flip a switch

You expect me to just flip a switch,
Turn it on turn it off, fill the niche,
I’m only human, only a man,
Doing what I do, doing what I can.
I don’t expect you to see through my eyes,
Somehow, some way, you gotta sympathize,
Understand that I am a man, first and foremost,
I’m not too proud, I’m not trying to boast.
Living this life, stumbling along,
Singing the same old stupid song,
I know I gotta step up, gotta represent,
Seems like I don’t even make a dent.
My children have grown up in a different world,
Cold-war, Vietnam, flags unfurled,
All just distant dreams, heard second-hand,
So unreal to them, they just don’t understand.
Instant messaging, You-Tube, on-line gaming,
War in Iraq, shooting bombs without aiming,
IED’s, 9-11, don’t know that I’d trade,
With all they’ve lived through, I’d be dazed.
Our lives were harder but less complicated,
Mom and dad hitting the booze, eyes dilated,
Dad hitting me, but everything was clear-cut,
Couldn’t blame someone else, no ifs-ands-or-buts.
The fault was mine or yours, life just sucked,
No psycho-babble, we were just fuct,
Drunks and losers and people were plain crazy,
Now there’s an excuse for everything, even the lazy.