Growing Up Motown

© 2006 Andrea Ross-Greene

Shy little girl with radio and coke-bottle glasses
Carried my books and listened to the man as he talked to the masses
He said we’d never amount to much, the white man would keep us down
I could have bought all that and given up
I wonder where I’d be now but for

Diana singing those songs supreme
And Smokey grooving with the Miracles
No matter what the man said it slipped right out of my head
I heard a better sound

I was growing up Motown, I was growing up Motown
I was growing up Motown, I was growing up Motown

Had a white friend in my English class who loved Motown singers
His friends told him not to talk to us ‘cause we were just a bunch of niggers
He told them he loved to sing with us, he loved that R & B sound
He played our songs, sang along and some of them came around and they played

Michael and the Jackson Five
And Gladys Knight sang about the “Friendship Train”
Our music crossed the line, it was an early sign
We’d found a common ground
We were growing up Motown

The folks at Motown weren’t much older than me
But they showed me I could live the American Dream

My cousins had a group with matching suits just like the Temptations
They played the clubs, the fans applauded with great admiration
We loved to watch them on the stage, they knew how to work that crowd
They did their thing and you know what
They made their mama proud and just like

Marvin singing how sweet it is
Little Stevie was wonderful
When they sang away our blues, we put on our dancing shoes
They turned our world around

We were growing up Motown, we were growing up Motown
And you know there ain’t no sound, like the sound of Motown
We were growing up Motown