Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)

Album: The Ultimate Collection (1970)
Charted: 7 3
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  • One, two, one, two, three, four, ow

    People moving out, people moving in
    Why, because of the color of their skin
    Run, run, run but you sure can't hide

    An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
    Vote for me and I'll set you free
    Rap on, brother, rap on

    Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher
    And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher
    Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration
    Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation

    Ball of confusion
    Oh yeah, that's what the world is today
    Woo, hey, hey

    The sale of pills are at an all time high
    Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky
    The cities ablaze in the summer time

    And oh, the beat goes on

    Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul
    Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon
    Politicians say more taxes will solve everything

    And the band played on

    So, round and around and around we go
    Where the world's headed, nobody knows

    Oh, great googa-looga, can't you hear me talking to you
    Just a ball of confusion
    Oh yeah, that's what the world is today
    Woo, hey

    Fear in the air, tension everywhere
    Unemployment rising fast, the Beatles new record's a gas

    And the only safe place to live is on an Indian reservation

    And the band played on

    Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors
    Mod clothes in demand, population out of hand, suicide, too many bills
    Hippies moving to the hills, people all over the world are shouting, end the war

    And the band played on

    Great googa-looga, can't you hear me talking to you
    Sayin' ball of confusion
    That's what the world is today, hey, hey

    Let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya
    Sayin', ball of confusion
    That's what the world is today, hey, hey
    Let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya
    Ball of confusion Writer/s: Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

  • Julie from DmvI've always loved this song. My kids know it because Motown us all listen to but I just read the words to them because they're so relevant today!! Wow! God help us!
  • Major from Lost In ArkansasIf ever a 'song' that ALL can\could relate 2...itz Ball of Confusion...
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm
    Dennis Edwards, who sang on Temptations hits like "Ball Of Confusion", "I Can't Get Next To You", "Cloud Nine" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", died Friday (February 2nd 2018) in Chicago while rehabilitating from an aneurysm. The Fairfield, Alabama native was one day shy of his 75th birthday.
    The Edwards family moved to Detroit when Dennis was 10 and he began singing with the Mighty Clouds of Joy gospel group there. In 1961 he recorded a local secular single, but gave up music temporarily while serving in the military. In 1966 he auditioned for Motown Records, where he was placed on retainer and sang for awhile with the Contours. He then moved on to the Temptations, where he replaced the troubled David Ruffin. Dennis himself was released by the group in 1977 but returned three years later (though he was let go on two more occasions). In recent years he has toured as the "Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards", a splinter group of the originals. He was married briefly to Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters. Dennis was inducted along with the Temptations into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
    May he R.I.P.
  • Markantney from BiloxeMay 2015, I like this song (a lot) but many others of theirs I like more but they don't get enough credit (them, Motown,...) for this song is a huge departure from their reps.

    Yet the song is arranged/performed like all their other hits but this one is singing about serious issues outside of Love and Romance.
  • Jorge from Sunrise, FlPlayed this for my daughter : She told me " This is about all the problems today!" well....
  • Tony from Vienna, WvConfusion, mixed up minds, political unrest, war, taxes, racism, fighting, hate, love, tears, religion, anti-religion, and joy. What else can be said. Norman Whitfield wrote a song of the time and he could not have found a better group to record it. Jump in, jump out, all there was to do was play on!
  • Charlie from Nyc, Nygreat song by the temptations. great beat and lyrics.
  • Jay from Brooklyn, NyI am shocked that no one else has commented on this song, because it is one of the Temptations' greatest. Ball of Confusion is chaotic: a singer darts in with a few lines - or a few words - before another singer comes in to take his place and the lyrics jump from theme to theme in a disjointed manner. The song is utterly insane and perfectly displays what so many people were feeling in the late sixties and what many people are feeling today.
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