He certainly did earn that reputation.
In the fights they had he'd cover up his ears
Thought big boys don't cry, fight back all the tears
Mamma'd use her makeup to hide the bruises on her face
In the morning they'd pretend that there'd never ever been a trace
His old man woke him up to help him find the car
Take the bus uptown outside some run down bar
He swore that he was quitting, and then he'd start to cry
And though the boy knew the truth, sometimes he'd still believe that lie
The sins of the father are the sins of the son
All you do is crawl when you want to run
God gave boys their mammas
'Cause they always see their promise
And they help them understand
How to walk like man
Walk like a man
They moved a lot of places, they never settled down
And it got pretty old being the new kid in town
He'd always tell his friends, "My daddy's sick today"
Said he's be rich if he had a nickel every time he heard his momma say:
The sins of the father are the sins of the son
Crawl before you walk boy, walk before you run
Come on stand up straight, I'm proud of you, take my hand
I know you can
Walk like a man
Walk like a man
Your daddy's demons are callin' your name
Don't you listen to you 'em cause they got no claim
Temptations may come that ain't no sin
You get stronger every time that you don't give in
The sins of the father are the sins of son
You can't undo what has been done
You'll have to retrace his footsteps through the sand
And pray you find the love of a girl
Take her by the hand and walk on
Walk like a man
Thought big boys don't cry, fight back all the tears
Mamma'd use her makeup to hide the bruises on her face
In the morning they'd pretend that there'd never ever been a trace
His old man woke him up to help him find the car
Take the bus uptown outside some run down bar
He swore that he was quitting, and then he'd start to cry
And though the boy knew the truth, sometimes he'd still believe that lie
The sins of the father are the sins of the son
All you do is crawl when you want to run
God gave boys their mammas
'Cause they always see their promise
And they help them understand
How to walk like man
Walk like a man
They moved a lot of places, they never settled down
And it got pretty old being the new kid in town
He'd always tell his friends, "My daddy's sick today"
Said he's be rich if he had a nickel every time he heard his momma say:
The sins of the father are the sins of the son
Crawl before you walk boy, walk before you run
Come on stand up straight, I'm proud of you, take my hand
I know you can
Walk like a man
Walk like a man
Your daddy's demons are callin' your name
Don't you listen to you 'em cause they got no claim
Temptations may come that ain't no sin
You get stronger every time that you don't give in
The sins of the father are the sins of son
You can't undo what has been done
You'll have to retrace his footsteps through the sand
And pray you find the love of a girl
Take her by the hand and walk on
Walk like a man
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This song I think is about a boy who's parents got divorced and his mom told him that he could do the same thing to his family and just to resist temptations and find a girl he truely loves and don't hurt her like his dad hurt her and his family.
This song is about a boy who has an alcoholic father who beats his mom. His dad says hes gonna stop drinkin but the boy knows hes heard it millions of times before and he's not goin to. And his mom tells him all the time not to let yourself grow up to be like your daddy because behavior like that is actually hereditary and not to give into the temptation and when he falls in love with a girl to treat her better than his daddy treated his mama
It's also about a man being held down by his past, thinking he can't be anything more than what his father is or what he has been told that he is, by Satan or other people. He doesn't feel he can break free from his past:
"When the sins of the father Are the sins of the son All you do is crawl when you wanna run"
"Your daddy's demons are calling your name Don't you listen to 'em cause they got no claim"
God is reaching out to him though:
"Come on, stand up straight. I'm proud of you. Take my hand. I know you can walk like a man"