CELEBRATE YOUTH
(Lyrics and Music by Rick Springfield)
I can see the older man
Looking at the younger man
I can see the younger man
Looking at the boy
Over there the older woman
Is looking at the younger woman
I can see the younger woman
Looking at the girl
'Cause every man sees
In the younger man the hope
Every woman sees
In the younger girl the dream
Everybody lives
The pride and passion of the young
From the womb to the tomb
We will remember what it means
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Those who have it (young ones)
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Give them sight
The future of the world's (celebrate)
Hands of children (young ones)
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Teach them right
Looking in a child's eye
There's no hate and there's no lie
There's no black and there's no white
I can see the older man
And sometimes in the older man
I still see the young boy
Burning in his eye
And locked up here inside our
spirit
Is the child that we are, hear it
Some of us will always fear it
And some will heed the cry
But everybody sees
In the younger one the hope
But everybody sees
In the younger one the dream
Everybody lives
The pride and passion of the young
From the womb to the tomb
We will remember what it means
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Those who have it (young ones)
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Give them sight
The future of the world's (celebrate)
Hands of children (young ones)
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Teach them right
Looking in a child's face
There's no pride and no disgrace
There's no struggle, there's no fight
Everybody sees
In the younger one the hope
Everybody sees
In the younger one the dream
Everybody lives
The pride and passion of the young
From the womb to the tomb
We will remember what it means
Looking in a child's eye
There's no hate and there's no lie
There's no black and there's no white
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Those who have it (young ones)
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Give them sight
The future of the world's (celebrate)
Hands of children (young ones)
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Teach them right
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Those who have it (young ones)
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Give them sight
The future of the world's (celebrate)
Hands of children (young ones)
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Teach them right
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Those who have it (young ones)
Celebrate youth (celebrate)
Give them sight
The future of the world's (celebrate)
Hands of children (young ones)
So celebrate youth (celebrate)
Teach them right
Looking in a child's eye
There's no hate and there's no lie
There's no black and there's no white
(total playing time 3:50)
Song
Facts:
This was the first single released from Tao.
Rick performed this song Live during 1985, and also at the beginning of
the Karma tour. Celebrate
Youth appears on the following releases: Tao, Best 21 (Jpn), Best
of, Best of Rick Springfield, Greatest Hits, Anthology, VH1's Behind the Music: The
Rick Springfield Collection, The Best of Rick Springfield (Japan),
Platinum & Gold, Legendary, Anthology (written in rock), We Are The
'80s. It reached #26 on the Pop Charts, debuting
on 4/6/85. |
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Who among us got this message as a
16-year old? Certainly not me!! I was soo ready to let adulthood come. I
yearned so hard for my freedom that it was all I could think of. How many nights I
dreamed of how perfect my life could be if only I was of age. Of course now as a
thirty-something, I see Rick's message, LOUD and CLEAR. I could easily redo a few
parts of my life... believe me. :) Of course we could all do the what
ifs or if onlys...
that's life. In this song is the message I missed in my childhood/adulthood ~
that the innocence of the youth must be preserved and held on to as long as possible.
That a child's innocence is the truest gift and after they've lost their naive
outlook on life.. they can no longer go back. Within the song is the message that we
all have a child within ourselves and that life is worth celebrating.
The future of the world's (celebrate), Hands
of children (young ones). I've always loved this song. Great to dance to, great
to bounce around, and as a kid, it made be believe that the adults were jealous of us
kids. Nice feeling as a teen, who was otherwise depressed and frustrated.
I have a confession to make...my first Rick concert was February, 1999. Rick performed
this song and I hadn't heard it in years. Throughout the evening, I found a log of lyrics
that I'd thought I had remembered, but I wasn't singing the write ones at all. In
this song I thought he said (and upon relistening to my tapes later, I thought I
confirmed it), "...the future of world, celebrate, have some children..."
Face it, we've been pounded with this message forever, what's one more song? At the
show he told us that he's been busy having kids, he has two and he recommended that
everyone should have one or two. Now I've known for decades that I have no business
being a parent. But at that moment, in that smokey bar, standing in front of the
singer who'd meant so much to me, I thought "yeah, yeah, I should have a couple of
kids"..
I remember that this was the first single from the album and they played it on
the radio before Tao came out. It made me aware there was another Rick Springfield
album on its way. I liked the song. The only thing, I think Rick kind of got
wrong was that I think the older people do envy youth, but I think the teenagers want
to be older, I don't think they look back down toward the children and envy them.
They can't wait to grow up. So the younger man isn't really "looking at
the boy", unless he'd like to go back and do it over, knowing what he knows now.
It does seem to be an indication of Rick's thoughts were during this period, and
how deep he can be.
I know Rick performed this song live at the beginning of the Karma tour. It'd be great to
hear him do it live, again, because I never did get to hear it.
I (ducking) hated this song.
