C C7 G Am
I remember growing up loved like it was only yesterday
G F C
Mum and daddy tried their best to guide me on my way
C Dm7 Am
But the hard times and the liqour drove easy love away
G C
And the only love I knew about was hard love
C G Am
It was hard love every hour of the day
G F C
When Christmas to my birthday was a million years away
C Dm7 Am
And the fear that came between them drove the tears into my play
G C
There was love in daddy's house but it was hard love
C C7 G Am
I recall the gentle courtesy you showed me as I tried
G F C
To dissemble in politeness all the love I felt inside
C Dm7 Am
But for every song of laughter there was another song that cried
G C
This ain't no easy weekend this is hard love
C G Am
It was hard love every step of the way
G F C
It was hard to be so close to you and hard to turn away
C Dm7 Am
But when all the stars in the sentimental songs dissolve away
G C
There'll be nothing left to sing about but hard love
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C C7 G Am
So I'll love you for your courage and your gentle sense of shame
G F C
And I'll love you for your laughter and your language and your name
C Dm7 Am
And I knew it was impossible but I loved you just the same
G C
Though the only love I gave to you was hard love
C G Am
It was hard love it was so hard on you I know
G F C
When the only love I gave to you was love I couldn't show
C Dm7 Am
You forgave the heart that loved you as your lover turned to go
G C
Leaving nothing but the memory of hard love
C C7 G Am
So I'm standing in this phone booth with a dollar and a dime
G F C
And I'm wondering what to say to you to ease your troubled mind
C Dm7 Am
For the Lord's cross might redeem us but our own just waste our time
G C
But to tell the two apart there's always hard love
C C7 G Am
So I'll tell you that I love you even though you're far away
G F C
And I'll tell you how you changed me as I lived from day to day
C Dm7 Am
And how you helped me to accept myself and I won't forget to say
G C
That love is never wasted even when it's hard love
C G Am
Oh it's hard love but it's love all the same
G F C
It's not the stuff of fantasy much more than just a game
C Dm7 Am
And it's the only kind of miracle that is worthy of the name
G C
For the love that heals our lives is mostly hard love
