Dat Dere
Brown Jr. Oscar Lyrics
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And what's that doing there?
Hey mama, up here! Mama, hey look at that over there!
And what's that doing there?
And where're they going there?
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
Who's that in my chair?
Mummy, up here!
Mummy, can I go over there?
Hey mummy, what is square?
And where do we get air?
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
Quit talking!
There's no more anything here!
Forever to manage to know who and why and where!
Quit that, child!
Sometimes the questions get filed!
And mummy can I have that big elehpant over there?
Don't wanna comb my hair
And where's my teddy bear?
Mummy, up here!
Look at the cowboy coming there!
And can I have a pair
Of boots like that to wear?
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
Time will march
Days will go
And little baby's going to grow
I gotta tell her what she needs to know
I'll help her along
And she'll be strong
And she'll know right from wrong
As life's parade goes marching by
She's gonna need to know some reasons why
I don't have all the answers
But I'll try the best as I can
I'll make him a man, that's right
'Cause you give the kid your best
And hope she passes the test
And I find it so hard I taught him well ***
Somewhere though she's going I betting I never will forget ***
Mummy, can I have that big elephant over there?
Hey why they do that there?
And how you put that there?
Hey mummy, up here! Hey mummy, what that say up there?
Hey mummy, what is fair?
How come I have to share?
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
The Brown Jr. Oscar's song "Dat Dere" tells the story of a curious child constantly bombarding their mother with questions about the world around them. The child asks about everything from animals to furniture to the concept of fairness. The mother sometimes grows frustrated with the child's constant questioning but ultimately wants to raise her child to be strong and moral. The song takes on a bittersweet tone as the mother realizes that her child will grow up and face the challenges of the world.
The lyrics of "Dat Dere" take a simple concept, a child's curiosity, and use it to explore deeper themes such as the passage of time and the challenges of parenting. The child's incessant questioning can be seen as a metaphor for the search for knowledge and understanding that we all embark on as we grow up. The mother's struggles to answer her child's questions and prepare them for life can be seen as a reflection of the difficulties that all parents face in raising their children.
Overall, "Dat Dere" is a touching and poignant song that manages to be both nostalgic and forward-looking at the same time. It celebrates the joys and challenges of childhood while also acknowledging the importance of growing up and becoming a responsible adult.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey mama, what's that there?
As a kid, I am curious to know what that is.
And what's that doing there?
I want to know what its purpose is.
Hey mama, up here! Mama, hey look at that over there!
Mom, please give me attention and look at that thing over there.
And where're they going there?
I am curious to know where they are heading.
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
I want to have that big elephant as a toy.
Who's that in my chair?
I am surprised to see someone in my chair.
And what's he doing there?
I am curious to know the reason behind his presence.
Mummy, can I go over there?
I want to explore that place.
Hey mummy, what is square?
I am curious to know what square means.
And where do we get air?
I am curious to know about the science behind breathing.
Quit talking!
Stop talking and answer my questions.
There's no more anything here!
I want some answers to my questions.
Forever to manage to know who and why and where!
I am curious about everything around me and want to know more about it.
Quit that, child!
Stop asking so many questions.
Sometimes the questions get filed!
I will still question things even if they don't have answers.
Don't wanna comb my hair
I don't want to do certain things as a child.
And where's my teddy bear?
I want to know where my teddy bear is.
Look at the cowboy coming there!
I am excited to see the cowboy coming this way.
And can I have a pair of boots like that to wear?
I want to have boots like that for myself.
Time will march, days will go, and little baby's going to grow
As time passes, I will grow up.
I gotta tell her what she needs to know
As I grow up, I will have a responsibility to guide someone else.
I'll help her along, and she'll be strong, and she'll know right from wrong
I will guide and support the person I am responsible for, and they will learn to distinguish between right and wrong.
As life's parade goes marching by
As time passes, life moves forward.
She's gonna need to know some reasons why
As my responsibility grows, the person I guide will have questions about everything around them.
I don't have all the answers, but I'll try the best as I can
I don't know everything, but I will do my best to provide guidance.
I'll make him a man, that's right
I will guide them on the right path and help them become a responsible adult.
'Cause you give the kid your best and hope she passes the test
As a parent/guardian, you give your best to guide them and hope that they will pass every challenge that comes their way.
And I find it so hard I taught him well ***
It will be difficult to detach from my responsibility and see them become independent.
Somewhere though she's going, I'm betting I never will forget***
Although I will eventually let go of my responsibility, I will always remember the memories and the happiness that it brought me.
Hey why they do that there?
I am curious to know why they are doing that over there.
And how you put that there?
I want to learn how things are created and put in place.
Hey mummy, what that say up there?
I want to know what is written up there.
Hey mummy, what is fair?
I am curious about the concept of fairness.
How come I have to share?
I am being taught to share my things with others.
And mummy can I have that big elephant over there?
I still want that big elephant as a toy.
Lyrics © GOPAM ENTERPRISES INC
Written by: BOBBY TIMMONS, OSCAR, JR BROWN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ulpana
I'm down-voting El Jimmie's comment from 5 years ago, even though it was respectful of Bobby Timmons's musical composition that Oscar Brown, Jr added these charming universally humane lyrics to. I'm thinking about how this song's commercial success through the years (if Columbia Record Company now Sony didn't gyp the composer and lyricist out of royalties and music publishers acted scrupulously too) probably helped undersung jazz giant Bobby Timmons live at least partly a dignified life. Jazz has gotten no respect in this United States of Amnesia. Well before the Nobel Prize committee over in Sweden decided to give their Literature Prize to Columbia\Sony Records company man recording artist Bob Dylan a few years back, Oscar Brown, Jr merited a literary award for his theatrical plays, screenplays, song lyrics, books and even his two Soul\R&B albums recorded and still treasured on Atlantic Records.
