Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)
Black betty had a child (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone wild (bam-A-lam)
She said "I'm worrin' outta my mind" (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone blind (bam-A-lam)
I said oh black betty (bam-A-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She really gets me high (bam-BA-lam)
You know that's no lie (bam-BA-lam)
She's so rock steady (bam-BA-lam)
She's always ready (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She's from birmingham (bam-BA-lam)
Way down in alabam' (bam-BA-lam)
Well' shes shakin' that thing (bam-BA-lam)
Boy she makes me sing (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty
BAM-BA-LAM
Ram Jam - Black Betty Lyrics
Ram Jam - Black Betty Lyrics
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Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)
Black betty had a child (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone wild (bam-A-lam)
She said "I'm worrin' outta my mind" (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone blind (bam-A-lam)
I said oh black betty (bam-A-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She really gets me high (bam-BA-lam)
You know that's no lie (bam-BA-lam)
She's so rock steady (bam-BA-lam)
She's always ready (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She's from birmingham (bam-BA-lam)
Way down in alabam' (bam-BA-lam)
Well' shes shakin' that thing (bam-BA-lam)
Boy she makes me sing (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty
BAM-BA-LAM
Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)
Black betty had a child (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone wild (bam-A-lam)
She said "I'm worrin' outta my mind" (bam-A-lam)
The damn thing gone blind (bam-A-lam)
I said oh black betty (bam-A-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She really gets me high (bam-BA-lam)
You know that's no lie (bam-BA-lam)
She's so rock steady (bam-BA-lam)
She's always ready (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She's from birmingham (bam-BA-lam)
Way down in alabam' (bam-BA-lam)
Well' shes shakin' that thing (bam-BA-lam)
Boy she makes me sing (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
Whoa, black betty
BAM-BA-LAM
• This was originally a 20th-century African-American work song, popularized by Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter before his death in 1949.
• Civil rights groups NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality called for a boycott of the song when Ram Jam released it, because they felt the lyrics were disrespectful to black women.
• Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th-century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock. In this interpretation:
- The "bam-ba-lam" lyric refers to the sound of the gunfire.
- Soldiers in the field were said to be "hugging Black Betty".
- The child in the song is likely referring to the bullet.
- "that child is wild" meaning the bullet didn't always go where it should.
- "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit, friend or foe.
- "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child
- "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head".
- The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
Performed By:
Ram Jam• Civil rights groups NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality called for a boycott of the song when Ram Jam released it, because they felt the lyrics were disrespectful to black women.
• Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th-century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock. In this interpretation:
- The "bam-ba-lam" lyric refers to the sound of the gunfire.
- Soldiers in the field were said to be "hugging Black Betty".
- The child in the song is likely referring to the bullet.
- "that child is wild" meaning the bullet didn't always go where it should.
- "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit, friend or foe.
- "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child
- "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head".
- The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
Genre(s): One Hit Wonder
Released: June 1st, 1977
Year: 1977