childhood part of my life it wasn t very pretty i was born and raised in the slums of the city it was a one room shack that slept ten other children we hardly had enough food or room to sleep it was hard times needed something to ease my troubled mind my father didn t know the meaning of work he disrespected mama and treated us like dirt i left home seekin a job that i never did find depressed and downhearted i took to cloud nine i m doin fine on cloud nine i m doin fine on cloud nine folks now tell me give yourself a chance son don t let life pass you by but the world of reality is a rat race where only the strongest survive it s a dog eat dog world and that ain t no lie it ain t even safe no more to walk the streets at night i m doin fine on cloud nine you can be what you wanna be you ain t got no responsibility and ev ry ev ry man is free and you re a million miles from reality i wanna say i love the life i live and i m gonna live the life i love up here on cloud nine you re as free as a bird in flight there s no diff rence between day and night it s a world of love and harmony you re a million miles from reality you can be what you wanna be you ain t got no responsibility and ev ry man ev ry man is free and you re a million miles from reality 