Nora Petran "What It Takes to be a Man" (Official Video)
1. |
How Can I Pretend?
02:19
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My baby is on a mission
To find a companion who understands him
And lately I filled that position
He has bared witness to my neglected ambitions
So how can I pretend
Like it wasn’t meant to end?
He has always wanted to raise children
Wanted to make me happy as the head of my family
But as of late my dreams are running astray
My mind became an ocean and my body an island
So how can I pretend
Like I don’t prefer to swim?
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2. |
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I want to be a good man
I want to be a good man
But if I won’t be confronted with anything I’ve done
Now you must try and understand why a man might do you wrong
I grew up
I grew up
I grew up with a father who told me what it takes to be a man
Even when you feel like falling you must stand, son
Because that is what it means to be a man
I grew up
I grew up
I grew up with friends who would fight me and fight me until I fought them
And everything in my life gives me a second chance
Oh man, it’s so hard to be a man
Oh man, it’s so hard to be a man
I grew up
I grew up
I grew up in a body, but nobody will mistake that for who I am
Born at the top of the ladder where I can fly when I feel like it
But, what if I decide to question the truth?
Maybe being a man doesn’t make me better than you
I grew up
I grew up
I grew up with thoughts, because no one ever forced me to turn them off
Every idea I’ve had gets to run its course
Now here I am,
No such thing as a good man
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3. |
Over and Over
03:43
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Go ahead and hurt me
Hurt me again
Late at night when you pretend like it never happened
In the shelter of the quiet his heart seems untouched by it
Go ahead and take me
Over and over again
Late at night when I try living in the moment
I’m reminded of our culture and my heart is broken for her
They name their price and allow each other to blur the lines
Our future estranged now that we’ve trained each other to feel his pain
Aside from semantics, I thought it could be love instead of romantic
Enraptured, enchanted, coerced by my baby, whom with I “miscommunicated”
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4. |
Giving in to Time
04:00
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She has brown eyes and I do not
She has short hair and I do not
Cause aren’t you just a jacket to wear to work
Removing the mask of who you thought you weren’t
Giving in to time
Claiming I’m alright
You want me to validate your pride
But you won’t acknowledge mine
And if good men are few and far between
Honey, what does love mean?
What does love mean?
He has brown eyes and I do too
He has short hair just like I do
But they see him stringing medals around his neck
They see me fumbling with the clasp of a heavy necklace
I’m not giving in this time
I refuse to rethink what I wanted to do before the end of my life
If disrespect was born to my name
What is the context of a woman’s shame
If you know your arrow like I know my rings
How such a small bit of solder could continue that chain
Giving in to time
Claiming I’m alright
You want me to validate your pride
But you won’t acknowledge mine
And if good men are few and far between
Honey, what does love mean?
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5. |
Saliva
04:09
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I feel the saliva dry up my throat
Mind over matter
Your lips taste as dead as a flower
I can’t raise my baby here
Such a shame his brain is a one-sided mirror
I knew it, I know I should’ve seen it comin’
Spawning right within the focus of my vision
Just ‘cause you were right, doesn’t prove me wrong
You’re the one who’s been lying to yourself
I’m the one who’s been trying to make it better
Now I feel like your hand tightened the zip ties around my wrists
One more step further brings another threat to pull me back under
I can’t raise my baby here
Such a shame my own brain is a one-sided mirror
I knew it, I know I’ve lost my imagination
Like an ember stuck in the fire of frustration
Slippery tiles under the floorboards of my patience
Just ‘cause you were right, doesn’t prove me wrong
You’re the one who’s been lying to yourself
You’re the one who’s been lying to yourself
You’re the one who’s been lying to yourself
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6. |
No, I Don’t Love You
02:48
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No, I don't love you
I don’t care
I think you’re stupid
And you won’t get anywhere
No second chapter
No second page
It’s not like it should matter
Anyways
No I don’t love you!
I don’t care!
I think you’re stupid
And you won’t get anywhere
No second chapter!
No second page!
It’s not like it should matter
Anyways
I know you tried
Or at least you wanted to
We couldn’t have both been right
Or at least I thought that was true
No I don’t love you!
I don’t care!
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7. |
Natural Resource
04:06
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Bad luck seems to follow me
I’m told I should take it easy
And so I take it easy
When I’m struggling to hit my target
I’m told not to give up on it
And so I don’t give up on it
Why, why, why, why me?
Must his fresh red blood render me empty of
My own natural resource?
Good luck seems to avoid me
I’m told what will be, will be
What it will be
When I’m struggling to know why it’s worth it
I’m told to just roll with the punches
And appreciate your options
Why, why, why, why me?
Must that crisp clear sweat make me so uncomfortable with
My own natural resource?
Time pushed me faster
Just to rush past that grain of sand
But I am much too impatient
To wait
Until I feel better
My mistakes do not taste too bitter
For me now
And so I take it easy
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8. |
An Invitation
01:40
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I can’t keep him off my mind
An old key is working on a new lock
This old door is recognizing your familiar knock
And engaging the gears inside of my stopwatch
Now I can’t keep him off my mind
May I invite you in for a second try?
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9. |
Dream Again
03:44
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It took a while to get here and I know it’s a bad idea
To never question the feeling that life might not have any meaning
If I could go back
I would
Think again
Too many years believing we are all alone
Is it that which defines me or could it be that that me is gone?
If I could go back
I would
Change
Even as a child I was drowning in contemplation
Dreaming up a world where I could die and get away with it
If I could go back
I would
Dream again
It took awhile to get here
And now I know it’s a bad idea
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10. |
Good Company
03:55
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Life is not a book
The more I look
The more it looks like a conversation
In searching for an answer
One must concentrate on
Asking the right questions
Why am I who I am?
What about you can make me different?
When I’m closed off in my brain and cannot see
My perspectives are changed through the eyes of good company
Trying hard to change
When the past has disappeared, revealing what remains
Because water will drain through an open hand
All that time reflecting instead of making plans
Life is not a book
The more I look
The more it looks like a conversation
In searching for an answer
One must concentrate on
Asking the right questions
Why am I who I am?
What about you can make me different?
When I’m closed off in my brain and cannot see
My perspectives are changed through the eyes of good company
Can we ever really change?
Or does the past just disappear, like it did in this case
No more water in the way of a universal lens
No longer distorting the future in our hands
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