[Spoken Word Begins Here] [Opening Anthem Begins Here] They hand you a script the second you’re born. A narrow box made of pride and of scorn. Telling you exactly what you’re supposed to be. While they lock the door and they throw away the key. [Spoken Word Ends Here] [Opening Anthem Ends Here] [Verse] Born with a Y and a heavy-duty weight Taught that a feeling is a defective trait Don’t show your heart and don’t show your tears That’s been the anthem for a thousand years If you’re peaceful and respectful and you show some grace They’ll tell you you’re failing the masculine race If you treat a woman like an equal on the street They’ll call you a beta for the words you repeat. [Chorus] Because you’re not a real damn man if you don’t fit the mold You’re not a real damn man if you don’t do what you’re told If you don't have the physique or the hustle or the greed They’ll claim you’re a failure and a different breed Yeah, that’s the lie that they’re trying to sell Keeping every brother in a mental cell. [Instrumental Break] [Verse] They want you to provide with no return in sight Give until you’re empty in the middle of the night Hold a higher standard for the things that you do But don't expect the world to be honest with you They’ll clown you for dignity and mock your own mind If you put your humanity ahead of the grind Loyalty to parties and the colors they wear If you choose your own values, they’ll stop and they’ll stare. [Chorus] Because you’re not a real damn man if you don’t fit the mold You’re not a real damn man if you don’t do what you’re told If you don't have the physique or the hustle or the greed They’ll claim you’re a failure and a different breed Yeah, that’s the lie that they’re trying to sell Keeping every brother in a mental cell. [Bridge] So you drew a line in the dirt and the dust You traded their "standards" for a spirit of trust Accountable and kind without a gender or a wing You realized that freedom is a beautiful thing It shatters their illusions and it breaks their disguise To see a man standing with truth in his eyes You aren’t special, you just saw through the haze And walked out of the thicket of their narrow-minded ways. [Chorus] Now you are a real damn man because you broke the mold You are a real damn man cause you won’t do what you’re told You don’t need the physique or the hustle or the greed To be exactly the human that you know you need Yeah, that was the lie that they tried to sell But you walked right out of that mental cell. [Spoken Word Begins Here] [Closing Anthem Begins Here] Finally free from the shackles and the chains. No longer bound by their losses and gains. Defining yourself by the strength of your soul. Finally finding the power to be whole. That is the pinnacle of a man who is secure. [Spoken Word Ends Here] [Closing Anthem Ends Here]
