I Hate To Be Told What To Do All The Time | Song #237 | 6/12/1995
Refrain:
I hate to be told what to do all the time
I hate to be told what to do
I hate to be told what to do all the time
And something tells me you hate it too…
“Do This! Do That! Don’t step on the cat!
Leave your little brother alone
How many times do I have to tell you
To be quiet when I’m on the phone?”
Refrain:
“Do your homework. Clean up the yard.
Turn the Television off.
Don’t leave your clothes on the living room floor
And cover your mouth when you cough”
Refrain:
“Take a bath, wash your hair, change your underwear
Fix your collar, tie your shoes
Don’t leave your roller blades on the stairs
And you better change that attitude…”
Refrain:
Now listen to your folks when they talk about work
And how the boss can sometimes act like a jerk
And you know what it all boils down to?
Is that parents hate to be told what to do!
Refrain:
Commentary:
This was one of the first songs I wrote totally accompanied by drum. It was originally inspired by an overheard conversation I walked by in New York City around Christmas Time. A very annoyed parent was lecturing a young child and kind of coming down really heavily on this little kid. “Don’t do this, don’t do that” It was a whole list of things the kid had done wrong. Sheesh! It occurred to me that as an adult I certainly don’t like to be told what to do and memories of my dad talking about his boss’s latest demands triggered this idea that there is a chain of being bossed around that starts pretty young. It would be cool to hear elementary aged kids singing this and shaking their fingers like little annoyed adults…I would love to teach the NLP feedback sandwich to every parent, teacher, and boss in the country…
- Slice of bread #1: Tell them something specifically positive
- Between the slices: Give constructive feedback on what they could do better in the future
- Slice of Bread #2: Tell them something generally positive.
Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below.