Download "Only A Man"

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And it's not easy when you reach out in the dark to touch a face
No no, it's not easy when instead you touch a pillow in her place

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       "Only A Man" was a demo recorded in 1972 but was not released until 2005's My Lives.  It features Billy on organ rather than piano.   It is about the pain of heartbreak, and only a man who has been through it can understand how others feel when it happens.  Lyrically, the song could be a counterpoint or accompanying song to The Beatles' "For No One."

Only A Man                                                                  <<              >>
(My Lives) (2005) (recorded 1971)

Only a man whose broken can appreciate the awful thing I feel
Only a man whose world is always real can ever know
And who could understand the all consuming pain
Only a man whose weeping in the rain knows where to go

And it's not easy
When you realize that you are on your own
No no, it's not easy
When you face the thought of living all alone

Only a man who wanders through the emptiness of every passing day
This is the man whose eyes know what to see and what to say
And who could ever know the feeling in my heart
Only a man whose hopes and dreams are broken all apart

And it's not easy
When you reach out in the dark to touch a face
No no, it's not easy
​When instead you touch a pillow in her place

Na, na, na

And it's not easy
When you think about the way she combs her hair
No no, it's not easy
When the memory of her is everywhere

Only a man who lies awake and wonders will he never smile again
And this is the only man whose lonely nights can never end
And if you want to know what kind of man he'll be
Oh listen my friend I'll tell you all you'll have to know it's me

And it's not easy, no no, it's not easy
Oh, it's not easy, why, no, why, well it's not easy
No, tell me, no, no, no

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"Only A Man" from My Lives

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