Well I remember growing up
Like it was only yesterday
Mom and Daddy tried their
Best to guide me on my way
But the hard times and the
Liquor drove the easy love away
And the only love
I knew about was hard love
Well it was hard love
Every hour of the day
When Christmas to my birthday
Was a million miles away
And the fear that came between
Them drove the tears into my play
There was love in daddy's
House but it was hard love
Well I recall the gentle courtesy
You showed me as I tried
To dissemble in politeness all
The love I felt inside
And for every song of laughter
There was another song that cried
This ain't no easy weekend
This is hard love
Well it was hard love
Every step of the way
Is Hard to be so close to
You and hard to turn away
And when all the stars and
Sentimental songs dissolved the day
There was nothing left to
Sing about but hard love
So I love you for your courage
And your gentle sense of shame
I love you for your laughter
And your language and your name
Though I knew it was impossible
But I love you just the same
Though the only love I gave
To you was hard love
Well it was hard love
It was so hard on you I know
When the only love I gave
To you was love I couldn't show
You forgave the heart that loved you
As your lover turned to go
Leaving nothing but the
Memory of hard love
Now I'm standing in this phone
Booth with a dollar and a dime
And I'm 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 though I'm far away
And I'll tell you how you've changed me
As I live from day to day
And How you've helped me to accept
Myself and I won't forget to say
And Love is never wasted even
When it's hard love
It's hard love but
It's love all the same
It's 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
