Free Lyrics 2026

written by Bradley Spalter, Emanuel Officer, Robbie Nevil, Babyface (1997)

I was born on the north side of a Midwestern town
There were nine of us living in a three bedroom house
Didn't have much money
But we made due
'Cause Momma worked all day long
And Daddy did too
Did all they could
Made sure we had clothes and food
Went to public schools and we
Followed public rules
We used second hand books, but oh
I didn't mind the books
Momma taught us early in life
Everybody's gotta struggle sometime

Bring back those simple times of yesterday
When a man was a man
And a friend was a friend
Bring back those simple times of yesterday
When you said what you meant
And you meant what you said

Had a friend named Bobby
Who always kept his word
We went through schoolyard fights
Had a thing for pretty girls
Didn't cost much money to
See the picture show
So we hopped the bus into town
That's where all the girlies used to go
Fifty cents would buy us popcorn for two
'Cause Bobby's girl, she worked there
And sometimes she'd break the rules
Picnics in the summer
Wouldn't wake up 'till noon
And even though Bobby's gone now
I can still hear him laugh
In the middle of June

HOOK

Sometimes I sit, I wonder
I reminisce, I think of all the good times
That we had in our lives
Sometimes I can't get over
How wonderful those days were
Back in our lives
Simple days for simple times

HOOK