[Verse 1] He had a way of saying no That left no room to move I thought he didn’t understand What I was trying to prove He held the line when I pushed back He wouldn’t bend to please Back then I thought he was too hard Now I know what he could see [Chorus] He was the man I measured by The steady hand, the clear blue sky The voice that told me who I was When I was young and running wild Years go by, the world gets hard You learn the cost of every scar But when I wonder what a man should be I see the man who raised me [Verse 2] He didn’t speak in pretty words Or soften every fall He taught me there were truths in life That mattered after all I mistook the rules for walls Like boys so often do But every line he drew for me Was a line that led me through [Chorus] He was the man I measured by The steady hand, the clear blue sky The voice that told me who I was When I was young and running wild Years go by, the world gets hard You learn the cost of every scar But when I wonder what a man should be I see the man who raised me [Bridge] He knew there’d come a morning When I’d have to stand alone When I’d reach for his answer And have to find my own He wasn’t trying to keep me From the world outside our door He was teaching me to face it When he couldn’t anymore [Final Chorus] He was the man I measured by The steady hand, the clear blue sky The voice that told me who I was When I was young and running wild Years go by, the world gets hard You learn the cost of every scar But when I wonder what a man should be I see the man who raised me [Outro] And when the evening gathers And the road ahead gets dark I still hear him saying Son, get home before dark
