The Way It Is Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun, he says, "Get a job"
[Chorus]
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ha, but don't you believe them
[Verse 2]
They say, "Hey, little boy, you can't go where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do"
Said, "Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
Did you really think about it before you made the rules?"
He said, "Son
[Chorus]
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is"
Ha, but don't you believe them
Mmm, yeah
[Bridge]
That's just the way it is
That's just the way it is
[Verse 3]
Well, they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
'Cause the law don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, ooh, no
[Chorus]
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
That's just the way it is, it is, it is, it is
[Instrumental Outro]
About
Bruce Hornsby’s second single and biggest hit, “The Way It Is,” a song about the civil rights era, reached #1 in the US in late 1986. It was also a top 30 hit in several other countries including the UK. Its success allowed his first single “Every Little Kiss” to outdo its original chart performance on re-release the following year.
2Pac’s “Changes” famously samples the song.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Hornsby told NME:
My mother came from the New England area, and she was a little more enlightened about racial subjects than a lot of people in the South. So I had a different attitude to a lot of my friends whose parents were more conservative. When I was brought up, the vibe I got of Martin Luther King in my town was that he was a real evil man – just the vibe in the air, that he was terrible. And if you grow up in that environment you can’t help but be affected by it a little bit. Luckily, I came from a family that guarded us against that conservatism, but sure, I grew up in the thick of all that bad feeling.
- 5.The Way It Is
