[Intro: Man, Grandma]
Check this out, man, I wanna introduce you to my grandma, she hella cool
Back from the old school, man
Hey, how's everybody doin'? How's everybody? (Talk, grandma)
Hi, I wanna meets one of the Tonys. Is the Tonys here? Hey, am I on recording now?
(Yeah, you're on, talk)
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, when 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 a share of problems don't you know
Just the same in the city had to go
Time after time, my mama told
There's a lot of things that you know
But thеre's a whole lot more you need to know

[Pre-Chorus: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
(Monеy) 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!]
Ooh, and I can't relate (I was born not to know)
Things are getting crazy, I ain't going hazy (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, um, I have my MBA from Harvard, and of course, right now presently working on my Ph.D. from MIT. But what I really wanna know is, can I get a job? (NO!)

[Verse 3: 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!]
Ooh, and I can't relate 'cause I was (born not to know)
Things are getting crazy, I ain't going hazy (I was born not to know)
[Outro: Tony! Toni! Toné!]
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 born not to know