It's the Hard Knock Life

"It's the Hard Knock Life" is a song from the musical Annie^[1] with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin.^[2][3][4]

In the 2014 film adaptation, the lyrics in the line "No one cares for you a smidge, when you're in an orphanage", have been changed to "no one cares for you a bit, when you're a foster kid". The song is about the hard times while living in an orphanage.

In popular culture

• The song is sampled in the Jay-Z song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)."^[5]
• Howard, Rajesh and Stuart sing this song in the 23rd episode of Season 8 of The Big Bang Theory.
• Dr. Evil and Mini Me sing a version in Austin Powers in Goldmember.
• Play covered the song in 2004 for their third studio album Don't Stop the Music which was later featured 20th Anniversary DVD release of Annie. The cover was panned by critics.
• The song is sampled in Lukas Graham's 2014 single "Mama Said".^[6]
• Cher Lloyd performed a cover of both the original version and Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) during the second live shows week of the seventh series of the British X Factor in 2010.The song was also performed the same year by Cher at a funeral in Chicago

References

1. Haun, Harry. "Thirty-Five Years Young: Despite a Hard-Knock Life, Annie's Hardly Showing Her Age". New York Observer. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
2. "Musicnotes.com: Unsupported Browser or Operating System".
3. "It's the Hard Knock Life - ANNIE to Close on Broadway January 5, 2014". Broadway World. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
4. "Annie Fun Facts". Pittsburgh CLO. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
5. "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) by Jay-Z Songfacts".
6. "Lukas Graham's Mama Said". WhoSampled. Retrieved 25 February 2016.