[Intro: Raphael Saadiq, Tony! Toni! Toné!]
Here's a story
(P-P-P-Put) Work, work, work, work
(P-P-P-Put) Work, work, work, work
(P-P-P-Put) Work, work, work, work
(Put a young man) Work, work, work
(Put a young man) Work, work, work
(P-P-P-Put)

[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 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: Tony! Toni! Toné!]
I was born not to know
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 havе to live like this
I still can recall what my mothеr 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 your 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

[Interlude: Tony! Toni! Toné!]
("You know, I first met God in 1929")
(Money)
(Friends)
(Drugs)
(Sex)
(Work)
(Crime)
(Love)
(Live)
[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]
"Yo, if Leroy snatched a purse at twelve o'clock, was running down East 14th at thirty-five miles an hour with the police behind him at forty-five miles an hour, how many years would he get?"
"I really don't know"

[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