Grace Jones: "I have a grandfather on my father’s side. He’s 95 years old. His great grandfather came from Nigeria, from the Igbo tribe. I don’t look like my mother and I don’t look like my father. I look exactly like my grandfather. I act like him."
Paul Morley: "Do you act all the time?"
Grace Jones: "Not all the time. No."
You Work all day and men who know
The wheels must turn to keep the flow
Oh, oh, oh
Build on up, don't break the chain
Sparks will fly when the whistle blows
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Work to the rhythm! Mm-hm
Build on up, don't break the chain
Sparks will fly when the whistle blows
Fire burns, hearts beat strong
Sing out loud, the chain gang song
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Never stop the action
Oh, never stop the action
Never stop the action
Keep it up, keep it up
Never stop the action
Aaaaaooowww!
Slave to the rhythm!
Keep it up, keep it up!
Never stop! Never stop!
Keep it up!
Work to the rhythm!
Slave to the rhythm! A-ha
Live to the rhythm!
Love to the rhythm! A-ha
Paul Morley: "Do you act all the time?"
Grace Jones: "Not all the time. No."
You Work all day and men who know
The wheels must turn to keep the flow
Oh, oh, oh
Build on up, don't break the chain
Sparks will fly when the whistle blows
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Work to the rhythm! Mm-hm
Build on up, don't break the chain
Sparks will fly when the whistle blows
Fire burns, hearts beat strong
Sing out loud, the chain gang song
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Oh, oh
Oh, oh, slave to the rhythm
Never stop the action
Oh, never stop the action
Never stop the action
Keep it up, keep it up
Never stop the action
Aaaaaooowww!
Slave to the rhythm!
Keep it up, keep it up!
Never stop! Never stop!
Keep it up!
Work to the rhythm!
Slave to the rhythm! A-ha
Live to the rhythm!
Love to the rhythm! A-ha
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Scritta da Bruce Woolley Simon Darlow Stephen Lipson Trevor Horn per Grace Jones
dall'album omonimo
La canzone, famosissima e un classico danzereccio, può essere interpretata come la storia degli afro-americani portati come schiavi dall'Africa negli Stati Uniti e costretti a lavorare in catene cantando per mantenere il ritmo, senza mai fermarsi. Ma la musica era anche uno dei pochissimi spazi di libertà, quando in Louisiana gli schiavi neri si ritrovavano la domenica sera per cantare e ballare e mantenere la loro cultura d'origine africana.
Allo stesso tempo si potrebbe riferire all'industria musicale che produce idoli in serie schiavi del ritmo delle loro canzoni, o più in generale al modello di lavoro capitalistico. Ma il monologo iniziale presente in alcune versioni che fa riferimento alle origini africane di Grace Jones fa pensare che la canzone parli proprio degli schiavi afroamericani.