It's the Hard Knock Life

"It's the Hard Knock Life"
Song by Annie and Orphans
Published1977
Composer(s)Charles Strouse
Lyricist(s)Martin Charnin

"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] The song is sung by the eponymous protagonist, together with her fellow orphan girls, and is about how the girls are treated by Miss Hannigan.

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".[5] As well as the line "You'll stay up 'til this dump shines like the top of the Chrysler building", has been changed to "Make my bathroom shine, but don't touch my medicine cabinet". [citation needed]

  1. ^ Haun, Harry (October 2, 2012). "Thirty-Five Years Young: Despite a Hard-Knock Life, Annie's Hardly Showing Her Age". The New York Observer. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  2. ^ "Musicnotes.com: Unsupported Browser or Operating System". Musicnotes. January 2, 2002.
  3. ^ "It's the Hard Knock Life – ANNIE to Close on Broadway January 5, 2014". Broadway World. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "Annie Fun Facts". Pittsburgh CLO. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  5. ^ Jessie Strasbaugh (December 27, 2014). "Orphants to foster kids: a century of Annie". Oxford University Press. Retrieved May 3, 2023.