Eric Burdon: I Used To Be An Animal

(Jackson-Clark, Burdon, Bastow)

I want to tell you a story
Once upon a time
There were five young guys
Hanging in and out of Newcastle,
Playing Rhythm and Blues
They had nothing to lose
They didn't need that tin-pan hassle
Over the Reeperbahn where the beat was born
Shocking the heart of the nation
Sign of the times
A new search in life
Start of a new rock generation

From day one to kingdom come
I'd do it all again
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (whoa, oh)
But I'm all right now
All right now, baby

Twenty years ago we were children of war
But we danced to the Bo Diddley beat
There were rockers and mods,
We didn't take it too hard
We had blue suede shoes on our feet
A revolution in France and James Brown's dance
A new world coming our way
We'd talk that talk in the streets of New York
And never looked back to this day

From day one to the risin' sun
I'll do it all again
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (whoa, oh)
But I'm all right now
All right, all right, all right
Yeah, yeah, all right, whoa baby

We were flippin' and trippin'
And rockin' and rollin'
And generally havin' a ball
For the price of a drink
There was no time to think about the morality of it all
There was freaks and queens and love-ins and has-beens
Whisky-a-gogos and all night flamingos
A psychedelic explosion in slow motion,
Dr Strangelove's bomb

From day one to the risin' sun
I'll do it all again (whoa, oh, oh)
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (he used to be an animal)
I used to be an animal (whoa, oh)
But I'm all right now
All right, all right,
Yeah, yeah,
All right, all right,
I'm all right now...