[Intro]
Check this out man, I wanna introduce you to my grandma
She hella cool, back from the old school, man
How is everybody doin'? How is everybody...
I wanna meets one of the Tony's
Is this Tony?
Am I on the recording now?
Yeah, you're on...
Alright, I'ma go for it, baby
Now, hold it, hold it, hold it
I remember that when we was younger back in our days with Brown James and Richard Little and all them
Basically, what I wanna know is, am I getting paid for this?
NO!
That's all

[Verse 1: Raphael Saadiq]
Put a young man in an average city
Had our share of problems, don't you know
Just the same, the city had to grow
Time after time, my mama told me
There's a lotta things that you know
But there's a whole lot more you need to know

[Pre-Chorus: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
(Money) Have your own
(Friends) Just for fun
(Drugs) Don't indulge
(Sex) With the right person
(Work) All your days
(Crime) Does not pay
(Love) Don't apply
(Live) To live you must die
[Chorus: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
And I can't relate 'cause I was born not to know
Things are getting crazy, I ain't wearing paisley
I was born not to know

[Verse 2: Raphael Saadiq]
Now since I've grown, I've learned a lot more
The city hasn't changed a bit since
Doesn't mean I have to live like this
I still can recall what my mother told me
There was a lot of things that I knew
But the ones my mother said were true

[Pre-Chorus: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
(Money) Had my own
(Friends) We had fun
(Drugs) Didn't indulge
(Sex) Had the right person
(Work) All my days
(Crime) Did not pay
(Love) Did not apply
(Live) Now I live but I gotta die

[Chorus: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
And I can't relate 'cause I was born not to know
I ain't gonna make a fuss, I like the back of the bus
'Cause I was born not to know
[Interlude]
Um, could you tell us a little something about yourself?
Well, uh, I have my B.A. from Morehouse
And I have my MBA from Harvard
And, of course, presently I'm working on my Ph.D. from MIT
But what I really want to know is, can I get a job? (NO!)

Hi, my name's Tanya
Now I just traveled 1,000 miles
Now, 100 of those we slept
And I'd like to know, after the show, can I come backstage?
YEAH! YEAH! GET HER IN! ALL-ACCESS!

Now, I just drove a girl, 10 miles
My friend Tanya just went backstage, she just came through
And what I wanna know is—my name is Bob—can I come backstage too?
HELL NO! HELL NAH! NO MORE PASSES! DON'T GIVE NO MORE PASSES! THAT'S IT!

[Outro: Tony! Toni! Toné!]
I was born not to know
I was born not to know
I was born not to know
I was born not to know
I was born not to know
(Oaktown's in the house, Oaktown's in the house, Oaktown's in the house)
I was born not to know
(Oaktown's in the house, Oaktown's in the house, Oaktown's in the house)
I was
(Oaktown's in the house)
I was born not to know