You might not recognize, the truth gets colored by the wrong things,
Bad things do disguise,
Afraid you might despise the real thing,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh.

Down in southern Cal. we don't wear shoes,
We lay it way back,
When someone with charisma tells me, "Don't wear shoes" I tell them, "Go back, where did you get that?"

You might not recognize, the truth gets colored by the wrong things,
Bad things do disguise,
Afraid you might despise the real thing,
Real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh.

Down in Africa they beat the drum,
They like the big beat,
A white man through the P.A. says, "Don't beat that drum"
They tell him, "Go back, where does it say that?"

The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh.

Down at the little church they all wear hats,
They feel they're doing right,
Over at the big church where they hate those hats, it gets them uptight,
Now, is that right?

You might not recognize, the truth gets colored by the wrong things,
Bad things do disguise,
Afraid you might despise the real thing,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing, whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh,
The real thing whoa-oh, (talk about the)
The real thing whoa-oh, (talk about the)
The real thing whoa-oh, (talk about the)