Half A Man is a heart-wrenching country ballad by Merle Haggard. The song tells the story of a man who feels incomplete and brokenhearted after his lover betrayed him. He wishes he only had one arm or no arms at all, so he wouldn't have to bear the pain of not being able to hold her again. He also wishes he had one ear to listen to her lies, so he wouldn't have to face the truth of her betrayal. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "half a man" several times, emphasizing the narrator's feelings of inadequacy and loss. He feels as though his lover has torn him apart, leaving him as only half the man he used to be. The second verse of the song repeats these feelings of loss and despair, with the narrator wishing he had only one leg to stand on so that he could more closely resemble the half a man that his lover has made of him. Overall, Half A Man is a powerful song about heartbreak and loss. It captures the pain and emptiness that can come from being betrayed by someone you love, leaving the listener with a sense of empathy for the narrator's plight.
