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 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