Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development & Dionne Farris
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
Arrested Development
“People Everyday” was Arrested Development’s second single, following their debut international smash hit “Tennessee.” It is based heavily on the music and lyrics of “Everyday People” – a chart-topping 1969 song by Sly & The Family Stone.
A remix of it reached the top 10 in six countries includ...
[Verse 1: Speech]
See I was restin' at the park mindin' my own
Business as I kick up the treble tone
On my radio tape player box, right
Just loud enough so folks could hear it's hype, see?
Outta nowhere comes the woman I'm datin'
Investigation maybe she was demonstratin'
But nevertheless I was pleased
My day was goin' great and my soul was at ease
Until a group of brothers started buggin' out
Drinkin' the 40 oz, goin' the nigga route
Disrespectin' my black queen
Holdin' their crotches and bein' obscene
At first I ignored them 'cause see I know their type
They got drunk and got guns and they wanna fight
And they see a young couple having a time that's good
And their egos wanna test a brother's manhood
So they came to test Speech 'cause of my hair-do
And the loud bright colors that I wear (Boom!)
I was a target 'cause I'm a fashion misfit
And the outfit that I'm wearin' brothers dissin' it
Well I stay calm and pray the niggas leave me be
But they're squeezin' parts of my date's anatomy
Why, Lord, do brothers have to drill me?
'Cause if I start to hit this man he'll have to kill me, see
[Chorus: Arrested Development]
I am everyday people
You see, I am everyday people
[Verse 2: Speech]
I told the niggas please let us pass, friend
I said please 'cause I don't like killin' Africans
But he wouldn't stop and I ain't Ice Cube
But I had to take the brother out for being rude
And like I said before I was mad by then
It took three or four cops to pull me off of him
But that's the story y'all of a black man
Actin' like a nigga and get stomped by an African
You see
[Chorus: Arrested Development]
I am everyday people
You see, I am everyday people
[Outro: Speech]
The moral of the story is
You better look very hard at who you're steppin' to
'Cause you might get killed or shot and it's not worth it
Africans need to be lovin' each other and unite
People Everyday was produced by Speech.
Arrested Development released People Everyday on Tue Mar 24 1992.
Todd “Speech” Thomas was inspired to write the song based on his experiences of having different views on black culture than those in his neighborhood:
…they understood they were black, but for them black was jheri-curls, it was pimping, and that’s what they thought black culture was mainly about....