UB40

Released: May 29, 1981

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: Bob Lamb Ray “Pablo” Falconer UB40

I am a one in ten, a number on a list
I am a one in ten, even though i don't exist
Nobody knows me, but im always there
A statistic, a reminder of a world that doesn't care

My arms enfold the dole queue
Malnutrition dulls my hair
My eyes are black and lifeless
With an underprivileged stare
I'm the beggar on the corner
Will no-one spare a dime
I'm the child that never learns to read
Because no one spared the time

I am a one in ten a number on a list
I am a one in ten even though i don't exist
Nobody knows me, but im always there
A statistic a reminder of a world that doesn't care

I'm the murderer and the victim
The licence with the gun
I'm a sad and bruised old lady
In an ally in a slum
I'm a middle aged businessman
With chronic heart disease
I'm another teenage suicide
In a street that has no trees

I am a one in ten a number on a list
I am a one in ten even though i don't exist
Nobody knows me, but im always there
A statistic a reminder of a world that doesn't care

I'm a starving third world mother
A refugee without a home
I'm a house wife hooked on Valium
I'm a Pensioner alone
I'm a cancer ridden spectre
Covering the earth
I'm another hungry baby
I'm an accident of birth

I am a one in ten a number on a list
I am a one in ten even though i don't exist
Nobody knows me, but im always there
A statistic a reminder of a world that doesn't care

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

Little Baggariddim (EP)

From the albums

UB40 popular songs

One in TenUB40

UB40

Little Baggariddim (EP)