Philadelphia Child Songtext

von Ursula Rucker

Philadelphia child
Wild, mild
Mind all filled with city
Fresh city, foul city
Fiery city, frigid city

Philadelphia child
Mild, wild
Wildflower
Watered with child power
Growing from cracks...in cement sidewalks
And school yards...
And playgrounds
Singular and lovely
Common and ugly

Philadelphia child
Piled high...with visions of his-story
Rhythms of ghetto's glory
Richard Allen, 52 story buildings,
Elfreths Alley, liberty-bell rings,
Sewer smells and belly swells
Class trips to Independence Hall
Evoke questions like...
³Where do I fit in all - of this?²

Four ghetto girls and barrio boys
Taught lessons in the voice
Of the founding forefathers
But those same four
Still ain't found their fathers

Philadelphia child
At the mercy of the public school system
At the mercy of the existence
Of human allegiance and government finance
Dance with the element of chance

The chance to grow
The chance to fly
The chance to know
The chance to die

In body
In spirit, mind or soul

The chance to be gold...or fool
The chance to be gold...or fool

Philadelphia child
Olympic hopeful
Won gold medals in...
Mattress flipping and subway sprinting

Well versed in the Yo! lingo
Pretzel and cheesesteak fed
Philly born and bred
Tastykake sweet or hard of head
Tread and trampled on
Same ground Ben Franklin and the boyz walked upon

Drill teams have replaced the
Not-ready-for-integration-Declaration of Interdependence players

White-booted
Philly attituded
Zooted...up...on Schuykill Punch

They shout above drum and street-stomp
Saying...

We are here
We are here
We are here
We are here

We are, we live, we matter
We are, we live, we matter