What's worse, I GOT it at the time and I didn't like it anyway. Probably the coolest
thing about Tao to me, when it came out, was the discovery that Rick was really thinking
and had things to say beyond his own life...it almost wasn't even what he was saying as it
was that it was such a socio-political time in my life that it was very significant to me
that he had relevant things to say and wasn't just being a pretty boy pop star (which, in
my INFINITE seriousness at that time, I would have had grave difficulties justifying to
myself, and might have had to consider replacing that lovely white on white poster with
Senator Paul Simon or something)
I won't pretend that I got it on every level at that stage. As was pointed out by
someone else, I was not at a stage of my life where I was envying anyone younger or
thinking that they had anything up on the rest of us...as far as I could see, MY
generation was the future of the world. Somehow that didn't seem like a continuous
cycle at that point, so really I was just scratching the surface, whereas Rick was in a
position to be seeing both the up and coming young adults/teenagers and also, behind them,
his own imminent child and so perhaps had a better view of that continuum.
But I don't like the music to this song. Didn't then, don't much now, although I do
appreciate the song a bit more lyrically now than I did then.
I agree with everyone else who has said that
they heard the message in this song, but didn't really want to hear it. We were on the
brink of adulthood, straining to achieve whatever it was we were reaching for, all the
while still basking in the glow of not being responsible yet.
I think comparatively, if we look back on the Rick's songs we had listened to prior to
from this album, this one certainly has a different sound to it. I like the whistle at the
beginning, I'm not sure if that has some significance or not. It really sounds like some
of the rap type songs that were out at that time, with the type of beat that is pulsating
throughout it. I think that is more apparent when Rick does this song live.
Ok, the message being - appreciate your youth. That was certainly something I had heard
from what seemed like every other older person around me. My grandmother was living with
us at the time, and over and over again, I listened to her stories of her youth, and how
she envied me with my friends and music and whatnot. I look back on these times now and
can appreciate some of our conversations, but back then I kind of let it in one ear and
out the other, anxious to get to those friends or listen to that music . When I heard this
song before the album came out, all I remember thinking was, "Oh man, Rick is telling
me this too?". I was hesitant as to what type of album it would turn out to be and
whether or not I would like it, given that I was still at the point of thinking that Rick
could not top LIO in my opinion. (ok, I'm slightly still there...LOL)
I thought it was a good song, but with a message I didn't really want to hear, so I didn't
really add it to my list of favorites.
If I had to pick a line when I was a teenager from this song that I really liked, it would
have to be "from the womb to the tomb we will remember what it means"
not because of the importance of the statement, I just liked the way Rick said
"means" with that hint of Aussie accent. (again, I'm a teen...purely
superficial!)
Now that I'm an adult, with "youths"of my own ;-) I have a new appreciation of
this song. This is life's little instruction booklet for new parents by Rick Springfield.
"Celebrate Youth, give them sight. The future of the world's in the hand of
children, so celebrate youth teach them right". I try to live by this statement
every day. "Looking in a child's eye there's no hate and there's no lie, there's
no black and there's no white." This is the absolute truth, and it's unfortunate
that that gets lost when they get older.
However, I think this verse, "I can see the older man, and sometimes in the older
man I still see the young boy burning in his eye" is purely autobiographical,
and it describes Rick perfectly.
This song is one of my daughter's favorites, and I could never figure out why.
When she was barely talking, probably about two, she'd request this song in
the car..but she'd call it "Celebrate You". She's almost 6 now, and she still
sings it "Celebrate You", which I think is appropriate somehow. She is
celebrating herself.
I have to say that this song was really
inspirational for me. Does anyone remember what year this song came out? I
believe it was at the very beginning of my career with kids. It inspired me to look
at kids from their perspective and realize what they could accomplish. This is still
my "mantra" for my career today. Especially as I work with kids in schools.
I have truly enjoyed the meaning of this song. When it came out I was
thinking that Rick had the same thoughts about kids that I have. This was one of
those connections for me.
Well, this is a good song to review, mainly
because I think everyone understood when they were younger what it meant. I liked the song
for the music, it's totally upbeat and I don't reflect on the words when I hear it so
much. When I was younger, I thought it was kind of dumb, because I wanted to be older and
have my own place, my own car, blah, blah, blah. I was in college when this song came out.
Sure, I was just a little older than most of Rick's fans at that time, but still under my
parents' roof and taking the classes my mom dictated that I take. Back then it was a pain
in the you-know-where, I was 18 years old and still didn't have much freedom!! But looking
back, I am so glad she dictated my college courses, otherwise, I'd probably be nowhere
today.
Anyway...reflections aside, I wish that I could go back to that time when I didn't have
any worries, except studying and where my friends and I were going to hang out on Friday
night! Okay, I think I'm regressing...
Anyway, I've been to more concerts in the last 2 years than I have in my whole life! And
Rick definitely found the fountain of youth and celebrates it well! What a Man!!
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