The Temptations Ball of Confusion Lyrics:
[Norman:]
1, 2... 1, 2, 3, 4, Ow!
[Instrumental intro with "psychedlic sounds."]
[Eddie:]
People movin' out, people movin' in.
Why? Because of the color of their skin.
[Eddie & Melvin:]
Run, run, run but you sure can't hide.
[Eddie:]
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Vote for me and I'll set you free.
((Rap on, brother, rap on.))
[Dennis:]
Well, the only person talkin' about
Love thy brother is the ((preacher)).
And it seems nobody's interested
In learnin' but the ((teacher)).
Segregation, determination,
Demonstration, integration,
Aggravation, humiliation,
Obligation to our nation.
[All:]
Ball of confusion.
[Dennis:]
Oh, yeah, that's what the world is today.
(Ooo!) hey-ey.
[Paul:]
The sale of pills,
Are at an all time high.
Young folks walkin' 'round,
With their heads in the sky.
[Eddie:]
Cities ablaze in the summertime.
Oh-ahhh, the beat goes ((on)).
[Dennis:]
Evolution, revolution,
Gun control, the sound of soul.
[Eddie:]
Shootin' rockets to the moon,
Kids growin' up too soon.
[Dennis:]
Politicians say mo' taxes,
Will solve everything.
[Melvin:]
And the band played on.
[Short instrumental break.]
[All:]
(So), 'round and around and around we go.
Where the world's headed to, nobody knows.
[Instrumental break.]
[Dennis:]
Oh, great Googa-Mooga,
Can't you hear me talkin' to ya?
Just a ball of confusion.
Oh, yeah, that's what the world is today.
(Ooo!)(Yeah-yeh.)
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/PbTA ]
[Eddie:]
Fear in the air,
Tension everywhere.
Unemployment risin' fast,
The Beatles' new record's a gas.
[Paul:]
And the only safe place to live,
Is on an Indian reservation.
[Melvin:]
And the band played on.
[Dennis:]
Eve of destruction, tax deduction,
[Paul:]
City inspectors, bill collectors,
[All:]
Mod clothes in demand, population out of hand,
[Dennis:]
Suicide, too many bills.
Hippies movin' to the hills.
[Eddie:]
People all over the world
Are shoutin', "End the war."
[Melvin:]
And the band played on.
[Instrumental break.]
[Dennis:]
Great Googa-Mooga,
Can't you hear me talkin' to you.
It's a ((ball of confusion)).
That's what the world is today.
(Yeah-yeah.)
[Otis:]
wo, let me hear ya, let me hear ya,
Let me hear ya.
[Eddie:]
Ball of confusion.
(Oh-haaa.)
[Dennis:]
That's what the world is today, hey, hey."
[Eddie:)
Let me hear ya, let me hear ya,
Let me hear ya, let me hear ya,
Let me hear ya, ball of confusion.
[Fade.]
[All:]
That's what the world is today.
[BALL OF CONFUSTION (THAT'S WHAT THE WORLD IS TODAY)]
[Written by: Barrett Strong & Norman Whitfield]
[Performed by: The Temptations [1] -1970 [2] ]
[Produced by: Norman Whitfield [3] ]
[Appears on: Ball of Confusion (US EP)-1970 & (UK EP)-1970, Greatest Hits,
Vol. 2-1970 [4] , Anthology-1973 & 1975, 20 Golden Greats-1980, Emporers of
Soul-1994, Greatest Hits-1997, Millennium Edition-2000, Gold-2005, Live in
London (DVD)-2007, Playlist Your Way-2008, et al.]
[1] "Ball of Confusion" is one of the Temptations' most covered songs.
Notable Covers are, The Neville Brothers, Tina Turner, Love & Rockets,
Widespread Panic, Duran Duran, Anthrax, Forcefield, Edwin Starr, The
Undiputed Truth, Tesla (on Reel to Reel), Whoopie Goldberg (et al. in the
movie, Sister Act), Sampled on UNKLE's Never, Never Land album in the song,
"Eye for Eye," amongst others.]
[2] Lead vocals: Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Melvin
Franklin. Background vocals: Dennis Edwards (tenor), Eddie Kendricks
(tenor), Paul Williams (tenor), Melvin Franklin (bass), and Otis Williams
(baritone). Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers (Bob Babbitt provides the
baseline for the intro). When they first saw the sheet music for this song,
all but Dennis Edwards thought they wouldn't be able to pull off the
rapid-fire delivery required. So Dennis was assigned the difficult lines.]
[3] Norman Witfield's dramatic count at the start of every recording for
synching purposes only, was left in the mix for this record.]
[4] Transcribed from the track on this album.]
Lyrics: Ball of Confusion, The Temptations [end] 