Hard Love - Tony Rice

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

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 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

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

I’ll tell you how you’ve changed me as I live from day to day

How you’ve helped me to accept myself and I won’t forget to say

Love is never wasted even when it’s hard love

Well, 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