Parents Just Don't Understand


"Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, one of the two songs to do so before the award was discontinued in 1991. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was released as a single in spring 1988. The song was referenced several times in the television show The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The song was ranked number 96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, and the music video was featured in the 2003 film Malibu's Most Wanted.

Composition

The song's two major verses involve The Fresh Prince's problems with his own parents, who he feels don't understand the difficulties of being a teenager. The first verse is a recollection of when he went school-shopping with his whole family, including his brother and their younger sister, at the Gallery Mall. The Prince's mother bought him a whole wardrobe that was way against his style, getting "Zips" shoes instead of Adidas...along with bell-bottoms, reversible slacks, a plaid shirt with a butterfly collar, and the like. Forced to wear such uncool clothes, The Fresh Prince suffers inevitable embarrassment on his first day at school.
The second verse explains what happens when he takes the family Porsche out for a spin - despite having no driver's license - while his parents were on a long vacation. He picks up a beautiful girl and takes her to McDonald's. When the Prince floors the car to show how fast it can go, he gets pulled over for speeding...and discovers the beauty he picked up is a tween runaway. The cop arrests him for driving without a license, and the Porsche is impounded. His parents are forced to come home early from vacation to bail him out, and angrily administer severe physical discipline on the drive home. Nevertheless, the Fresh Prince tells his audience that "parents just don't understand".

Notable cover versions

, 3LW, and Nick Cannon recorded a cover for the . T-Squad covered the song on their only album T-Squad.

Track listing

; 7" Vinyl
  1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 4:13
  2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 4:06
; 12" Vinyl
  1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 6:20
  2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 5:13
  3. "Live At Union Square, November 1986" – 4:03
; American 12" Vinyl
  1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 5:27
  2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 4:13
  3. "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 4:06
  4. "Live At Union Square, November 1986" – 4:03

    Charts

Certifications