Electric Avenue

Most American listeners didn't read much into the lyrics, but according to Eddy Grant, "Electric Avenue" carries a serious message about race and equality. It refers to a real place in London, and tells the story of a poor man who beholds the things in life he could never achieve.

Electric Avenue is a shopping area in the Brixton section of London, named because is was the first street in the area to get electric lights. Brixton was the setting for riots between police and protesters in 1981, which Grant refers to in the opening line, "Down in the street there is violence."

This is one of the highest-charting reggae-influenced pop songs ever. Grant, a native of Guyana, had many pop and ska groups in England and Barbados. His first band, The Equals, had three Top 10 hits in England in the 1960s. They were the first multiracial band to find success in the UK.