(ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)
 
 (la-la-la-la-la-la-la, ...)
 
 
 
 I was born, raised in a ghetto
 
 I was born and raised in a ghetto, a haha
 
 I'm a woman, of the ghetto
 
 Won't you listen, won't you listen to me, legislator
 
 
 
 (ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)
 
 
 
 How do you raise your kids in a ghetto
 
 How do you raise your kids in a ghetto
 
 Do you feed one child and starve another
 
 Won't you tell me, legislator
 
 
 
 Enthralled through
 
 I know that my eyes ain't blue
 
 But you see I'm a woman
 
 Of the ghetto
 
 
 
 I'm proud, free,
 
 Black that is me
 
 Yeah I'm a woman of the ghetto
 
 
 
 (ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)
 
 
 
 How does your heart feel late at night
 
 How does your heart feel late at night
 
 Does it beat with shame, a haha 
 
 And does it beat with pride
 
 Won't you tell me, tell me, legislator
 
 
 
 (na-na-na-na-na-na-na, ...)
 
 ging, a haha
 
 ging
 
 
 
 Puts me in the mind of
 
 come and cross the water 
 
 In a boat a ha 
 
 Chained, tied, together
 
 
 
 They said, no, no, they're really not man, and women
 
 just chain 'em up, tie 'em up, chain 'em up, tie 'em up
 
 chain 'em up, tie 'em up, work, work, work
 
 There's where the movement came from
 
 
 
 Say no, no
 
 
 
 My children learned just the same as yours
 
 As long as nobody tries to close the door
 
 They cry with pain when the knife cuts deep
 
 They even close their eyes when they wanna sleep
 
 
 
 Now peace, you say
 
 is all that you ask
 
 But self-respect is a separate task
 
 
 
 You may be sitting up there
 
 in your ivory tower
 
 60 stories tall
 
 
 
 I know that you may have checked out at least one ghetto
 
 But I wonder have you lived there at all
 
 
 
 Places like Watts,
 
 ah, Holland, tell me
 
 Chicago, ah tell me
 
 Washington got some too
 
 I have been up on the mountains, I
 
 
 
 And I'm free at last
 
 I say I'm free at last
 
 I've seen 
 
 The children dying
 
 And I've been one of the mothers who was crying
 
 
 
 (ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)
 
 
 
 I am a woman
 
 I am a woman
 
 I am a woman, yes I
 
 I said that I am
 
 I mean that I am
 
 I'm the woman 
 
 I'm the woman 
 
 I'm the woman of the ghetto
 
 
 
 Strong, true,
 
 A woman
 
 A woman
 
 
 
 You can walk through the streets of the ghetto at night
 
 Whole lotta pretty
 
 some ugly sites
 
 Along comes the sleek limousine
 
 Say hey baby I got ten
 
 Look at me, I'm clean
 
 So she takes a little dope
 
 What the hell everybody got to go
 
 
 
 I got a baby
 
 I got a baby
 
 I got a baby i want to feed and I'm not really giving it all
 
 up, just a little ten-cent piece or two
 
 Ah, the black woman
 
 
 
 But I ain't gonna raise your babies no more
 
 I got a few on my own
 
 I wanna keep strolling
 
 I say I am a woman
 
 
 
 gi-gi-gi-gi-ging, I am
 
 
 
 I
 
 I am
 
 I am
 
 
 
 Remember me
 
 I'm the one who had your babies, I
 
 
 
 gi-gi-gi-gi-ging, I am
 
 I am
 
 I am a woman
 
 Of the ghetto
 
 
 
 Woman,
 
 I'm a woman, yeah yeah yeah
 
 Just a woman