Forced to wear such uncool clothes, The Fresh Prince suffers inevitable embarrassment on his first day at school. His mother insists on buying all the articles of clothing she picked out for her son, in spite of his objections, stating, "You go to school to learn, not for a fashion show." The Prince soon tries to skip school on the first day by faking an illness (the music video shows him heating a thermometer with a lighter) so that he cannot go, with little success. The Prince's mother bought him a whole wardrobe that was way against his style, getting "Zips" shoes instead of Adidas, along with Sha Na Na-style outfits (with a brief mention of Bowzer), bell-bottom Brady Bunch trousers, double-knit reversible slacks, a $20.00 plaid shirt with a butterfly collar, and the like. The first verse is a recollection of when he went school-shopping with his whole family, including his brother and their younger sister, at the Gallery Mall. The song's lyrics consists of The Fresh Prince detailing his problems with his own parents, whom he feels do not understand the difficulties of being a teenager. A sample of the opening to Peter Frampton's "Won't you be my friend?" can be heard at the beginning and all throughout the song. The song was ranked number 96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, and featured in The Parent Trap, Malibu's Most Wanted and Jersey Girl. The song was referenced several times in the television show The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The song was released as a single in spring 1988. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, one of the two songs to do so before the award was discontinued in 1991. " Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. "Parents Just Don't Understand" on YouTube
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