[Chorus: Dax]

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

[Verse 1: Darius Rucker]

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 out of balance, compromisin' situations

As a good man, 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 and 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

[Chorus: Dax]

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

[Verse 2: Dax]

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 'em

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 out of hell

Then fall back down and then realize

That they gon' have to do it themselves

[Pre-Chorus: Dax]

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

[Chorus: Dax & Darius Rucker]

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)

[Outro & Darius Rucker]

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)