
Daddy why did you go to work
When you know just how much we love you so
Please come back tomorrow

Chorus

They're giving out guns in the ghetto
They're saying they will set you free
One day I'll have children of my own
But I'm afraid they won't have me

Mamma, is daddy home
Why are you crying all alone
Grandma's tears have turned to stone
And I'm all alone

Mamma isn't daddy back
I'm getting scared and that's a fact
Why are we all dressed like that
All in black

Repeat chorus

Daddy don't go out tonight
Please stay home till morning light
Me and mamma don't feel right
Please hold us tight

Daddy why did you go to work
When you know just how much we love you so
Please come back tomorrow

Repeat chorus

Mamma, is daddy home
Why are you crying all alone
Grandma's tears have turned to stone
And I'm chilled to the bone

Mamma isn't daddy back
I'm getting scared and that's a fact
Why are we all dressed like that
All in black

Repeat chorus four times

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

Guns in the GhettoUB40

UB40

Guns in the Ghetto