There has always been this constant back-and-forth between the younger generations and the older ones on the subject of love. Older generations are always telling the younger ones that they fall too hard and too fast. The younger generation is constantly accused of chasing love to fill in an empty void way too early, when it’s really all a part of adolescence and growing up. The song “You’re Still A Young Man” by Tower of Power perfectly depicts this struggle both lyrically and musically.
The song starts out with the screams of a proud trumpet and drops into a smooth and slow beat. The tune primarily consists of a rhythm section, horn section, woodwinds section, and some singers. About halfway during the song there’s a change in the feel and the beat is brought up to further amplify the debate between the lead vocal and the group vocals.
The lyrics and the way that they are sung is really what makes the song impactful. The lead vocal and the background vocals have this constant fight all throughout the song that never really seems to resolve. The background vocals constantly come back to the lines “You’re still a young man, baby. Don’t waste your time,” and the lead vocal always fights back with something like “I’m not a young man baby, I’m not wasting my time,” or “think twice about me, ‘cause I’m not so bad.” This back-and-forth between the vocals perfectly depicts the misunderstanding between two generations on the idea of young love. It’s even accurate right down to the ratio between background vocals and lead vocal, where there’s four or five singers saying “you’re still a young man” to one "young man" replying “I’m not a young man, baby”.
“You’re Still A Young Man” was one of Tower of Power’s highest charting songs and it’s very apparent why: the music is good, the lyrics are great, and the song can be related to by people of all ages. This song is one of the few songs out there that is truly timeless in both lyric and sound.
