The Man Daddy Shoulda Been Lyrics — RJ Sloane

The Man Daddy Shoulda Been is a dark country song by R.J. Sloane about the brother who stood in the gap for a seven-year-old kid who had nothing.

No mama. No daddy worth mentioning. Just a brother who'd die for him. A wooden horse, a birthday, and a debt that can never be repaid — only honored.

Inspired by Ike and Shane Harper in Harper's Justice.

Verse 1

Mahogany desk before me
Law degree on the wall
But it all means nothing
See the piece of trash that shaped me
Rough gray wood, dingy, and unpure
With her busted ear come unglued
Little horse is still standing
Proud, crooked, yet true
Only birthday gift I’d ever been given
Now, looking at her I know
That someone cared ‘bout me
While that devil never called me son

Chorus

Hungry and broken
Cowering in a corner
All but lost
Then your hand reached toward me
Sheltered me from the cost
Rescued me from the vulture
Picking at our family's corpse
Showed me what it meant
To protect the ones we love
Brother, you were always the man...
The man Daddy shoulda been

Verse 2

Just a gangly kid yourself
With a man's burden to bear
Taking blows meant for worthless me
Stood steady against the rattler's bite
Sold your soul to the devil
In the darkness of night
All to give me plenty—
A life worth living
Never knew what it cost you
Only that I was free

Chorus

Hungry and broken
Cowering in a corner
All but lost
Then your hand reached toward me
Sheltered me from the cost
Rescued me from the vulture
Picking at our family's corpse
Showed me what it meant
To protect the ones we love
Brother, you were always the man...
The man Daddy shoulda been

Bridge

Never needed a perfect brother
One free from all the guilt
Just needed a hand to guide me
To mold me into a man
You showed me how to live right
Protector, defender, true
Standing in the gap for a seven-year-old kid
By doing what a father should do.

Chorus

Hungry and broken
Cowering in a corner
All but lost
Then your hand reached toward me
Sheltered me from the cost
Rescued me from the vulture
Picking at our family's corpse
Showed me what it meant
To protect the ones we love
Brother, you were always the man...
The man Daddy shoulda been

Outro

Underneath that horse
I had the words engraved
The heart finds its joy
When the scales are even
That little horse remains
Evidence of a debt I can’t ever repay
Proof that you were the man...
The only man...
The man Daddy shoulda been

I'll always remember
You were my real daddy

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