Today is Will Smith‘s birthday. In honor of this blessed day (and #TBT), we’ve decided to take a look back at one of the Fresh Prince’s most timeless classics: “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” Not only does its video feature the coolest bedroom in the history of ever, the song outlines exactly how every style-conscious teen (this writer included—sorry, Mom!) has felt AT SOME POINT about shopping with their parents.
I remember one year
My mom took me school shopping
It was me, my brother, my mom, oh, my pop, and my little sister
All hopped in the car—we headed downtown to the Gallery Mall
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My mom started bugging with the clothes she chose
I didn’t say nothing at first—I just turned up my nose
She said, “What’s wrong? This shirt cost $20″
I said, “Mom, this shirt is plaid with a butterfly collar!”
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The next half hour was the same old thing
My mother buying me clothes from 1963
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And then she lost her mind and did the ultimate
I asked her for Adidas and she bought me Zips!
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I said, “Mom, what are you doing, you’re ruining my rep”
She said, “You’re only sixteen, you don’t have a rep yet”
I said, “Mom, let’s put these clothes back, please”
She said “no, you go to school to learn not for a fashion show”
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I said, “This isn’t Sha Na Na, come on Mom, I’m not Bowzer
Mom, please put back the bell-bottom Brady Bunch trousers
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But if you don’t want to I can live with that but
You gotta put back the double-knit reversible slacks”
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She wasn’t moved—everything stayed the same
Inevitably the first day of school came
I thought I could get over, I tried to play sick
But my mom said, “No, no way, uh-uh, forget it”
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There was nothing I could do, I tried to relax
I got dressed up in those ancient artifacts
And when I walked into school, it was just as I thought
The kids were cracking up laughing at the clothes Mom bought
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And those who weren’t laughing still had a ball
Because they were pointing and whispering
As I walked down the hall
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I got home and told my Mom how my day went
She said, “If they were laughing you don’t need them,
Cause they’re not good friends”
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For the next six hours I tried to explain to my Mom
That I was gonna have to go through this about 200 more times
So, to you all the kids all across the land
There’s no need to argue
Parents just don’t understand
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