Tonight’s song is a sad one, and a serious one. It begins on a cold, grey morning in Chicago, when a baby boy is born in a very poor family.
Learn from Songs · Unit 2: Past time · B1
In the Ghetto
Elvis Presley’s great song about poverty and a circle that never ends: retelling a present-tense story in the past, the past simple of irregular verbs, was born, and linking cause and result (because, so, as a result), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Is it a true story?
SOPHIA
Not one boy’s story, but the story of many. The writer asks a hard question: if nobody helps a hungry child, what will he become?
PHILO
That is a question for every city, ours too.
Before you listen: the song
Memphis, 1969
In January 1969, Elvis Presley went into a small studio in Memphis, Tennessee, to make his first recordings there since the 1950s. The songs were new and serious, and they brought him back to the top of the charts.
“In the Ghetto” was written by the young songwriter Mac Davis, who grew up in Texas and remembered a poor neighbourhood near his home. Its first title was “The Vicious Circle”. Elvis was worried that a song about poverty might not suit him, but he recorded it, and it reached number three in America and number two in Britain.
The song tells its story in the present tense. Retold in the past: a baby was born in a poor family. His mother already had too many children to feed. He grew up hungry, learned to steal and fight, and his life ended young and violently. At the same moment, another baby was born, and the circle began again.
A hungry child is everybody’s business.
Listen: the circle
PHILO
Listen once. Where does the story begin? Where does it end? Why is it a circle?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🏙️ Listen to the song: “In the Ghetto” (Mac Davis, 1969), sung by Elvis Presley.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “In the Ghetto”, Elvis Presley.Read the lyrics →
Retelling in the past
MARCOS
The song says: a baby is born. We retell: a baby was born. The song says: he grows up. We retell: he grew up.
SOPHIA
Songs and jokes often tell stories in the present to make them feel close. When we report or retell, we usually move them into the past simple.
Was born; irregular verbs
DEMETRIA
He was born in Chicago. He grew up, he learned, he stole, he ran.
SOPHIA
be born is always passive: I was born in 2012, never “I born”. And learn the story verbs: grow → grew, steal → stole, run → ran, buy → bought, begin → began.
Because, so, as a result
PHILO
He was hungry, so he stole. He stole because he was hungry. Nobody helped him. As a result, he became angry.
SOPHIA
because + reason; so + result; As a result at the start of a new sentence. Because of + noun: because of hunger.
Sophia’s comparison: the corners of the field
PHILO
The Law tells farmers not to harvest the corners of their fields, and to leave what falls on the ground, for the poor and the stranger. Hunger is everybody’s business.
SOPHIA
And Solon, the lawgiver of Athens, said that a father who did not teach his son a trade could not ask that son to look after him when he was old. A child must be given a way to live.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present → past simple | retelling a story | he grows up → he grew up |
| was / were born | birth (passive) | He was born in Chicago. |
| grew, stole, ran, bought, began | irregular verbs | He grew up hungry. |
| because / because of | reason | because he was hungry / because of hunger |
| so / as a result | result | He was hungry, so he stole. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where does the story begin?
2. What was the mother’s problem?
3. What did the boy learn on the streets?
4. Why is the song a circle?
5. Who wrote the song?
6. What was its first title?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He born in Chicago.
8. He up hungry. (grow)
9. He stole he was hungry.
10. He was hungry, he stole.
11. He couldn’t study because hunger.
12. Then the circle again. (begin)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I born in 2012.”
14. “He was hungry, so he stole bread.”
15. “He stealed a car.”
16. “Because of the cold, they stayed inside.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Break the circle. In groups, choose three moments in the boy’s life when someone could have helped him. What could they have done? Retell the story with a happy ending.
Discuss. 1. Whose job is it to help poor children: families, neighbours, churches and synagogues, or the government? 2. Can music change how people think? 3. Why did Elvis worry about recording this song?
Write (100–120 words). Retell the song as a news report in the past simple. Use was born, because, so, as a result.
Now play the gamebook: a hungry boy, a loaf of bread, and a choice.Play the gamebook →