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ANDREW LENAHAN'S
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SONG LISTING

Ain't Got No... I Got Life
also known as
Ain't Got No / I Got Life
I Got Life

Credits

Words and music by Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Gal McDermot
Produced by Red Box
Arranged by the Famous Six
Engineered by the Chris Baylis
Published by United Partnership LTD

Lyrics

Ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, ain't got no class
Ain't got no skirts, ain't got no sweater
Ain't got no perfume, ain't got no bed
Ain't got no mind
Ain't got no mother, ain't got no culture
Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schooling
Ain't got no love, ain't got no name, 
ain't got no ticket, ain't got no talking,
Ain't got no call...

And what have I got
Why am I alive anyway
Yeah, what have I got
Nobody could take away

Got my hair, got my head, got my brains
Got my ears, got my eyes
Got my nose, got my mouth
I got my smile
I got my tongue, got my chin
Got my neck, got my boobies
Got my heart, got my soul
Got my back, I got my self
I got my arms, got my hands
Got my fingers, got my legs
Got my feet, got my toes
Got my liver
Got my blood, I got  life

I got my freedom
I got life
[repeats]

Lyrics Notes

The yellow text are the lyrics that are new to Red Box's version of this song.  Several lines are missing from the Nina Simone version, and the entire song is very different from the Hair musical version.  Probably the strangest difference is the substitution of "I got my sex" from Simone's version with "I got my self".  Could it be that Simon found "I got my sex" too embarrassing to sing, but apparently had no problem with "I got my boobies"?

Commentary

"The origins of Ain't Got No... I Got Life may seem slightly confusing at first glance.  The record sleeve states that it is from the musical Hair,  which is indeed true.  However, Red Box's version has much more in common with Nina Simone's well-known 1968 version of the same song than with the original from the musical.  So it's more of a Nina Simone cover than a Hair cover.
Now that we have that sorted out, how good is it?  This was one of the last original Red Box songs I heard, and it quickly became a favourite.  Few tracks can match this one for pure ebullient spirit.  It's also a great match-up with its a-side, For America."
-- Andrew Lenahan, 2003

Trivia

- The only Red Box song to contain the word "boobies".
- The second (and so far, last) Red Box song to be a cover of another artist, the first being Saskatchewan.

Discography Information

Ain't Got No... I Got Life
[two minutes,  forty-six seconds]
Appears on...
For America

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