You Never Had It So Good

A poem by

Gerard Van der Leun

You shop Dollar Stores for wine in a box.
You save like they told you you should.
You buy Hamburger Helper instead of gravlax.
Yeah, you never had it so good.

You’ve got two dirty jobs that don’t equal one.
You’re a hard-working man of the hood.
You work both twelve hours and you’re never done.
Yeah, you never had it so good.

You never had it,
But you heard that it’s good.
You never had it,
But you think that you should.
You never had it,
Now you’re breaking bad at it,
And you still never had it so good.

If you’re black they’ll tell you’re ready to rock,
Just pull on this hoodie and hitch up your jock.
If you’re white they’ll tell you you gotta pay more
Of that nothing you make to even the score
With the slaves at the rave, or they’ll break down your door,
Throw you down on the floor, and whip out their Glock,
And swear you never had it so good.

Now they tell you you’re growing at a fat one percent,
Then they tell you that that won’t quite cover the rent.
But you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to scurry,
Cause they’ll cover your ass with a war surplus tent,
And tell you you’re straight no matter how bent.
Yeah, you never had it so good

You never had it,
But you heard that it’s good.
You never had it,
But you think that you should.
You never had it,
Now you’re breaking bad at it,
And you still never had it so good.

Sign up for that food card.
It really ain’t that hard.
It lets you and your squeeze
Get that government cheese,
And also some booze,
And your baby’s new shoes.
If you’re gay you can cruise,
And screw free til you lose.
Yeah, you never had it so good

You never had it,
But you heard that it’s good.
You never had it,
But you think that you should.
You never had it,
Now you’re breaking bad at it,
And you still never had it so good.