To Be a Man

Well my father always meant the world to me
So I stood up, split his lip, and took his keys
Cause the bottle was his mistress
And I came to understand
Oh that sometimes you gotta leave
To be a man

So I took to sweeping floors and stacking wood
At the union valley mill so my brother could
Live without the weight of wanting
Never mind these tired hands
I knew that sometimes you gotta work
To be a man

In that quarried stone
Every letter holds
Another story, another lesson that he left
Standing here again
Reminds me who I am
In the quiet I still hear the words he said
If it's easy, you know it ain't right
It ain't easy but living's worth the fight

Knew at eighteen it was time to go to war
I was missing home when my feet hit the shore
Oh but I'm not one for running
From the call Uncle Sam
I knew sometimes you gotta fight
To be a man

In that quarried stone
Every letter holds
Another story, another lesson that he left
Standing here again
Reminds me who I am
In the quiet I still hear the words he said
If it's easy, you know it ain't right
It ain't easy but living's worth the fight

In a broke down car with seven mouths to feed
There were winters then that pushed me to my knees
There were fathers who abandoned
Cowards who just ran
Oh but sometimes you gotta stay
To be a man