The rhythm of a young minded heart

I was born a poor Black and Japanese child
in world that I knew would be crazy and wild
it was the 70's and mornings were discreet
we made powdered milk and watched sesame street

Rotary phones were quite appalling
you had to say hello to find out who was calling
my tonka truck was metal and built to last
I could ride it through the house to make time pass

All my friends had hotwheels too
lincoln logs and tinker toys and we knew what to do
cities were built and then demolished
and all of these toys would soon lose their polish

Afternoons you'd find us in the middle of the road
configuring plays and new scrimmage line codes
jacked up on sugar and safeway soda
I'd score a touchdown by the blue Toyota

Girls played hopscotch in the sun
I'd steal the ball and jacks and run forest run!
they'd chase me up the old ladies tree
and I'd climb so high I couldn't hear them scream

Then there was the time I yanked a tooth
with a string on the door of an old phone booth
my friend's mouth bloody in the sun
laughing all the while just because we were young

I couldn't keep my mouth shut in class
or my eyes off Celeste any time she would pass
I didn't know if these thoughts were crass
8 years old and I was thinking 'bout ass

lunch time was like a circus ring
in the game of structure tag I was king
calloused hands would move me like the breeze
acrobatic moves with the greatest of ease

Swinging through the air like chimp
walking back to class with a nonchalant limp
drawing sharks instead of doing math
playing pencil after school on the wood-chip path

And soon it was the music that found me
now I notice hardly anyone's around me
until I grab the microphone and my guitar
and my inner child shines like the brightest star

I don't ever want to grow up in this world
If the world is your oyster be a pearl
all the people who refuse to let this be
watch children in a state of jealousy

The music never lies about a thing
it doesn't care about diamond wedding rings
it will laugh at the merging of the banks
and shed a tear about the wars we create

it will sigh about the love that we share
and the sex that we have without a care
the melodies of life will always start
with the rhythm of a young minded heart