I was born with my hand in a fist
And my eyes shut tight 
Any wonder that I cannot resist 
Punchin' blindly in a fight 
The first time I saw swans flyin' to the sun 
I wanted to be one 

Like every mother's son 
When I saw my life had begun 
I wanted to be someone 
Like my brother and my one and only father 
And like every mother's son 

I was raised within a cause 
With a purpose to fulfill 
I was taught to defend what was mine 
And instructed not to kill 
My small mortal eyes can see eternity 
In the clouds that dissolve and then regroup endlessly 

Like every mother's son 
When a man showed me how to use a gun 
I wished I'd never need one 
Like my brother and my one and only father 
And like every mother's son 

Everything in domesticity 
Assumes its role better than me 
I'm a displaced person whose culture let me down 
I raise my own daughters in a pornographic town 

Like every mother's son 
I've lost some and some I've won 
Now I'm waiting for a new dawn 
Like my brother and my one and only father 
And like every mother's son