Living Years lyrics

The Living Years
Mike + The Mechanics


Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I`m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I`m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I`m afraid that`s all we`ve got

You say you just don`t see it
He says it`s perfect sense
You just can`t get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It`s too late when we die
To admit we don`t see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It`s the bitterness that lasts

So Don`t yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don`t give up, and don`t give in
You may just be O.K.

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It`s too late when we die
To admit we don`t see eye to eye

I wasn`t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn`t get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I`m sure I heard his echo
In my baby`s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It`s too late when we die
To admit we don`t see eye to eye