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Blood Brothers
Ken Boothe Lyrics

Growing up on the streets of Birmingham
Where your home was pouring and your life was damned
I was a hungry black boy living with the world on my back
Billie was a white man's son living in a one room shack

And split those days in the Alabama heat
We shared what we had but we never have enough to eat
Mamma said it didn't look right, black just don't mix with white
But Billy was my friend and we swore one rainy night

To be blood brother
Lord, I loved him like no other
We were blood brother right to the end
To the end, well, well, well

Turned eighteen and we had no place to go
'Cause how long can you watch carnival
Billy said he got the money, put us on the first Greyhound bus
New York City lights gonna be greetin' us

Oh, the uptown life can cost you poverty
We're too amused but we suffered in dignity
Billy couldn't take nine to five, his soul can't stay alive
He said to me one day, we ain't gonna beat the crime

You're my blood brother
And I loved him like no other
We were blood brother right till the end
Well, well, well, yeah

So I watched him change as the days went by
And the money rolled in, we were livin' high
He didn't have to tell me he was breakin' the law
I knew it was him, the men was lookin' for

And the story goes that he caught a knife
And he pushed his luck and it cost his life
I sat down and I cried on that rainy night
When I heard heard it on the news
One [Incomprehensible] had died

We were blood brother
And I loved him like no other
He was my blood brother
And I loved him like no other

They were blood brother
And he loved him like no other
They were blood brother
And he loved him like no other

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRIAN POTTER, DENNIS EARLE LAMBERT

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Ken Boothe's (born 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica) is known as "Mr Rocksteady" for his prominence during the musical period 1966-1974 and was a major idol for the to-be members of UB40. Boothe started by recording a version of Sandie Shaw's "Puppet on a String" in 1967. Later the same year, Boothe and Alton Ellis had a successful U.K. tour with the group The Soul Vendors. Under new direction from record producer Lloyd Chalmers, the song "Everything I Own" surprisingly was Number One in the UK in 1974. Read Full BioKen Boothe's (born 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica) is known as "Mr Rocksteady" for his prominence during the musical period 1966-1974 and was a major idol for the to-be members of UB40. Boothe started by recording a version of Sandie Shaw's "Puppet on a String" in 1967. Later the same year, Boothe and Alton Ellis had a successful U.K. tour with the group The Soul Vendors. Under new direction from record producer Lloyd Chalmers, the song "Everything I Own" surprisingly was Number One in the UK in 1974. The song, written by David Gates, was given a sympathetic light reggae feel and found instant favour in the West Indies and in the U.K.

Boothe seemed, at the time, to have the makings of an international, long-lasting, hit maker, certainly when compared to most of the other latter-day reggae acts. His smoother style gave him a wider appeal, rather like UB40 and Aswad. Boothe's choice of songs also showed the breadth of his musical taste. But for all that, he only managed one more hit in the UK Chart, "Crying over You", which made Number 11.

In more recent times, Boothe has also recorded for Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, King Jammy, Pete Weston, Jack Ruby, Hugh "Red Man" James, Castro Brown, and Tappa Zukie. Plus in 1995, he teamed up with Shaggy, for a new styled version of his old track, "The Train Is Coming", which appeared on the soundtrack of the film, Money Train.

A double-disc overview of Boothe's Trojan years, Crying over You, was released by the label in 2001.

Boothe's official Web site is at www.kenboothemusic.com