What Happens to a Man

I wrote this over a couple days June 4-5, 2025. I found the phrase in a facebook response to a question someone posed on the A.I. Music Society group about where people get their inspiration. OP was describing a song he had written, writing, “… what happens to a man when…”

The recording below was created while writing the song through nearly 100 iterations, adding and arranging small parts, turning a phrase differently. It was seeded with an acoustic guitar loop of mine, slowed down to a granular drone and extended with sunoai.

by Briyan Frederick

Published by Blind Mime Music, ASCAP

Briyan: acoustic guitar, sunoai

Original Recording – 5 June 2025

What happens to a man when the lights grow dim
When the echoes fade and the chance stays slim
Does he stand in the storm and find a pocket for his hands
For what happens to a man he may not understand

What happens to a man facing mirror lies
When the years take the the bait and the spark from his eyes
What’s left of the fire when his hope’s gone cold
What happens to a man when his dream’s untold?

I’ve seen men breaking down but somehow they rise
I’ve seen men fear to tread but tread on fear ‘cos fear’s a lie
In the silence he mends while he silently cries
For what happens to a man happens somewhere deep inside
Somewhere deep inside

What happens to a man when the world turns grey
When the roads he knew seem to drift away
Does he forge a new path or stay where he dwells
What happens to a man at tomorrow’s farewell

I’ve seen men breaking down but somehow they rise
I’ve seen men fear to tread but tread on fear ‘cos fear’s a lie
In the silence he mends while he silently cries
For what happens to a man happens somewhere deep inside
Somewhere deep inside

Will he find the strength that’s found after falling apart?
Rewind the beats in a shattered, beaten heart?
What happens to a man is a story untold
Something like a phoenix as its ashen wings unfold

What happens to a man when the lights grow dim
When the echoes fade and the chance stays slim
Does he stand in the storm and find a pocket for his hands
For what happens to a man he may not understand

I’ve seen men breaking down but somehow they rise
I’ve seen men fear to tread but tread on fear ‘cos fear’s a lie
In the silence he mends while he silently cries
For what happens to a man happens somewhere deep inside
Somewhere deep inside

What happens to a man? (happens to a man)
What happens to a man? (happens to a man)
What happens to a man happens somewhere deep inside