I took the train up to Harlem
Dressed to the nines, a Spring afternoon
Going to the Apollo
Hear all that jazz, soul and down-home blues
Nina, Sarah, and Ella
Duke and Basie would swing, that's a fact
Jackie, Smokey, and Marvin
James Brown, Aretha never walked through the back
I grew up
With a people who believed in hard work
I grew up
Never heard them use the n-word
I grew up
Stood on shoulders where I learned how to give
(Harlem is the place, Harlem is the place where I live)
♪
A jukebox sat in the corner
Your favorite tune would play while you danced
Afro hair Right on Brother
Platform shoes, Motown grooves gangster hats
Doo-wop groups on the corner
Girls double-dutch, and man, they could twist
Buy a deuce-and-quarter
Play a number, you hope that it hits
I grew up
With a people who believed in hard work
I grew up
Never heard them use the n-word
I grew up
Stood on shoulders where I learned how to give
Yes, Harlem is the place, Harlem is the place where I live
♪
Now I see folks are rapping
Lay down those beats, sample some tracks
But Malcolm said from the pulpit
Better learn how your rhythms are jacked
Folks stepped off the plantation
A place of pain where our families were sold
Oh miss Tubman, she saved some
Like Robert Smith - says there's still far to go
I grew up
With a people who believed in hard work
I grew up
Never heard them use the n-word
I grew up
Stood on shoulders where I learned how to give
Yes, Harlem is the place, Harlem is the place where I live
♪
(All in together according to the weather)
(January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August)
I'm gonna go up town, I'm gonna look around
Find my groove there
Goin' to the Apollo, going to see that show, yeah
I grew up, oh, I grew up, yeah