Real Men
(Jackson)
Joe Jackson - from “Night And Day” (1982)

Take your mind back - I don’t know when

Sometime when it always seemed

To be just us and them

Girls that wore pink

And boys that wore blue

Boys that always grew up better men

Than me and you

What’s a man now - what’s a man mean

Is he rough or is he rugged

Is he cultural and clean

Now it’s all change - it’s got to change more

‘Cause we think it’s getting better

But nobody’s really sure

And so it goes - go round again

But now and then we wonder who the real men are

See the nice boys - dancing in pairs

Golden earring golden tan

Blow-wave in the hair

Sure they’re all straight - straight as a line

All the gays are macho

Can’t you see their leather shine

You don’t want to sound dumb - don’t want to offend

So don’t call me a faggot

Not unless you are a friend

Then if you’re tall and handsome and strong

You can wear the uniform and I could play along

And so it goes - go round again

But now and then we wonder who the real men are

Time to get scared - time to change plan

Don’t know how to treat a lady

Don’t know how to be a man

Time to admit - what you call defeat

‘Cause there’s women running past you now

And you just drag your feet

Man makes a gun - man goes to war

Man can kill and man can drink

And man can take a whore

Kill all the blacks - kill all the reds

And if there’s war between the sexes

Then there’ll be no people left

And so it goes - go round again

But now and then we wonder who the real men are