Artist: The Animals Album:--Released as a single-- Song: We Gotta Get Outta This Place Year: 1965 Top Chart Position: #13

In this dirty old part of the city Where the sun refused to shine People tell me there ain't no use in tryin' Now my girl you're so young and pretty And one thing I know is true You'll be dead before your time is due, I know Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin' Watched his hair been turnin' grey He's been workin' and slavin' his life away Oh yes I know it (Yeah!) He's been workin' so hard (Yeah!) I've been workin' too, baby (Yeah!) Every night and day (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) We gotta get out of this place If it's the last thing we ever do We gotta get out of this place 'cause girl, there's a better life for me and you Now my girl you're so young and pretty And one thing I know is true, yeah You'll be dead before your time is due, I know it Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin' Watched his hair been turnin' grey, yeah He's been workin' and slavin' his life away I know he's been workin' so hard (Yeah!) I've been workin' too, baby (Yeah!) Every day baby (Yeah!) Whoa! (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) We gotta get out of this place If it's the last thing we ever do We gotta get out of this place Girl, there's a better life for me and you Somewhere baby, somehow I know it We gotta get out of this place If it's the last thing we ever do We gotta get out of this place Girl, there's a better life for me and you Believe me baby I know it baby You know it too

First off, Eric Bourdon puts Mick Jagger to shame as a stage performer. End of story. Unfortunately, their brilliant career only lasted about four and a half years. In their short lived career, Eric Bourdon and The Animals turned out some great tunes which dealt with some tough issues. We Gotta Get Outta This Place is one of these tunes. It was made very famous by the Vietnam conflict, where it became known as the GIs’ Vietnam Anthem. However, it is not a protest song, and it really has nothing to do with Vietnam. It is about a man and his daughter trying to survive in the hostile world in which reside so they can move on, start over, and live the life they can only dream of.