1989

I was born in 1981,
But I really woke up in 1989.
I never understood what was up with it all
Until God opened up my mind
And suddenly it became all so very clear to me.
So many people asked if I was born yesterday,
And the answer was an emphatic "NO!",
For yesterday, then, was 1988,
But when I woke up, it was 1989.

I can remember my fifth birthday party
At the Showbiz Pizza down West,
And I can remember bits and pieces
Of our trip to Hilton Head Island.
Yes, I remember those from so long ago,
But they occured a few years before
That year of wonders galore,
That year of my awakening, 1989.

I'm an avid baseball fan now. That, everybody knows.
Daddy sat me down when I was a tyke to watch the Yankees go.
He told me they were the best team around,
That Don Mattingly was the best player of 'em all,
And that the Yankees have enjoyed winning championships
Since way on back in '23.
Yes, that may all be true, but I don't remember that far back,
Because, after all, I was born in 1981,
But when I woke up, it was 1989.

I love a good movie, and I love to watch a good actor.
Forrest Gump was a great movie, and Tom Hanks is one of the best.
But at the age of eight, I saw a movie
That blew me off of the seat of my pants.
Batman with Jack Nicholson captured the heart of me,
And no villain can compare to The Joker,
Not even the devil can, you see?
Nor can any actor entertain me as Mr. Nicholson can, Toucan Sam.
You ask why, since it didn't win any Oscars,
And I just have one simple message to convey,
That I saw all this during the summer of '89. That's all I need to say.

Though I was oh, so very young,
I picked up some perspective on the political world.
George Bush, I, was president back then,
Taking over for the great Ronald Reagan.
There was the dismantling of the Berlin Wall,
And the beginning of the collapse of communism. What an overhaul!
The horror which occured in Tienneman Square, Beijing,
And seeing the homeless, vagabond 'Nam vet in D.C.,
Overall, it was all the making of the most inspiring year, for me, at least,
And yet I wondered how much more could be done, or was I being teased?
I was still not sentient enough to read and comprehend
That despite all of this, life is a Godsend,
That life for me was getting better, for I was growing up,
Laying the foundations, the pillars, that would carry me home, fill my cup.
I might not have been born that fabulous year,
But this, I simply gotta say, folks, as I look back and shed a tear:
My humanistization and awakening, it all happened in 1989.