Meaning of We Gotta Get out of This Place – The Animals

In 2006, the University of Wisconsin-Madison polled several hundred Vietnam War veterans to find out which song they associated with the infamous armed conflict. The veterans gave the absolute majority of their votes to the composition “We Gotta Get out of This Place” (“We have to get out of here”) by the rock band The Animals. Moreover, they called it the anthem of those events and recalled that every group that performed at that time in army clubs had to play it.

The composition was born through the efforts of the famous marital tandem of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, who would later be awarded a place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Naturally, the authors did not mean any military action. The song is about the desire to escape from the backwoods and find a place under the sun. But the words “we have to get out of here” apparently were very appropriate in Vietnam.

Barry immediately recorded a demo in which he performed “We Gotta Get out of This Place” while accompanying himself on the piano. It was originally intended for The Righteous Brothers, but then Barry managed to sign a contract with Redbird Records, and he decided to release the record himself.

However, Allen Klein stepped in and gave the demo to Mickey Most, producer of The Animals. The group intended to conquer the American public and was just looking for songs that could appeal to the audience in the States. The future rock stars recorded “We Gotta Get out of This Place” with a slight change in the lyrics, and it became clear that Barry could not compete with them.

The Animals released separate US and UK singles based on two separate versions of the recording. The composition was presented to the British public in July 1965, and on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean the disc was released in September. The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100.

“We Gotta Get out of This Place” has been covered by various bands and musicians, including Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad and Alice Cooper.

The song is included in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Tracks That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Interesting Facts

The song is often performed at various graduation parties.
Sometimes its name is written as “We’ve Gotta Get out of This Place”.

Lyrics
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place Lyrics SongMeanings
We gotta get out of this place in this dirty old part of the city
Where the sun refused to shine
People tell me there ain’t no use in tryin’
Now my girl you’re so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true
You’ll be dead before your time is due, I know
That even the sun refuses to shine
People say there’s no point in trying
Now baby you’re young and beautiful
But one thing I know for sure:
You’ll be dead before your due date I’m sure Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin’
Watch his hair been turned gray
He’s been workin’ and slavin’ his life away
Oh yes I know it
Look, his hair is gray
He worked all his life, working hard for his uncle
Oh yeah I know it (Yeah!) He’s been workin’ so hard
(Yeah!) I’ve been working too, baby
(Yeah!) Every night and day
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) (Yeah!) He worked so hard
(Yeah!) I worked hard too baby
(Yes!) Day and night
(Yes, yes, yes, yes!) We gotta get out of this place
If it’s the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
’cause girl, there’s a better life for me and you
Even if it’s the last thing we do
We have to get out of here
‘Cause baby there’s a better life for you and me Now my girl you’re so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true, yeah
You’ll be dead before your time is due, I know it
But one thing I know for sure:
You’ll be dead before your due date I’m sure Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin’
Watch his hair been turnin’ grey, yeah
He’s been workin’ and slavin’ his life away
I know he’s been workin’ so hard
Look, his hair is gray
He worked all his life, working hard for his uncle
I know he worked hard (Yeah!) I’ve been workin’ too, baby
(Yeah!) Every day baby
(Yeah!) Whoa!
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) (Yeah!) I worked too, baby
(Yeah!) Every day baby
(Yes!) Hey!
(Yes, yes, yes, yes!) We gotta get out of this place
If it’s the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there’s a better life for me and you
Somewhere baby, somehow I know it
Even if it’s the last thing we do
We have to get out of here
‘Cause baby there’s a better life for you and me
Somewhere out there, baby, I know it from somewhere We gotta get out of this place
If it’s the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there’s a better life for me and you
believe me baby
I know it baby
You know it too
Even if it’s the last thing we do
We have to get out of here
‘Cause baby there’s a better life for you and me
Trust me baby
I know baby
You know it too

Song Quotes

We came in full agreement that this song is the cornerstone. It was the anthem of Vietnam. Every crappy band that ever played in any armed forces club had to play this song.

Doug Bradley, Veteran