To Be A Man (feat. Darius Rucker)

I can't hide myself, I don't expect you to understand
I just hope I can explain what it's like to be a man
It's a lonely road, and they don't care 'bout what you know
It's not 'bout how you feel, but what you provide inside that home

Bein' a man is what you make it, you can't always live up to expectations
You try to please everybody while you struggle, so you fake it
And end up outta balance, compromisin' situations
As a good man, a do what he should man

A give everything he has and do everything he could man
You might find yourself feelin' all alone
Inside a house you built that you don't recognize as home
And that's what my daddy told me, and I'll tell my son the same

Now that I'm older, I relate and I actually feel his pain
He never cried, he mighta lied, but he did not complain
And he said, "Son, one day, you'll have to do the same"
I get emotional when I stop I think and I look around
Beyond the county lines of my small town
I think about all the men out there who feel like I do now
Who are screamin' on the inside, but won't ever make a sound

I can't hide myself, I don't expect you to understand
I just hope I can explain what it's like to be a man (what it's like to be a man)
It's a lonely road (it's a lonely road), and they don't care 'bout what you know (care 'bout what you know)
It's not 'bout how you feel, but what you provide inside that home

Don't give up, keep fightin', as a man, our son is our horizon
And our fathers' actions play a role, and we end up like him
So they can't let us see them hurt
'Cause we'll embody what they do and start a generational curse

No wonder most men are so depressed, all the things that they can't express
They go to war, get thrown on the shelf, then go back to war with they mental health
Then grab that bottle and ask for help, try to pull themselves outta hell
Then fall back down and then realize that they gon' have to do it themselves

It's the circle of life, as a man, you provide
They don't know what you're worth 'til the day that you die
And that's when they start cryin' (oh)
Then move on to a man to confide in (ooh)

That's why we feel we can't hide ourselves (we can't hide ourselves)
We don't expect you to understand (oh, understand)
We just hope we can explain (we can explain) what it's like to be a man (what it's like to be a man)
It's a lonely road (it's a lonely road), and you don't care 'bout what we know (care 'bout what we know)
It's not 'bout how we feel (how we feel, how we feel), but what we provide inside that home (inside that home)

That home (that home)
It's not 'bout how we feel (not about how we feel)
But what we provide inside that home (inside that home)