I found Sugar Girl on the way to a protest
She said, "hey baby you gotta come see this!"
And we held a ten-foot banner between us
But I never got closer than that
To her

Sugar Girl
How do you stay so sweet
When you know what they want you to be?
Sugar Girl
They’re gonna grind you down
But you’ll always be too sweet for me.

So she went on stage and made her speeches
And the media filmed and issues press releases
She went on Nightline and Stateline and Landline and Frontline
The broadcast news interviews focused the limelight
On her.

Sugar Girl
How do you stay so sweet
When you know what they want you to be?
Sugar Girl
They’re gonna change you now
But you’ll always be too sweet for me.

They packaged and marketed you
Branded and bartered you
The radio stations
And their public relations
Made you the voice of an
Angry young nation
It wasn’t you
Wasn’t you
Wasn’t what you
Wanted to be.

So she turned her back for fifteen minutes
And the corporate giants turned their eyes for a second
And the next big photo op never happened
And she breathed a sly secret smile,
For her.

Sugar Girl
How do you stay so sweet
When you know what they want you to be?
Sugar Girl
They’re gone sour on you
But you’ll always be too sweet for me.