• Say Boss Man
    Lyrics By:
    Music By:

    I got nineteen kids and all got to eat
    Eighteen of them need shoes on their feet
    Boss man, can't you see?
    All nineteen kids I got to feed
    Oh, oh-oh-oh oh
    Oh, oh-oh-oh oh

    Early this morning there's a knock on the door
    Don't pay the rent, boy, you got to go
    Three days, three months in arrears
    Five days notice you move away from here

    Work all day and the overtime
    Nineteen kids drive you out of my mind
    Oh, oh-oh-oh oh
    Oh, oh-oh-oh oh

    Place I used to work, they went on sack
    No use trying, they'll never take me back

    This was played when the Dead backed Bo Diddley on 25 March 1972. "Eighteen Children" is the title used on almost all tapes and setlists, but David Blakey and Matt Schofield have now identified it as "Say Boss Man" - recorded on the Bo Diddley box set.

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This was played when the Dead backed Bo Diddley on 25 March 1972. "Eighteen Children" is the title used on almost all tapes and setlists, but David Blakey and Matt Schofield have now identified it as "Say Boss Man" - recorded on the Bo Diddley box set.

Lyrics By
Bo Diddley
Music By
Bo Diddley
Lyrics

I got nineteen kids and all got to eat
Eighteen of them need shoes on their feet
Boss man, can't you see?
All nineteen kids I got to feed
Oh, oh-oh-oh oh
Oh, oh-oh-oh oh

Early this morning there's a knock on the door
Don't pay the rent, boy, you got to go
Three days, three months in arrears
Five days notice you move away from here

Work all day and the overtime
Nineteen kids drive you out of my mind
Oh, oh-oh-oh oh
Oh, oh-oh-oh oh

Place I used to work, they went on sack
No use trying, they'll never take me back