Just Enough for a City

Lately I've been listening to Stevie's "Living for the city". I found it really great since I fond of his masterpieces. Knew it for the first time when somebody -forgot the name- brought it in American Idol.
From this song, Wonder can articulate his personal background and the social situation in America, esp. in the southern states, at that era. Living for the city..

I'm not trying to place on a par with Stevie but I found things in common with the words within the lyrics. I was born in Kramat Tunggak, the place where there used to be a red light district in the north of Jakarta. I was born there not because my mom was a prostitute or my dad was a pimp, because my dad's workplace hospital is located there. Never been living in that area but I think it's really tough there compared to any other part of this city. My dad was a man from the small town in Central Java, a truly Javanese, and mom came from the western part of the island.

My old man, he had a very tough life. His old man passed away 3 days after the celebration of his circumcision, when he was 9 or 10. He was a bright one in his town, brought his bundle of clothes to Jakarta. Started his life really tough as ojek driver in Kota, then being a teacher, and ended up as an accountant in the state-owned harbor company. He didn't dig a lot of gold but he bang his bones off his body for the family. It wasn't much but it's just enough for the city.
My mom had a better kinda situation than my dad's. Leave her hometown when she was a teenager, went to catholic schools and end up working for the government. Though she wasn't suffering, it was tough at that time to live away from her comfort zone and spend her young time with her brother and his demonic wife. She's not making a lot of cash till now, but she's squeezing her brain and juggling harder than the clown in the circus. It's not much, but it's just enough for the city.

I never found tough life here. Got everything I want. Not actually everything, at least the primary and secondary ones. But we could get things we want if we save more and work our ass harder. Yes, it's just like when we don't have an apple tree in our lemon tree garden. When we want an apple, we don't need to walk miles away from our garden to Eden. Just save some spaces of the land, put the apple seeds, pour some water, let them grow, and wait for the harvest time. It needs efforts, but we got the apples eventually.

So I never feel like a poor boy from Mumbay, but I never feel like an Upper East Sider either. But I can taste sweet stuff if I put some sugar in it. Just learn harder, then got into univ. Just learn less-harder to be a grade-A. Just work a bit and a little juggling and save some dimes to get fake apparels, nice social lubricants, and discover a little piece of this globe. It's not much, but the living just enough for he city.

Click here to hear the song

A boy is born in hard time Mississippi
Surrounded by four walls that ain't so pretty
His parents give him love and affection
To keep him strong moving in the right direction
Living just enough, just enough for the city...

His father works some days for fourteen hours
And you can bet he barely makes a dollar
His mother goes to scrub the floor for many
And you'd best believe she hardly gets a penny
Living just enough, just enough for the city...yeah

His sister's black but she is sho 'nuff pretty
Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy
To walk to school she's got to get up early
Her clothes are old but never are they dirty
Living just enough, just enough for the city...um hum

Her brother's smart he's got more sense than many
His patience's long but soon he won't have any
To find a job is like a haystack needle
Cause where he lives they don't use colored people
Living just enough, just enough for the city...
Living just enough...
For the city...ooh,ooh
[repeat several times]

His hair is long, his feet are hard and gritty
He spends his love walking the streets of New York City
He's almost dead from breathing on air pollution
He tried to vote but to him there's no solution
Living just enough, just enough for the city...yeah, yeah, yeah!

I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrow
And that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow
This place is cruel no where could be much colder
If we don't change the world will soon be over
Living just enough, just enough for the city!!!!