You know I was in New York City a few months ago
And the garbage and the trash men were on strike
I'm tellin', the maintenance people of the city
What they were tryin' to do was

They were tryin' to get a little more money
You know, get a little raise in pay
But at that particular time the city was broke
They were about ready to declare default

I tell you, the garbage in some places
Was stacked up two, three stories high
At night, ha ha, boy, at night it weren't even safe to walk the street
'Cause they caught the rats, the roaches and the water bugs
I mean they were hustlin', baby, tryin' to get somethin' to eat, see?

And let met tell you somethin' it was stinkin'
And it was all kind of diseases in there, you know?
But it only brought to mind the fact that
You can no longer depend on the man downtown
To take your business like he's supposed to
When he's supposed to

If all of us would get it like it's supposed to be
As far as cleanliness, you know and safety
We gotta get together and do it for ourselves
That's the only way it's gonna be done
And you know what I'm talkin' about?
Let me tell you what I mean

Clean it up, clean it up, well, y'all
Clean it up, clean it up, you gotta get it
Clean it up, clean it up, yes, gonna get it
Clean it up, clean it up
Ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto, ghetto is our home
That's where we live, where we live

Get your paint, fetch your hammer, your nails
Get your brooms, your mop and your pail
We're gonna wash it, polish and make it all clean

Let's wash away all of the sins
Time for a new life to begin in the ghetto
I said clean it up, clean it up
I said we're gonna clean it up, clean it up
Because the ghetto, I said the ghetto, ghetto is our home
That's where we live, where we live

Let's paint the signs everybody can read
Let's get rid of everything we don't need
Pushers, the dealers
The pocket book snatchers and thieves, aha

Let's make the streets safe for women to walk
Let's get rid of all the foul talk
We gonna do it and all of us shall survive

I said we're gonna clean it up, clean it up, do it
We, we got to clean it up, clean it up, hey
Ghetto, said the ghetto, ghetto, ghetto is our home
That's where we live from day to day, where we live, where we live

All of your brothers that live on the mainline
You lived in the ghetto once upon a time
We need everybody to lend a hand

Now you've helped everybody else
Now's the time for you to help yourself
We can't depend, depend on the people, no, no
Well, well, get it up, get it up

Clean it up, clean it up, well, well, ya
Clean it up, clean it up, hey, hey, hey
Ghetto, ghetto, ghetto is our home
Yeah, that's where we live, where we live, well

I said clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up

Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
I said, come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up

Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up

Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's clean it up, clean it up
Come on, y'all, let's