Artists like Bobby Timmons had to travel abroad and up to Canada to perform on Public Interest broadcast stations in civilized countries that used their airwaves and communications technology for more than Pay2Play, like here in the Milton Friedman & Chicago School of Business & Economics GREED IS GOOD, ROBBER BARONS WERE GOOD ol' USA. Shame on Uncle Miltie, Washington's Cold War contracted Czar of Cold War Propaganda and conductor of the Mighty Wurlitzer of the CIA and Wall Street's scriptures, Milton Friedman whose own refugee parents going broke in their New Jersey candy store and young Milton Friedman himself would benefit from government NEW DEAL PROGRAMS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION and after the WALL STREET COLLAPSE and whose legacy now is giving birth to the ongoing Zombie Economics that preaches the Gospel of Private Prosperity and the Sole Commandment to SHRINK BIG GOVERNMENT DOWN TO 3rd World size that characterizes the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Biden era of wealth concentration into the fewest bank secrecy off-shore and legal in-country wealth management accounts in quantified human history:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNtKk2EmI-o
Oscar Brown, Jr as a writer of Broadway plays, poetry and songs that had no market here in Pay2Play institutionally racist US of A also made a couple of terrific albums for Atlantic Records. By writing lyrics for jazz instrumentals
Oscar Brown, Jr was joining such distinguished feeders of jazz giants as the giant himself Jon Hendricks and the giant herself of St. Louis to London's jazz club bohemia, Fran Landesman who also set their own words to the music of great musical composers:
https://blog.oup.com/2013/03/jazz-women-songwriters-gioia/
Read jazz historians\scribes like Dana and Ted Gioia or the Henry Brothers (David and Joe) the latter who wrote
the jaw-dropping biography of not only Richard Pryor in their book FURIOUS COOL but also of the underground midwestern chitlin' circuit of black vaudeville. North American culture is so much deeper and wider than what
our corporate-captured broadcasters have ever allowed on. US of A may be a historical champion of FREE SPEECH
and FREE PRESS but we sure can learn from Canada, the European nation-states, Scandinavian nation-states, African
nation-states and Latin American nation-states about freedom of Broadcasting!
Not one Public Interest Broadcaster was allowed a broadcast license, with programming fully insulated from
corporate and Market Force pressures. That may be the major reason we find Critical Thinking under attack.
Why academics, scholars and students of Mass Communications in the languages of God's World agree that
while the U.S. has a history of superb higher education, there is very little recorded history or herstory of it!
At least a Jazz Lover or Lit Lover or Philosophy or Comparative Religion or Civics lover can now search the VEVO or
U. of Tube\YouTube archives for mind-expanding and taste-expanding and humanizing clips from Canadian Broadcast
or BBC or Australian Broadcast or even find Michael Moore being translated into French on France's Public Interest
Broadcast netsworks or in Italian or Spanish on Italy and Spain's Public Interest broadcast stations. Nothing like
that in the U.S. of Amnesia where all broadcasting is PRIVATE INTEREST sponsored or underwritten and short
attention span commercially interrupted SNAKE OIL BROADCASTING system product. Even NPR is National
Public Relations radio.
Once the early national radio networks gave way to TV broadcasting, we can kiss goodbye to a broadcast archive of
U.S. cultural or political history\herstory of the late 19th and most of the 20th Century.
Even the history of U.S. of Amnesia's first radio networks forgets that some of those color network channels were non-commercial and co-operatively run for educational and cultural purposes by such non-profit agencies as the Catholic Church, Labor Unions and non-partisan and non-governmental Civics and cultural organizations. All down the U.S. Memory Hole........Look it up! We may have called it a National Educational Network, but in fact none existed nationally.
Start with Robert McChesney's books as he still teaches in the Illinois University system after starting out his
academic life publishing mimeo underground Rock Magazines in his pre-collegiate life!
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
Deborah Douglas
This song exhibits such powerful nuances between a Father and Son. It's so loving and sweet. The Father aware of son's curiosity, the son soaking up Dad's wisdom.
GrizzledGeezer somebody else
I first heard this song over 50 years ago on a Columbia sampler album. It perfectly combines humor and sentiment. Once you've heard it, you can't forget it.
DLSmith93
I grew up with this gentleman's music. This is a classic. Thanks so much for posting!
Russell Coverdale
Great father day music, miss you forever
adz mega
This is genius. You can just travel with him and understand exactly what he's talking about. The impression of the little kid nature was tops.
MickTheQuickk
I've owned this album since the early 1960s. It remains one of my favorites. Brilliant songwriting and delivery by Oscar Brown Jr. How do you introduce some of this great old music to today's kids? Â
Chelle b
Add it to a rap song by JayZ.
Tornait
Play it to them as they grow up.
I had jazz playing in my crib growing up. Iâm 18 now. It works.
GrizzledGeezer somebody else
Great music cannot be old, because it speaks to what is universal. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are never old. Try exposing them to "Quartet for the End of Time", and see what they think.
DLSmith93
I hope that others will do what my best friend and I have done with her child. The music is on when we are together. We try to link it to their music, showing where today's artists heard it first. Her child, (my godchild) is now offended when her groups come without a band, and only have a DJ. Little by little, each one reach one.