Baba Brinkman - Used To Be The Man lyrics

Back in the day I used to scrap
I’m not a thug any more but some days
I just wanna be the man again

Back in the day it seemed like every angry
Teen was talkin’ about packing a shank
And gettin’ cream – what happened
To the gangsta lean? Eric B and Rakim said:
"What happened to peace?"
Now they askin' what happened to strength?
The women say they want girth now? Shit
What happened to length?
Sperm count goin’ down so
We packin’ some blanks
And they laughin’ all the way to the bank
Man, things done changed! Where has
All the violence gone?
Seems like people livin’ three times as long
Life just goes on
It’s like survival of the strong
Got swallowed by a Hobbesian Leviathan
And why not? Shit
I ain’t tryin’ to abolish it
Women dominate men in college
I acknowledge it so next they’re gonna take
Over science and politics and business
But I guess I’m just kinda nostalgic i mean
At least fighting men know who they are
You meet a soldier he can show you some scars
But muscle can’t win a contest over some jobs
So now we’re just good for opening jars
I used to be the man
But time has gone on ahead of me
And my strong hands
But, I'm still holdin' on, movin' on
I was the man
Time has not been so good to me and my hands
I'm still holdin' on i was the man

What a fuckin’ waste of upper
Body strength this is
I can dangle it for women
Like I’m angler fishin’
I got a voice full of bass, listen
Ain’t it pimpin’?
But it came from male-on male competition
And I’m afraid that’s a thing of the past
I mean things fall apart
Don’t be thinkin’ they last
But, I keep lookin’ for some answers
When I listen’ to rap
Like lookin’ for the missing
Link in the grass
So where the gangsters at? The
Males barin’ they teeth
Starin’ at weak opponents like: "I
Dare you to speak"
The Menace to Societies and American Me’s
Not these wealthy, frail, weak, self parodies
I mean
Things done changed! Can you believe it?
Even the frickin’ crime rate
Seems to be dippin’
And some people give police credit
But I’m with Steven Levitt
High risk fetuses are being rejected
Just ‘cause females get to
Control their own fertility
So murder and poverty drop
But not sociability
What happened to the criminals
On killing sprees
Instead of fighting now, we all show civility
I used to be the man
But time has gone on ahead of me
And my strong hands
But, I'm still holdin' on, movin' on
I was the man
Time has not been so good to me and my hands
I'm still holdin' on i was the man

Forty percent of men
Historically left descendents
While six out of ten died
Young or got rejected
Big winners and big losers
But women had it different
Eight out of ten of them
Had children who had children
And you wonder why we’re
Fuckin’ obsessed with competition
Homo sapien males, yeah blazin’ a trail
Makin’ amazing creative displays
And chasin’ tail
That lasts an extra decade when
It’s grey and frail
Yeah, the Y Chromosome is
A fucked-up mutation
And it sucks to face it
They call her 'Mother Nature'
But, if you want love from her, well
Get accustomed to waitin’ ‘Cause, brother
If you’re male she loves to hate you
She gives us testosterone, rage
And frustration
She gives us jealousy and lust
And a hunger for greatness
Plus our obsession with female
Reproduction is basic
But the women gotta have choice
Fuck the 'Bush Administration'
Times change, this ain’t the Pleistocene
Feminism and civil rights have
Arrived on the scene
And not every guy is keen
To let the violence be
I'm just tryin' to tame the
Beast inside of me i used to be the man
But time has gone on ahead of me
And my strong hands
But, I'm still holdin' on, movin' on
I was the man
Time has not been so good to me and my hands
I'm still holdin' on i was the man

Back in the day I used to scrap
I’m not a thug any more but some days
I just wanna be the man again credit's