UB40

Released: July 28, 1986

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: UB40

Chorus)

I don't like the work but true i need the money
My life is like a joke but to me is isn't funny
People all around, telling me what to do
And all I want to do is stay at home with you

Time after time I say to myself
Working all my life isn't good for my health
Get old, get tired, get put on the shelf
I do all the work, someone else gets all the wealth
Wish I was on an island in the sun
Where I wouldn't have to worry how to get things done

(Chorus)
Day after day becomes more of a grind
Bills pile up, moneys harder to find
Trying to get ahead money's harder to find
If I don't give it up I'm gonna lose my mind
Wish I was on an Island in the sun
Where I wouldn't have to worry how to get things done

(Chorus)

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

Rat in the Kitchen

From the album

Rat in the Kitchen (1986)

UB40 popular songs

All I Want to DoUB40

UB40

Rat in the Kitchen