Hands full of holes and some dirt in the blood
The state took his weed and his Mexican mud
He tied his own noose so to save him from hell
The state put him under a methadone spell
The spell wore off, though it took a few years
Some spirits mixed in with the bud and the beer
But he kicked it for good when his best friend died
Jumped into a canyon when he knew he couldn't fly
My father told me what his father told him
Said don't judge a man for the man that he is,
But the man that he wants to be
It's hard to come down after touching the clouds
When the boots that they give you aren't tied to the ground
And breaking your back for a blue collared dream
Just opens the crack that the great river needs
To tear down the wall, to bring on the flood
To level the castles of sand that you love
But you'll kick it for good when the kids leave home,
'Cause if you can't work sober then you're better off stoned
My father told me what his father told him
Said don't judge a man for the man that he is,
But the man that he wants to be
I said to him
Man, I am calling your bluff
If you wanted to change, you'd have given it up
He looked at me, sad, as if he'd been beat
Then he summoned the courage to speak
You think you're so wise, well, just wait 'til you're old
You'll find that with time it gets harder to know
What a good man is, but you also will find
That it gets more important to try
Yes, it gets more important to try
