One In Ten

UB 40 · The Very Best of UB40 [2000]

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.



(Chorus)



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



(Chorus)



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.



(Chorus)