You know, parents are the same, no matter time nor place
They don't understand that us kids are gonna make some mistakes
So tell you other kids all across the land
There's no need to argue, parents just don't understand
I remember one year, my mom took me school shoppin'
It was me, my brother, my mom, oh my pop,
And my little sister all hopped in the car
We headed downtown to the Gallery Mall
My mom started buggin' with the clothes she chose
I didn't say nothin' at first, I just turned up my nose
She said, "What's wrong, the shirt costs twenty dollars."
I said, "Mom, This shirt is plaid, with a butterfly collar.
The next half hour was the same old thing
My mother buyin' me clothes from 1963
And then she lost her mind and did the ultimate
I asked her for Adidas, and she bought me Zips!
I said, "Mom, what are you doin'? You'll ruin my rep."
She said, "You're only 16, you don't have a rep yet."
I said, "Mom, let's put these clothes back, please."
She said, "No. You go to school to learn, not for a fashion show."
I said, "This isn't shinin' armor, c'mon mom, I'm not bousers.
Mom, please put back the bell bottom, Brady Bunch trousers.
But if you don't want to I can live with that, but,
You've gotta put back the double-knit, reversable slacks"
She wasn't with it, everything stayed the same
Inevitably, the first day of school came
I thought I could get over, I tried to play sick
But my mom said, "No, no way, Uh-uh. Forget it."
There was nothin' I could do. I tried to relax
I got dressed up in those ancient artifax
And when I walked in to school, it was just as I thought
The kids were crackin' up, laughin' at the clothes mom bought
And those who weren't laughin' still had a ball
'Cuz they were pointing and whistling as I walked dow
