Conventional Wisdom

I suppose it is a sign of age that I worry about how and what today's children are learning. I think their academic education is likely okay, but what about the other aspects of learning that traditionally came from their elders - both family and friends?

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Where did the knowledge come from
It was passed on from father to son
Cause when those old geezers
Were talkin bout sin
There were kids just like me
Listnin in.

Conventional wisdom
The way we learned to be men
Conventional wisdom
Over and over again

some men just outside the feed store
to look you would think they were poor
with overhalls sagging
and dust on their boots
they told some tall tales
those old coots.

The boys were allowed to stand near
And the menfolk all knew we could hear
But you kept your mouth shut
About all that you heard
And you don’t tell your mom
Not a word.

They talked about women and war
And field crops and weather and more
We learned all about heiffers
And barns that burned down
And the best vet’nary
In the town

A Fargo was what one guy had
Some men drove a Chev like my dad
There were old Ford flat v8s
A few stake trucks with racks
And one rig was converted
Ran on tracks

It was there that we learned how to cuss
But a much bigger lesson for us
Was to keep our tongues civil
Where there’s women to hear
Lest you want a good box
On the ear

Looking back at that long ago day
How the men showed the youngsters the way
Today I just wonder
If the kids that I see
Learn only from friends
And tv

And if they hang ‘round with some men
Are the topics they hear teaching them
Whats right and whats wrong
The good and the bad
And what will they learn
From their dad

Where did the knowledge come from
It was passed on from father to son
Cause when those old geezers
Were talkin bout sin
There were kids just like me
Listnin in.

Conventional wisdom
The way we learned to be men
Conventional wisdom
Over and over again