Good Men

I know a man gave me his hand
And everything even my date of birth
Showed me the world but he gave me everything
Right at home his own little earth
I can't remember when times were tough
Home from work again and he picks me up
And I want to be like him and have a family
I want to be like him

Cause when everyone is feeling down
Who's gonna lift em' up
When all the world's thrown in the towel
Who's gonna pick it up
Good Men

When I was young and thinking about
Cars, guitars, and me
An older friend
Taught me a better song to sing
He loved his own
But still had time for me
I call him coach
Cause he inspires me to sing
The cats in the cradle the man on the moon
If I keep working I'll always be like him soon
But I'm gonna work real hard to make a difference
I want to be like him

Cause when all the world's thrown in the towel
Who's going to pick it up
When everyone is going down
Who won't be giving up
Good men

I've been thinking about Earth's older years
When it's gone to pieces who's gonna make repairs
It won't be money or its lovers hearts
Or selfish vying it won't find the parts

Cause when all the world is breaking down
Who's gonna fix it up
When everyone's thrown in the towel
Who won't be giving up
Good men

Cause when everyone is feeling down
Who's gonna lift em' up
When all the world's thrown in the towel
Who's gonna pick it up
Good Men

1992:
I wrote this song for a songwriting class I took in college. We worked the songs in class and then presented them in a songwriter's showcase. We had to pick a popular song and then model our song after it. My model was Don Henley's Forgiveness. I played it for the songwriter's showcase. The instructor gave it an A plus which makes me think he didn't know what he was doing. He did say the "cars, guitars, and me" line caught him by surprise.
When I wrote this I was thinking about people who were my mentors when I was growing up. One of those was Don McCrary. He was my church leader when I was 16-18. Whenever we were doing something "weird" like we were apt to do, he would just chuckle and say "you guys are crazy." He spent a lot of time with us on our activities and his wife would be home with a house full of little kids. I didn't fully realize the extent of his sacrifice until I had the same responsibility at church planning activities for every Wednesday, lessons for Sunday, the occasional Saturday activity, and a week in the summer. He was a great example to me then and I've tried to follow his example. We need good men: faith, fidelity, family, and friendship.