In The Ghetto Cover

Original by Elvis Presley (1969)

"In the Ghetto" (originally titled "The Vicious Circle") is a 1969 song recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Mac Davis. It was a major hit released in 1969 as a part of Presley's comeback album with "Any Day Now" as the flip side.

A boy is born to a mother who already has more children than she can feed in a Chicago ghetto. The boy grows up hungry, learns how to steal and fight, purchases a gun and steals a car, tries to run, but is killed. The song ends with another child being born in the ghetto, and implies that the newborn could meet the same fate, continuing the cycle of poverty and violence. The feeling of an inescapable circle is created by the structure of the song, with its simple, stark phrasing; by the repetition of the phrase "in the ghetto" as the close of every fourth line; and finally by the repetition of the first verse's "and his mama cries" just before the beginning and as the close of the last verse. It is played in the key of B flat.

"In the Ghetto" was recorded during Presley's session in the American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It was Presley's first creative recording session since the Elvis '68 Comeback Special. Other hits recorded at this session were "Suspicious Minds", "Kentucky Rain", and "Don't Cry Daddy".

The song was published by Gladys Music, Inc., Elvis Presley's publishing company.

The song was Presley's first Top 10 hit in the United States in four years, peaking at number 3, and number 2 in Canada. It was his first UK Top 10 hit in three years, also peaking at No. 2. It hit No. 1 on Cashbox and No. 8 Easy Listening. It was a number-one hit in West Germany, Ireland, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.

As a major international hit, Presley included it in his setlist during his return to live performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in 1969. It was a staple of his shows in the first two seasons, however in his third (August/September 1970), he included it only once, at the dinner show on August 13, for the benefit of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cameras filming the documentary Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970). This version started without pause at the end of another hit from 1969, "Don't Cry Daddy".