UB40

Released: November 3, 2003

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: UB40

Holidays are comin', the kids are getting fat
Put another penny in the corporation hat
There's computer consolation now for every boy and girl
'Cause the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world

Sony in the nursery, no need to turn the page
The cartoon generation are soon to come of age
Virtual relationships untouched by human hands
Laying their foundation in the ever shifting sand

If politics is just for fools, equality a dream
Then you'd better wear protection so you never hear them scream

Animated babysitters always there to play
Will keep the undesirables a million miles away
Everything is changing but the song remains the same
Asylum has been locked away, the seekers has been framed

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.

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Hand That Rocks the CradleUB40

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