Like a Rock

Rocks - Pine Creek Wilderness, CA. Photo by Jack Donovan

There are certain things I like to re-post every so often for readers new to my syntopical study of manhood and honor. One of them is the poem “If,” by Rudyard Kipling–a masterpiece that should be passed on to every young man in the West.

Another is “Like a Rock,” by Bob Seger. Many are familiar with segments of the chorus and outro from Chevy commercials. But, if you’ll indulge me here for a moment, the complete lyric captures a vision of manhood that is far more profound than a mere jingle.

Like A Rock
Words and Music by Bob Seger

Stood there boldly
Sweatin’ in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I’d never felt that strong
Like a rock

I was eighteen
Didn’t have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock

My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock

Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin’ ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock

And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams

Twenty years now
Where’d they go?
Twenty years
I don’t know
Sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they’ve gone

And sometimes late at night
When I’m bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin’ a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall

Like a rock, standin’ arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin’ from the gate
Like a rock, carryin’ the weight
Like a rock

Like a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock

On the surface, an older man remembering an idealized youth. But the ideal that he remembers is what is of interest here, a picture of masculinity, a version of The Form.

The ideal Seger captures with simple imagery is grounded, strong, confident, unafraid, “game” and ready for a challenge, morally pure, uncorrupted by cynicism, not overly concerned with money. He is purposeful and possessed of fortitude.

This is a timeless picture of a good man.

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3 Responses to “Like a Rock”

1. Phoenixism says:

   December 22, 2009 at 12:23 am

   Seger, every time.
   I saw him once back in the 80s at the LA Forum. Very few male artists ever spoke to me like he has.
2. Sean says:

   December 23, 2009 at 9:54 pm

   Great lyrics. At 45 now I can relate. I just wish so many of the young guys I see every day can look back in their forties and recapture the pride of their youth. Sadly, I don’t think most of them will be able to. I pity the poor bastards.
3. Jean says:

   January 25, 2010 at 2:24 pm

   Sean,
   Sorry to disappoint, as a 34-year-old – I didn’t know what I had then, and I’d been domineered into being a nothing, a spineless brain. Mom didn’t know how much of the kool-aid she’d been drinking, and I’m still dealing with the problems that resulted.
   For some of us – FAR too many, based on who I knew in high school and college, and they weren’t all geeks/nerds/whatever – there is no pride or glory to recall.
   Lots of anger, though, lots of loathing of both self and others, taught by the institutions we were entrusted to (catholic parochial schools, prep school, colleges), the media of the day (TV cartoons, newspapers, magazines), and the adults we should have been able to trust (mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc.)

   So – I’m working on straightening things out now, I just need to get rid of the female parasite in my life.