This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I have nothing but respect for our young people and what they're doing
My thing is, we adults did not stand strong
And on our square to bring our young people through this process
I know, I was the young person that had to fend for himself in the streets of New York
I know what happened, with our young people
I say, "Look I ain't mad at you" know no matter what I hear
I know that you are moving through a process because they are attempting
To destroy the community so they're using you
They are buying you out
But we as adults, get to buy them back
I'm ready to compete with anybody for our young people's minds
And what we have to is change the paradigm of how we're interacting with them
Deal with them from a heartfelt place where they can understand
You see because whether you realize it or not, it's you they're shooting in the streets
You, young brothers, they're the ones that are being shot
So with this entertainment or with this music, maybe I don't like what I hear
Maybe that I don't like some of the words I hear
Maybe that I don't like the direction
But I think they're doing a pretty good job considering that
We, as men, the adult men, did not cover that when we should've covered that
And protected them when we should've protected them
And brought them up that so when we see an artist acting in a most inappropriate way
"Where is the father in this?"
"Where is that male mentor that can be there?"
We, as black men, must take on the responsibility
As the honorable Elijah Muhammad told Malcolm is that
A nation is only as strong as its weakest family
And we have got to create nations
We have to create relationships between the African man and the African woman
That create survival nation
My thing is, we adults did not stand strong
And on our square to bring our young people through this process
I know, I was the young person that had to fend for himself in the streets of New York
I know what happened, with our young people
I say, "Look I ain't mad at you" know no matter what I hear
I know that you are moving through a process because they are attempting
To destroy the community so they're using you
They are buying you out
But we as adults, get to buy them back
I'm ready to compete with anybody for our young people's minds
And what we have to is change the paradigm of how we're interacting with them
Deal with them from a heartfelt place where they can understand
You see because whether you realize it or not, it's you they're shooting in the streets
You, young brothers, they're the ones that are being shot
So with this entertainment or with this music, maybe I don't like what I hear
Maybe that I don't like some of the words I hear
Maybe that I don't like the direction
But I think they're doing a pretty good job considering that
We, as men, the adult men, did not cover that when we should've covered that
And protected them when we should've protected them
And brought them up that so when we see an artist acting in a most inappropriate way
"Where is the father in this?"
"Where is that male mentor that can be there?"
We, as black men, must take on the responsibility
As the honorable Elijah Muhammad told Malcolm is that
A nation is only as strong as its weakest family
And we have got to create nations
We have to create relationships between the African man and the African woman
That create survival nation
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Message Lyrics as written by Ronald Maurice Bean
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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