Childhood part of my life
Wasn't very pretty
(Boom boom-boom boom)
I was born and raised
In the slums of the city
(Boom boom-boom boom)
It was a one-room shack
That slept ten other children beside me
(Boom boom-boom boom)
We hardly had enough food
Or room to sleep
(Boom boom-boom boom)
It was hard times
I needed somethin' to ease my troubled mind
Ooh listen
My father didn't know the meaning of work
(Boom boom-boom boom)
He disrespected mama
And treated us like dirt
(Boom boom-boom boom)
I left home seeking a job
That I never did find
(Boom boom-boom boom)
Depressed and down-hearted
And I took to cloud nine
(Boom boom-boom boom)
I'm doing fine
Up here on cloud nine
Listen one more time
I'm doing fine
Up here on cloud nine
Folks down there tell me
"Give yourself a chance son
Don't let life pass you by"
(Woo woo woo-oo)
But the world around you's a rat race
Where only the strongest survive
It's a dog-eat-dog world
And that ain't no lie
(Ain't no lie)
It ain't even safe no more
To walk the streets at night
I'm doing fine
On cloud nine
Every body say yeah yeah say yeah yeah say yeah yeah