Real Men

Joe Jackson

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


cultural and clean


now it's all changed


it's got to change more


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 guys are macho


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


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


and so it goes, go round again


but now and then we wonder who the real men are


and so it goes, go round again


but now and then we wonder who the real men are