The Other Generation

Lyrics

[WANG] I am puzzled by the attitude Of children over here They are often disobedient They seem to have no fear Of the father [MADAM LIANG] They come home when they are tired out Or when they want to eat And they act as if their coming home Were quite a special treat For the father [WANG] My older son at twenty-one Has just discovered love A complicated subject He knows very little of [MADAM LIANG] Your younger son confuses me The way he uses words He tells me I am "cukey" And "something for the birds" [WANG] What are we going to do about The other generation? [MADAM LIANG] How will we ever communicate Without communication? [WANG] You don't know where they go or what they do— [WANG & MADAM LIANG, spoken] Ah ya [MADAM LIANG] And what peculiar thoughts they think They never reveal to you [WANG] A very discouraging problem is The other generation They want to lead a life that's all their own [MADAM LIANG] Perhaps we ought to let them Forsake them and forget them But then we'd only find ourselves alone [WANG & MADAM LIANG] With one another I don't believe we'd like to be alone! [WANG] When you speak from your experience You meet with cool disdain Every child is born with knowledge Beyond the puny brain Of a father [MADAM LIANG] Every child is born with confidence A parent can't achieve And the kind of intuition That compels him to believe What he'd rather [WANG] My older son has chosen a daughter-in-law for me A dancer in a nightclub is my daughter-in-law to be [MADAM LIANG] She dances and undresses 'til she's naked as a flea And everyone can look at— [WANG & MADAM LIANG] What he alone should see! What are we going to do about The other generation? How will we ever communicate Without communication? [MADAM LIANG] They never take the blame for one mistake— [WANG, spoken] Oh, no! [WANG] Their parents are responsible For every mistake they make! [WANG & MADAM LIANG] A very discouraging problem is The other generation And soon there'll be another one as well [MADAM LIANG] And when our out-of-hand sons Are bringing up our grandsons I hope our grandsons give their fathers hell! [WANG] Can't wait to see it [WANG & MADAM LIANG] I hope our grandsons give their fathers hell!