About The Song
Released on June 23, 1969, as the second single from her fourth solo studio album My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, “In the Ghetto” gave Dolly Parton an early opportunity to reinterpret a contemporary hit. The album itself arrived on October 11 through RCA Victor and was produced by Bob Ferguson at RCA Studio B in Nashville. Parton recorded the three-minute track on June 2 during sessions that mixed originals with outside material, pairing it with “The Bridge” on the B-side. The cover came just months after Elvis Presley’s version had climbed the pop charts, placing Parton in the unusual position of tackling a song still fresh in the public ear.
By mid-1969 Parton had already built a solid solo catalog while maintaining her high-profile duet partnership with Porter Wagoner on his syndicated television show. My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy reached number six on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and reflected her growing confidence in blending mountain storytelling with broader themes. Ferguson kept the production acoustic and understated, allowing Parton’s clear soprano to lead without heavy orchestration, a style consistent with her early RCA releases even as she experimented with crossover material.
The song originated with Mac Davis, who wrote it under the working title “The Vicious Circle” before Elvis Presley recorded it in January 1969 at American Sound Studio in Memphis. Presley’s version became a major comeback hit, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Parton, an RCA labelmate of Elvis, chose the track for its powerful narrative and recorded her take shortly after its release, bringing her own Appalachian perspective to the urban story of poverty and broken cycles.
Parton’s softer, more empathetic delivery emphasized heartbreak and quiet resignation rather than dramatic intensity. The arrangement featured gentle acoustic guitar, steel, and subtle backing that highlighted the lyrics without overpowering them. Contemporary observers noted how her warm vocal approach made the song feel personal, even though the Chicago ghetto setting was far removed from her East Tennessee mountain roots.
The single debuted at number seventy-three on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated July 26 and climbed to a peak of number fifty on September 6. It spent time on the survey without reaching the upper ranks, yet its inclusion on the album and later compilations such as The Best of Dolly Parton helped introduce the track to a wider country audience. The modest chart showing reflected the challenge of covering a recent pop success while staying true to her traditional-leaning sound.
In the lyrics a mother gives birth to a son in the ghetto amid hardship and despair. The boy grows up facing the same poverty and temptation that claimed others before him, eventually turning to crime and meeting a violent end. The song closes with another child being born on the same day, underscoring the endless cycle. Parton sings the story with quiet compassion, framing the tragedy as a human one rather than a distant social commentary.
Over time the track has been praised for its sincerity and for illustrating Parton’s early skill as an interpreter of outside material. It stood as one of several 1969 recordings that showed her willingness to step beyond mountain themes while remaining rooted in honest storytelling. Decades later it remains a lesser-known but heartfelt entry in her catalog, capturing a moment when she bridged her traditional background with the broader social narratives emerging in country music at the end of the 1960s.
Video
Lyric
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
‘Cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It’s another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
(In the ghetto)
People, can’t you understand
A child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see
Or do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
While the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
(In the ghetto)
And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
He learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
(In the ghetto)
Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun and he steals a car
And he tries to run, but he don’t get far
And his mama cries
(In the ghetto)
As a crowd gathers ’round
An angry young man
Face down on the street
With a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
(In the ghetto)
And her young man dies (in the ghetto)
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
(In the ghetto)
And his mama cries
(In the ghetto)
(Oh)