Flipsyde: Happy Birthday

Flipsyde's "Happy Birthday" is a powerful piece melding contemporary rap in a ballad format creating a thought provoking discussion in the issue of abortion. It is a touching song filled with questions of pain, sorrow, and doubt from the other side of the coin - the would be father.

First, read the lyrics and then watch the video to hear the song. It is one of the few rap songs that is worth listening to and which I have enjoyed over the years.

Lord knows I'm not much into rap music and perhaps you are not too. But consider that Flipsyde was chosen twice by NBC for delivering the theme song to the 2006 Winter Olympics and recently the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. They also performed on Jay Leno of which I first caught wind of them only later to learn that the new group member, Chantelle Paige and her parents, used to live a few blocks down the street from me in Campbell, California.

It's a small world. Enjoy.

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday Lyrics

Happy birthday
So make a wish

Please accept my apologies
I wonder what would have been
Would you have been a little angel or an angel of sin?
Tom-boy running around, hanging with all the guys
Or a little tough boy with beautiful brown eyes
I paid for the murder before they determined the sex
Choosing our life over your life meant your death
And you never got a chance to even open your eyes
Sometimes I wonder as a fetus if you fought for your life
Would you have been a little genius?
In love with math?
Would you have played in your school clothes and made me mad?
Would you have been a little rapper like your poppa the piper?
Would you have made me quit smoking by finding one of my lighters?
I wonder about your skin tone and shape of your nose
And the way you would've laughed and talked fast or slow
I think about it every year so I picked up a pen
Happy birthday
I love you whoever you would've been
Happy birthday

What I thought was a dream
Make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
Happy birthday
What I thought was a dream
Make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
I made a mistake

I got a million excuses as to why you died
And other people got their own reasons for homicide
Who's to say it wouldve worked and whos to say it wouldn't have
I was young and struggling but old enough to be a dad
The fear of being my father has never disappeared
I ponder it frequently while im sippin on my beer
My visions of a family was artificial and fake
So when it came time to create
I made a mistake
But now you got a little brother
Maybe it's really you
Maybe you really forgave us knowing we were confused
Maybe, everytime that he smiles it's you proudly know that your fathers doing the right thing now

I'll never tell a woman what to do with her body
But if she don't love children then we can't party
I think about it every year, so I picked up a pen
Happy birthday
I love you whoever you wouldve been
Happy birthday

What I thought was a dream
Make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
Happy birthday
What I thought was a dream
Yeah, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
I made a mistake

And from the heavens to the womb to the heavens again
From the ending to the ending
Never got to begin
Maybe one day we can meet face to face
In a place without time and space
Happy birthday

And from the heavens to the womb to the heavens again
Form the ending to the ending
Never got to begin
Maybe one day we can meet face to face
In a place without time and space
Happy birthday

What I thought was a dream
Make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
Happy birthday
What I thought was a dream
Make a wish
Was as real as it seemed
I made a mistake

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday Video

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.