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“Younger Generation”
The Lovin’ Spoonful

Cmaj7                                                   Dm7
Why must every generation think their folks are square?
Dm7     G7                                                            Cmaj7
And no matter where their 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 then.

Cmaj7                                          Dm7
Determined to remember all the cardinal rules,
Dm7  G7                                                 Cmaj7
Like sun showers are legal grounds for cutting school.
Cmaj7                                       Dm7
I know I have forgotten maybe one or two,
Dm7                       G7                Cmaj7
And I hope that I recall them all before the baby’s due
Dm7                              G7              Cmaj7
And I know he’ll have a question or two.

Cmaj7   F      G            C                 Am
Like,    “Hey, Pop, can I go ride my zoom?
Am      F                   G7                     C                     Am
It goes two hundred miles an hour suspended on balloons.
Am   F               G                    C                       Am
And can I put a droplet of this new stuff on my tongue,
Am    Dm                                                 D7
And imagine frothing dragons while you sit and wreck your lungs?”
C                                            Am                                                G
And I must be permissive, understanding of the younger generation

Cmaj7                                                 Dm7
Then I’ll know that all I’ve learned my kid assumes,
Dm7  G7                                             Cmaj7
And   all my deepest worries must be his cartoons.
Cmaj7                                       Dm7
And still I’ll try to tell him all the things I’ve done
Dm7                   G7                     Cmaj7
Related to what he can do when he becomes a man,
Dm7                           G7                Cmaj7
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 L.S.D.,
And now that we’re best friends she wants to give a bit to me.
But what’s the matter, Daddy?  How come you’re turning green?
F                                                           G
Can it be that you can’t live up to your dreams?

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