Walk out of an alley with a bloody dollar bill
Holdin your lunch money that no bully's gonna steal
Put that dime left over with the others in a box
To buy your grandpa a new Buck knife to replace the one you lost

Steal your daddy's Pontiac and plant it in a ditch
Watch him walk to work all week till he could get it fixed
Work it off on the weekends sweatin in a mill
Go there with a debt to pay and leave there with a skill

(chorus)

That's how you make a boy become, more than just his father's son
Fight and crawl, climb and fall, stand tall on your knees
That's how you make a man like me

Pick up that telephone you wish you never heard
Take the longest two mile drive you ever took to her
Wait as she takes that test cause you just couldn't wait
And taste bittersweet victory when she says 'we're ok'

Let your buddytleavfe a party, and don't ask him for his keys
Rest that casket on the shoulder where your best friend used to lean
See that baby boy's whole life flash right before his mama's eyes
Live with knowin you could've saved his life

(bridge)
Kick your self for stumblin, but never leave your feet
Lie awake with your mistakes and find peace piece by piece
Pray that you wake up as who you want to be
That's how you make a man like me