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 2003 for their third studio album Don't Stop the Music which was later featured 20th Anniversary DVD release of Annie
• 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.

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.