I think the Pride flag has been updated since I made this cover, I know.  Please forgive my lazy 🍑 for not revising this...

PRIDE 2024

WHY I HAD TO LEARN

why i had to learn to be a man
why i had to learn to be a man

it's understood, there's a right and a wrong way
if that was taught at school taught I missed that day
all the other boys seemed to catch on fast
I stood watching as they ran past

dad worked long hours and he'd often come home late
mom would talk to him as he ate
slipped off his shoes and found his favorite chair
we watched tv while he was sleeping there

life's not a game but all the same, there's rules
a life to build but which are the right tools?

Cour D-'mours

Why I Had To Learn

Mix/Mastered by Woods Studio
LEAD GUITAR SOLO: Fog City Fogey

Helpless and far from home
Helpless and on your own
You can’t settle down, no, no
You won’t settle down, no, no
 
You learn to play the game
But it’s never quite the same
You don’t fit your part
You won’t fit your part
You can’t just keep stalling
When they start to calling
 
There’s safety in numbers  You know
There’s safety in numbers  Oh no
Your face is wrong
You don’t belong
Numbers bring strength
You’ll never be strong
 
Some days you almost win
Only to lose again
You may well be right
But do you have the fight?
Though you might make a friend
You’ll see the friendship end
It’s down to yourself
You need no one else
No matter what they say
You’re still going your way
 
Numbers bring safety
Which one are you?
Shout it out bravely,  ooh
One of the few, ooh
One of the few

 No matter what they say
You’re still going your way

Companion

Safety In Numbers

Whatever happened to the boy I used to be
So polite (and) patient
Sometimes too quick to agree
Is that boy gone for good?
Gone for good
Would I bring him back if I could?
Probably not

I turned around one day
and childhood was gone
I was standing by myself
And just watched the world move on
Now it’s my turn to go
Go exploring
Yeah it’s my turn to show what I got

CHORUS
I’m gonna go out in the world
my good people
Gonna go out in the world, yeah
Ramble and roam
Gonna go out in the world
Happy people
Gonna go out in the world
Find me a home

I’ll settle anywhere the sun might care to shine
If you see a pale face sunburnt
probably it’s mine
You can laugh if you like
Go on and laugh
I’ll just hop on my bike
And ride off

CHORUS

Everybody’s got things to say
I hear their talking as I go my way
But when everybody talks at once
It’s just too noisy
Too noisy for me

I’ll find a quiet place and let them all go past
Slow things down a bit when they come at me too fast
But I’m not gonna hide
With my bike waiting
I’ll just hop on and ride
Where I want

I’m gonna go out in the world

Out In the World

https://youtu.be/ZAWy5HXlyYg

Song: CW Mullins

We slept in bunk beds
That summertime
You took the bottom
So up I would climb
In a cabin of strangers
Lights out by nine
You said your goodnight
I guess I said mine

The days were steamy
Nights, not so cool
But none complaining
At least it wasn’t school
We did crafts, we went swimming
had three meals a day
Went back to bunk beds
And summer slipped away

That’s what I remember
Or all that I’ll say
School started in September
I didn’t look forward to that day

Back in the cabin
A noisy crowd
An adult would yell out
“You kids are too loud”
We’d drop to a whisper
In our bunk beds
But what some were thinking
Stayed inside our heads 

And when someone is hurting
We only ask, are they ill?
And if someone is searching
We like to say they need a thrill

Well that’s as may be
My memory fails
I lose the big picture
get lost in details
It was a long ago summer
Eclipsed by the fall
We slept in bunk beds
That’s what I recall
We slept in bunk beds
That’s pretty much all

Bunk Beds

MIX/MASTER: Woods Studio

NOTE: I don't hold myself to any strict "historical accuracy" in my lyrics. There may be one person in my distant past I had in mind as I wrote this. Or not...

LYRIC

Sir
I called you sir
It was a different time
And that's just how things were

Role
You played your role
And it was quite a fine performance
I was so naive
It’s hard now to believe
I never saw through you, ‘sir’

Gone 
That world is gone
For both the worse and better, maybe
It's moved on

Sir
Did you ever let your guard down
And let the truth slip through
Was there a real ‘you’
Or were just a man I knew as ‘sir’

Now
The world of now
I wonder if it would astound you
Frighten and confound you
But could it be inside
You would feel some pride
At how it could be
If you lived to see 
A world somewhat free for you, sir

REVISED FROM 2020
mix/master by Mariosyjp

LYRIC
Like the frown face
On a painted clown face
We had to fake it for a while
Give them what they ask for
be glad that they don’t ask more
But that ends the show now
And we’ve got the know how
To go on our way with a smile
Yeah we can have the last laugh
Let's enjoy the last laugh

It’s our time, our turn
We will live and they get to learn
We can do as we please
The last laugh has us slapping both our knees

Yeah we took the joking
Not so gentle poking
At the core of who we are
What they found amusing
Wasn’t of our choosing
Ok so that happened
We will not go back then
But the memory won’t be far
We can recall all that
As we have the last laugh

It’s our joy, our bliss
To end up happy as this
Settle back, take a seat
The last laugh might just knock them off their feet

Leaving all that behind us
Where the past - can’t find us
No need to remind us
We get the last laugh

If we shed a few tears
It’s not like in the past years
We’re joyful as we wipe them off
It’s just so good that we have
Finally got the last laugh

It’s our joy, we’re at ease
To live our lives how we please
Lift your eyes, stand up tall
We’re testing our own power
Getting stronger by the hour
And the last laugh will be ours after all
The last laugh

The Last Laugh

NOTICE: I DO NOT PAY FOR PROMOTION. EVER.

SPOTLIGHT:  With Sexagenarian Volume VI now complete, the final volume of songs from my 60s, which will be Volume VII, gets underway with "Get On With Your Life." Check out the other five (5!) volumes of Sexagenarian as well. What happens after my upcoming 70th birthday? TBD!

BIO: I started writing songs in high school (1969-1973!) and I've pretty much never stopped. These are mostly solo recording projects (my brother, Fog City Fogey, contributes sometimes).  I don't do much self-promotion, not a fan of Repost Exchange etc, so all of you who find this page and like a song or two - you are truly appreciated!