Streetwise by Garland Jeffreys Lyrics

All my relatives have gone
To their peaceful resting place
I’ve been left here to carry on
To do what’s right
Leave a smile on your face
And one thing my father said
I looked into his eyes
Then he turned his head and he said
You gotta be streetwise

See my little child she’s walking down the street
Coming home from school
Not knowing what kind of crazy fool she’s gonna meet
Some distraction happenin’ from the other side
Suddenly a man pulls up
And asks her if she wants to go for a little ride
And when I think of what my father said
Caught me by surprise
I looked up at him and he said
You gotta be streetwise
And when you’re out there on your own
In a crowd or all alone
You gotta be smart you gotta be tough
Cause it’s on the rise
And streetwise sometimes it ain’t enough

Black president on the White House lawn
I remember when there were two black jockeys there
When I was born
Now lock your cars shut your doors
And close your gate
Mind yourself you cannot ever try to hesitate
And when you’re working for the president of the United States
All you Secret Service guys
You gotta be streetwise
You gotta be streetwise