"It's the Hard Knock Life" is a song from the musical '' Annie'' with music by

Charles Strouse Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''. Backgrou ...

and lyrics by

Martin Charnin Martin Charnin (November 24, 1934 – July 6, 2019) was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical '' Annie.'' Life and career Charnin was born in New Yor ...

. 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". 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".

Cover versions

* The song is sampled in the

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

song "

Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" is a single from American rapper Jay-Z's third album '' Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life'', released on October 27, 1998. It features a vocal and pitch-modified instrumental sample of the song " It's the Hard Knock Life" ...

". The Jay-Z version is parodied in the 2002 film ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third and final installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four different roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldme ...

''. * The song is sampled in the

Lil' Romeo Percy Romeo Miller Jr. (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, singer, actor and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with his father, ...

track "We Can Make It Right" from his second album ''

Game Time ''Game Time'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil' Romeo. Originally scheduled for an April 16, 2002 release, it was ultimately released on December 17, 2002 on The New No Limit and Universal Records. The album peaked at number 3 ...

''. *

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

covered the song in 2004 for their third studio album '' Don't Stop the Music'' which was later featured on the 20th Anniversary DVD release of '' Annie''. * The song is interpolated in the chorus of

Lukas Graham Lukas Graham is a Danish pop band consisting of lead vocalist Lukas Forchhammer, and drummer Mark Falgren. The band released '' Lukas Graham'', their first album, with labels Copenhagen Records and in 2012. The album peaked at number one on ...

's 2014 single " Mama Said".

References

{{authority control 1977 songs Songs from musicals Songs with music by Charles Strouse Songs with lyrics by Martin Charnin Little Orphan Annie Songs about child abuse