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See How We Are Lyrics
There are men lost in jail
Crowded fifty to a room
There's too many rats in this cage of the world
And the women know their place
They sit home and write letters
And when they visit once a year
Well they both just sit there and stare
See how we are
Gotta keep bars in between us
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Now there are seven kinds of Coke
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
Well down in Acapulco
They don't give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
See how we are
"Hey man, Whats in it for me?"
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Well this morning the alarm rang at noon
And I'm trying to write this letter to you
About how much I care and why I just can't be there
To draw your bath and comb...and comb your hair
Last night in a nightspot
Where things aren't so hot
My friend said, "I met a boy and I'm in love"
I said, "Oh really... What's this one's name?"
She said, "His first name is Homeboy"
I said "Could his last name be Trouble?"
See how we are
Hey girl, I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you.
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Yeah see how we are
Now that highway's coming through
So you all gotta move
This bottom rung ain't no fun at all
No fires and rockhouses and grape-flavored rat poison
They are the new trinity
For this so-called community
See how we are
Gotta keep bars on all of our windows
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
When performed live, there are alternate versions of the hectoring in the chorus following the third verse that include:
Ah Homeboy... Isn't that a Mexican name?
Ah Homeboy... Isn't that one of those South Central ghetto names?
Crowded fifty to a room
There's too many rats in this cage of the world
And the women know their place
They sit home and write letters
And when they visit once a year
Well they both just sit there and stare
Gotta keep bars in between us
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
Well down in Acapulco
They don't give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
"Hey man, Whats in it for me?"
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
And I'm trying to write this letter to you
About how much I care and why I just can't be there
To draw your bath and comb...and comb your hair
Where things aren't so hot
My friend said, "I met a boy and I'm in love"
I said, "Oh really... What's this one's name?"
She said, "His first name is Homeboy"
I said "Could his last name be Trouble?"
Hey girl, I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you.
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Yeah see how we are
So you all gotta move
This bottom rung ain't no fun at all
No fires and rockhouses and grape-flavored rat poison
They are the new trinity
For this so-called community
Gotta keep bars on all of our windows
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Ah Homeboy... Isn't that a Mexican name?
Ah Homeboy... Isn't that one of those South Central ghetto names?
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I love this song. It's about human hypocrisy, all kinds: personal, cultural, community.
I especially love, "we only sing about it once in every twenty years--" the idea that the popularity of protest songs moves in cycles, and people get excited about their armchair activism for awhile, but it always dissipates.
@sharkycharming yeah this song is amazing and I think you hit the nail on the head. What a band, whose music holds up today. I listened to it again recently and it's still as great an X song as it was when they recorded it. The remastered version is even better.
@sharkycharming yeah this song is amazing and I think you hit the nail on the head. What a band, whose music holds up today. I listened to it again recently and it's still as great an X song as it was when they recorded it. The remastered version is even better.
The line at "Ah Homeboy... Isn't that a Mexican name?"
sounds to me like "Hey girl, I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."
There are different versions of the song. The one you're quoting is from the demo version (which has its own songmeanings page). The official album version was right before you changed it.
There are different versions of the song. The one you're quoting is from the demo version (which has its own songmeanings page). The official album version was right before you changed it.