(Don't blame it on the children) You know we read in the papers And we hear on the air Of k**ing and stealing And crime everywhere And we sigh and we say As we notice the trend This young generation Where will it end But can we be sure That it's their fault alone I mean, that maybe a Part of it isn't our own Are we less guilty Who place in their way Too many things That lead them astray Like too much money to spend And too much idle time Too many movies The kind of pa**ion and crime Too many books, man That are not even fit to be read Too much evil in what they hear said And too many children Encouraged to roam By too many parents Who won't even stay at home (Don't blame it on the children) Well, man, kids don't make the movies
And they don't write the books And they don't go out And paint gay pictures Of gangsters and crooks They don't make the liquor And they don't run the bars And they don't make the laws And they don't buy the cars They don't peddle junk that Well, that addles the brain That's all done by older folks, man Greedy for gain Delinquent teenagers, oh, man How quick we do condemn The sins of a nation And then go and blame it on them But the laws that are blameless The Savior makes known Now you tell me who is there Among us to cast the first stone For in so many cases It's sad but it's true That the title Delinquent Fits older folks too (Don't blame it on the children) (Don't blame it on the children) (Don't blame it on the children)