Cagney - Tough Guy Lyrics

Off-Broadway musical (2016)
Cagney the Musical - Tough Guy Lyrics

(Music & Lyrics by George M. Cohan)

Cagney:
Look a work of art
We couldn't make apart
It’s just another feather in our cap
If they’re all the same color – why care?
I’m a star – so that’s the cap I’ll wear
Lights... Camera... Action...
Who's there?

You give ‘em what they want
Or what they think they need
A tough guy
A tough guy
And when the credits roll
It’s done but you ain’t freed
You’re stuck guy
With old the tough guy
When the flick is finally over
And the audience files out
Who’s the one that’s left alone
With little left but doubt?
Never thought that this is where i’d stand
A chizzler with a gun in hand...
And...

You’ve come a hundred miles
They’re standing in the aisles
The dames sigh
For the tough guy
It ain’t all black and white
There’s a lotta shades in night
Keep the eyes dry
And you’ll get by...
Keep the status quo, that’s easy
Even if it isn’t true
Though one day you may wake to find
The role’s been playing you
Never thought that this is where i’d be
Got the goods... I but gave up me....

Tough
A man can be tough
Don’t stay in your place
Get up in their face
The ride’ll get rough
The little guy’s fightin’
The bigger fish shakes
And the second i step in the ring
And i take that first swing
They’ll know

What’s it mean to be hard?
What’s it mean to be tough?

So why keep up the fight
At least in black and white 
I’m a tough guy 
The tough guy 
I really shouldn’t care 
If someone else is there? 
That’s show biz
Not who the real man is
And since failing ain't an option      
Never did and never will      
I’ll stay inside the black and white      
And color it until      
They stop asking why

I stop asking why

And say goodbye      
To that ol' tough guy


Other Album Songs: Cagney the Musical Songs Lyrics
Tough Guy lyrics from Cagney the Musical

Cagney the Musical Lyrics

Black And White
Mean
Mean (reprise)
You Can't Escape My Love For You
Crazy About You
Falling In Love
Keith's Tour: Falling In Love-Travelogue
A Work Of Genius
Some Other Guy
Grand Old Flag
Black & White (Reprise)
USO Medley
A Work Of Genius (reprise)
How Will I Be Remembered?/Some Other Guy (reprise)
Give My Regards To Broadway
Action ("White Heat")
Tough Guy
Yankee Doodle Dandy