"Hand Me Down Genes" by Elizabeth Nichols traces a family inheritance of green eyes, cigarette smoke, fighting, drinking, and infidelity, then draws a firm line against repeating it. The image of hand-me-down genes turns inherited traits into clothes that can be refused, and the bridge lists divorcing, cheating, and lying as outfits never tried on. Love for the family remains, but the song insists that the way things have always been is not the way they have to be.
Hand Me Down Genes Lyrics by Elizabeth Nichols
Me and my mom are the exact same size
Me and my daddy both got green eyes
Grandma, Grandpa, always prone to fightin’
My Barbies smelled like cigarettes
We all grew up with the same address
Love ’em all, don’t mean I gotta turn out like ’em
It ran in my family ’til it ran into me
The apple fell a couple of miles from the tree
The way it’s always been ain’t the way it has to be
You won’t find me walkin’ ’round in them hand-me-down genes
Empty beer bottle, Bible as a coaster
Pills in the pantry, bread in the toaster
We ain’t heard from Aunt Debbie ever since Thanksgiving
Gotta sort through all that’s been passed down
Keep what’s good, then take the trash out
I come from a long line of faithful women and unfaithful men
It ran in my family ’til it ran into me
The apple fell a couple of miles from the tree
The way it’s always been ain’t the way it has to be
You won’t find me walkin’ ’round in them hand-me-down genes
Divorcin’ and fightin’
And drinkin’ and drivin’
And cheatin’ and lyin’
I ain’t even tryin’ them on
It ran in my family ’til it ran into me
The apple fell a couple of miles from the tree
The way it’s always been ain’t the way it has to be
You won’t find me walkin’ ’round in them hand-me-down genes
You won’t find me walkin’ ’round in them hand-me-down genes
