Hard Love. (go back »)

I'll tell of a love that exists today.
Dad and Mama try their best to guide me on my way.
But the hard times and the fighting drive the easy love away and the only love I know about is hard love.

It is hard love every hour of the day.
When Christmas to my birthday is a million miles away.
And the fear that comes between us drives the tears into my play.
There is love in Mama's house, but it is hard love

I thank the gentle courtesy you show me as I try,
To dissemble in politeness all the love I feel inside.
And for every song of laughter is another song that cries.
This ain't no easy weekend, this is hard love

It is hard love every step of the way.
Hard to be so close to you, so hard to turn away.
And when all the stars and sentimental songs dissolve into day.
There is nothing left to sing about but hard love.

So I love you for your courage and your gentle sense of shame.
And I love you for your language and your laughter and your name.
And sometimes it seems impossible but I love you just the same.
Though the only love I give to you is hard love.

It is hard love, it is hard on me, I know
When the only love you give to me is love that you can't show.
I forgive the heart that loves me even in the coldest snow.
Leaving thoughts and then the memory of hard love.

Now I'm laying on my bed with my cellphone and some time.
Wondering what to say to you to ease your troubled mind.
For the Lord's cross might redeem us but our own just waste our time.
And to tell the two apart is always hard, love.

So I'll tell you that I love you even if I'm far away
I'll tell you how you change me as I live from day to day.
How you help me to accept myself, and I won't forget to say:
Love is never wasted even when it's hard love.

It's hard love, but it's love all the same.
Not the stuff of fantasy, but more than just a game.
And the only kind of miracle that's worthy of the name.
For the love that heals our lives is mostly hard love.