- published: 06 May 2013
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"One in Ten" is a single by UB40 released in 1981 on their second album Present Arms. It reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
The song title refers to the number 9.6, being the percentage of the local workforce claiming unemployment benefit in the West Midlands in the summer of 1981 when the song was released.
In 1992, English electronic act 808 State remixed and released "One in Ten" as a single, credited as 808 State vs. UB40. This version reached #17 on the UK chart.
Music video by UB40 performing One in Ten. Digital Remaster (P) 2002 The copyright in this audiovisual recording is owned by Virgin Records Ltd
an extended version of the hit ONE IN TEN, released in the ''present arms'' and ''present arms in dub'' albums
A Zang Tuum Tumb original: 808 State's One In Ten. (C) ZTT Records, 1992. OUT NOW: 808 State Deluxe Reissues - more info at http://www.ztt.com
Regal Theatre Hitchin, UK 19 January 1983
I am the one in ten
A number on a list
I am the one in ten
Even though I don`t exist
Nobody Knows me
Even though I`m always there
A statistic, a reminder
Of a world that doesn`t care
My arms enfold the dole queue
Malnutrition dulls my hair
My eyes are black and lifeless
With an underprivileged stare
I`m the beggar on the corner
Will no-one spare a dime?
I`m the child that never learns to read
`Cause no-one spared the time
[Chorus]
I`m the murderer and the victim
The licence with the gun
I`m a sad and bruised old lady
In an ally in a slum
I`m a middle aged businessman
With chronic heart disease
I`m another teenaged suicide
In a street that has no trees
[Chorus]
I`m a starving third world mother
A refugee without a home
I`m a house wife hooked on Valium
I`m a Pensioner alone
I`m a cancer ridden spectre
Covering the earth
I`m another hungry baby