Condescending down the stairs
I'm condescending down the stairs
I look out
For a moment

Condescending down the stairs
I'm condescending down the stairs
I look down
At the bubbles.

I just know I got something coming
If I got anything coming at all
I just know I got something coming
If I got anything coming at all
I just know I got something coming
If I got anything coming at all
I just know I got something coming
If I got anything coming at all.

There are immigrants I know
Who came like me, as little kids
They think that today
It's so different.

And they believe that immigrants
Shouldn't be allowed to come here anymore
That they're bad
For the economy.

Well, I just know they got something coming
If they got anything coming at all
I just know they got something coming
If they got anything coming at all
I just know they got something coming
If they got anything coming at all
I just know they got something coming
If they got anything coming at all...

Ooh...
Aah...

When I landed I didn't see The Statue of Liberty
Like so many immmigrants
Before me.

In the airplane I didn't sleep
I stayed up watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
In English
I loved it - but didn't understand it.

Then I woke up in the middle of the night
In a big room with golden curtains and a fold-out couch
I thought I was in heaven
Or in Cinderella.

Then I woke up in the middle of the night
In a big room in my cousin's house in Rockland County
I thought I was in heaven
Or in Cinderella.

I heard the swimming pool noises
I didn't know they were swimming pool noises
I heard the swimming pool noises
And there was a dog, a dog, a real live dog!

I heard the swimming pool noises
I didn't know they were swimming pool noises
I heard the swimming pool noises
And there was a dog, a dog, a real live dog!

Ooh...

(cuts out)


Lyrics submitted by lemonjelly

Rockland County song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    It seems obvious that it's memories of her experience when she first arrived in America.

    I like the song, because I felt the same way when we came to America. We lived in a hotel first - yeah, also with a foldout couch, now that I think of it. Haha! And then the company my dad worked for let us rent a house, and being in that weird new American neighborhood was like being in a fantasy story.

    On the airplane, I played with the kids' toys that the airline gave me.

    There's a verse there, I think she's referring to how, when immigrants come in as young children, they become Americanized, think the American way.

    It's not that the American way is bad, but I'm glad we went back to my own country before I was too Americanized. Cultural identity is a strange thing.

    chabocinnamonon February 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The American way of thinking isn't necessarily anti-immigrant. Just saying.

    I adore this song. Besides the beautiful, personal details she has such a talent for giving, there is so much to love about it. I like how she repeats herself at the end with the swimming pool and dog because she seems like an excited kid taking in a new place.

    I also find the beginning fascinating. "Condescending down the stairs" is so fantastic that I can't even think of anything to say about it.

    I'm a little confused about the two verses about knowing that they/I have something coming if they/I have anything coming at all. Obviously, if you have something coming, then you have something coming, but I'm not sure what she could being refering to with the "something." Opportunities? Changes? But then there's also the phrase: "got something coming to you," though I have no idea how that would work.

    Also, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" makes me cry (the poor little shoe - I was inconsolable the first time I saw it) :)

    newsies234on February 23, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    for me this verse "Well, I just know they got something coming, If they got anything coming at all" is about america and how we have a huge plaque in front of our country saying "give us your tired, your weak.." but when immigrants get here the people say "NO.NO go back from which you came" karma.... we had it comin ...

    envirohodgeson April 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love the verse about Roger Rabbit. I can't explain why; it's just such a real, personal touch.

    DetectiveArmanion April 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is such a great song. It feels so real and personal.

    The part that speaks to me is when she says how "They think that today/ It's so different /They believe that immigrants/ Shouldn't be allowed to come here anymore."

    It's the ultimate hypocrisy of American society: we're all descendants of immigrants, yet we forget and try to keep new immigrants from coming. like "illegal" immigration.

    listentothemusic_1on June 30, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I bet this story is a true one...about when she came to America.

    morikahjoon September 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i like to think that some of Regina's songs kind of fit together.. like they remind me of each other. this one def. makes me think of Us, that they both deal w. her personal journey to America (to me ne way)

    also i really like this song!

    jazzy06792on October 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Is this the WHOLE song?! It just cuts out...

    itfloatzon May 28, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i lvoe so much the part when she sings that she saw roger rabbit in the airplane :) it makes me smile anywhere

    Feliponshon January 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Rockland County, NY exists. I live there. :) So I basically screamed when I found this song. It's so beautifully done too, like all of regina's songs. Does anyone know where I can download it?

    IgniteAirwaveson May 11, 2010   Link

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