Lyrics Joe Jackson – Real Men

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

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 the 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

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