John Sebastian wrote this song about the generation gap, the attitude of the young to the old and the old to the young, back in the midst of the sixties revolution. We thought we were changing the world for the better. The bubble burst in violence, exploitation and morphine. Nothing much seems to have changed for the better.
It is good to look back at those times like they were a dream of great optimism and creativity. The world seems more cynical and controlled now. Rebellion is a consumer commodity.
Younger Generation – John Sebastian
Why must every generation think they’re folks are square?
And no matter where they’re heads are, they know mom’s ain’t there
Cause’ I swore when I was small, that I’d remember when
I knew what’s wrong with them, that I was smaller than
Determined to remember all the cardinal rules
Like, sun showers are legal grounds, for cutting school
I know I have forgotten maybe one or two
And I hope that I recall them all before the baby’s due
And I’ll know he’ll have a question or two
Like, hey pop. Can I go ride my zoom?
It goes two hundred miles an hour, suspended on balloons
And can I put a droplet of this new stuff on my tongue?
And imagine puffing dragons, while you sit and wreck your lungs
And I must be permissive, understanding of the younger generation
And then I know that all I’ve learned, my kid assumes
And all my deepest worries must be his cartoons
And still I’ll try to tell him all the things I’ve done
Relating to what he can do when he becomes a man
And still he’ll stick his fingers in the fan
And hey pop, my girlfriend’s only three
She’s got her own videophone
And she’s taking LSD
And now that were best friends, she wants to give a bit to me
But what’s the matter daddy? How come you’re turning green?
Can it be that you can’t live up to your dreams?