Youth-rights related songs I've written: In Which Gwen Publishes Songs
Here are several songs that I have written based on youth rights.
Don’t
Your eyes are looking in my direction but you don’t see me
You’re hearing every word I say but you’re not listening
Your mouth makes all the appropriate sounds but your mind is somewhere else
Don’t ignore me
I know you don’t care what I have to say
Don’t ignore me
Yeah it does matter to me anyway
Don’t you remember what it was to be told to sit still, to shut up?
Don’t you remember what it was to be told to look but don’t touch?
Don’t you remember what it was to be seen but not heard?
Don’t you remember what it was to be scorned, ignored, degraded?
Don’t ignore me
I don’t ignore you
Don’t ignore me
I’m a person too
Don’t ask questions if they don’t have the answers
Don’t give answers if they didn’t ask any questions
I am an echo in a vacuum
I am a shadow at midday
I am the end of eternity
I am the needle in the hay
I am the tree falling in the forest
When there’s no one else around
And I scream as I fall and I die
But I don’t make a sound
Don’t ignore me
I know you don’t care what I have to say
Don’t ignore me
Yeah it does matter to me anyway
How could you forget
Sit still, shut up?
How could you forget
Look, don’t touch?
How could you forget
Being seen but not heard?
How could you forget
Being scorned, ignored, degraded?
Forgetting like you did is one of my biggest fears
But how could you forget eighteen years?
Damned
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
Damned if you will, damned if you won’t
Why’s the Man got it in for me?
I just want to be young, young and free.
I want to do what I want and don’t what I don’t
Don’t want the government saying No no no
I want to work, want to drive, want to go out and vote
I want to choose to drink or to light up a smoke
The law says I got to go to school (Damned if you do)
The law says I got to follow the rules (Damned if you don’t)
The law says I’ve got be what they want me to be (Damned if you will and damned if you won’t)
Where I can go, what movies I see (I just want to be young)
What I can wear- I just want to be me (Young and free)
Since when has birth been a crime?
Well I’m doing eighteen years’ time
Why does the Man have it in for me?
I just want to be young, young and free.
Damned if you do (where I can go)
Damned if you don’t (what movies I see)
Damned if you will (what I can wear)
Damned if you won’t (I just want to be me)
Just want to be young, young and free.
Where I can go, what movies I see (I just want to be young)
What I can wear- I just want to be me (Young and free)
Why’s the Man got it in for me? (I just want to be young)
I just want to be young, young and free (Young and free)
I just want to be young, young and free
I just want to be young, young and free
For Your Own Good
It's for your own good- It's not discrimination
We're just doing what we should To prevent your exploitation
It's for your own good- It's for your own protection
We're just doing what we should To stop your dereliction
'Cause if I could work I'd be enslaved
And if I could have sex you know I'd be raped
If I could watch what I want I'd end up perverted
If I could go where I would you know I'd be murdered
It's for your own good- It's not discrimination
We're just doing what we should To prevent your exploitation
It's for your own good- It's for your own protection
We're just doing what we should To stop your dereliction
'Cause if I didn't go to school I'd end up real dumb
And if I could live where I wanted I'd end up as a bum
If I lived on my own I'd end up getting banged
If I thought for myself I'd end up in a gang
It's for your own good- It's not discrimination
We're just doing what we should To prevent your exploitation
It's for your own good- It's for your own protection
We're just doing what we should To stop your dereliction
It's for our own good- It may be discrimination
We're just doing what we could To kill your expectations
It's for our own good- It's for our own protection
We're just doing what we could To destroy any objections
Walking- Curfew Version
Based off of Walking, by Patsy Cline
I go out walking
After midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just like we used to do
I'm always walking
After midnight
Breaking curfew
I walk for miles
Along the highway
Well that's just my way
Of saying I want to
Go out walking
After midnight
Breaking curfew
I stop to see a cop arresting
A passing teen pedestrian
Maybe she's protesting like me
It seems the First Amendment
Is no legal imped'ment
'Cause we don't have rights, you see
I go out walking
After midnight
Out in the starlight
Just hoping I don't see
A cop a-walking
After midnight
Searching for me
I stop to see a cop arresting
A passing teen pedestrian
Maybe she's protesting like me
It seems the First Amendment
Is no legal imped'ment
'Cause we don't have rights, you see
I go out walking
After midnight
Out in the starlight
Just hoping I don't see
A cop a-walking
After midnight
Searching for me
posted by Gwen @ 3:02 PM
8 Meepage:
These are excellent Jenn! I hope none are based on how I treat you, but you have a real way with words and a great mind and together you've written some really great songs.
They sure are excellent! Not only great context, but you really have a great sense of rhyme & rhythm.
In response to the first one, I think that to myself all the time: how can people forget what it felt like to be put off, put down & brushed off? You don't have to forget, Jenn...I didn't! I think that's what makes me a good parent. Just remember that when the time comes that you're the adult and choose how to treat children. Didn't God say that we should be childlike? In so many respects, I think that if we quit tuning kids out, we might actually learn more from them than we think we're teaching them!
That being said, when you become an adult, parent or not, there is a responsibility to guide youth in a particular direction based on the experience that you have, as well as to limit certain freedoms until they can make mature decisions and are equipped to deal with the consequences. Still, that doesn't mean that youth don't have their own value & shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinions.
Thanks guys!
Mom- Well, aside from the way you always say, "What? Did you say something?" every time I try to talk to you, no, you don't ignore me at all!
Aunt Mandy- thanks for the comment! I think it's important for parents and adults in general to listen to their kids (hint hint, MOM).
Strangely enough, when I was reading your comment in my e-mail window (I use G-mail) the text ads on the side were all How to Oppress Your Children type ads. (Setting curfews, etc.) Odd.
If anyone didn't realiz/se I was joking with Mom, she's NOT a horrible mother who never listens to me. You don't have to call CPS or anything. ;^)
I made her say that last post, lol. I do say "What? Did you say something?" to her, but only jokingly and she knows that. We were just talking yesterday about how funny it is that a lot of adults tune out kids because they don't think they have anything important to say, and I tend to tune out Jenn sometimes because I KNOW she has something important to say (about issues) and as sad as it is, I prefer to be blissfully ignorant right now. My mind needs to be able to think about right here and now...how to get 3 kids to different ends of town at the same time, juggling all their activities and schools that are so far apart, etc. I'll leave the big issues to Jennifer until there's room in this brain for more chaos. She knows how much I respect her views on things and the fact that she's even interested in big issues.;0)
P.S. Jennifer, here's my verification word so you can play with it: ovqshsw
Hmmm...do you think those ads were really a coincidence, Jenn? LOL! What are the odds of that happening? And, can I just point out that only you would notice something like that!
Hey, what is the deal with the word verification, anyway? I hate doing these!
The word verification is to help filter out spammers that just post automated messages to every blog they can find. There've still been spammers, but it's supposed to cut down on it (I've even edited a couple out of yours Amanda! Just got them before you saw them). ;0)
Jenn likes to make a game out of the word verifications...try to make words or phrases that make sense.
Mine this time is wiaxj. Oops, I forgot to put it in though, so got a new one: clmoz
Well.. ahem... JennyLou... I daresay you have some of the soul of the adams's originals. You can write. I sense your need to be heard, not just in the subjects sofar posted, but in general... you are saying "Hear Me! I'm here! I'm Here.." Oh dear, I was being serious and that old show by Suess popped into my head "Horton hears a who!" Sigh... I guess that's about all you can really expect from this old aunty... lol
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