My father bid me, “When you can,
Try to act like a strong fellow,
Always take it like a man.

Things will not go as you plan,
Try like a boy not to wallow,”
My father bid me, “when you can.”

Advice before real trial began,
Advice preparing for tomorrow.
“Always take it like a man.”

There were times I wished I’d ran,
I never run because, “I will follow,”
My father bid me, “when you can.”

His father taught him this same ban,
“Never kneel and never swallow,
Always take it like a man,

When you’re restrained by some man’s hand,
And you are made to bite the pillow,”
My father bid me, “When you can,
Always take it like a man.”