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