Well, his daddy set him down
When he was just a kid
Said listen to me loud
My son, to how it is

Your mom and me, we tried
We just can't get along
I know you've heard her cries
But, son, it ain't your fault

Well, I ain't gon' be around
So you'll have to take the reigns
Boy, I know you're scared right now
But you're gonna do great

'Cause sometimes the ride
Don't go as you planned
No matter how hard you try
It's outta your hands
And sometimes life shows up
Long before you want it to
And sometimes a boy's gotta do
What a man's gotta do

Well, the years went flyin' by
Just like his muscle car
And Katie asked him for a ride
And, in that backseat, they took it too far

Barely seventeen
Katie's three weeks late
So he went and got a job
Told his mom graduation will have to wait

'Cause sometimes the ride
Don't go as you planned
No matter how hard you try
It's outta your hands
And sometimes life shows up
Long before you want it to
And sometimes a boy's gotta do
What a man's gotta do, oh yeah!

Now, he still can't buy a drink
But he bought a diamond ring for her hand
He's shippin' off in fourteen days
To a foreign land

I guess sometimes the ride
Don't go as you planned
No matter how hard you try
It's outta your hands, oh!
And sometimes life shows up
Long before you want it to
And sometimes a boy's gotta do
What a man's gotta do