I remember growing up like it was only yesterday

Mom and Daddy tried best to guide me on my way

But the hard times and the liquor drove the easy love away

And only love I knew about was hard love

It was hard love, every hour of the day

When Christmas to my birthday was a million years 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

And I recall the gentle courtesy you gave me as I tried

To dissemble in politeness all the love I felt inside

And for every song of laughter was another song that cried

This ain't no easy week-end, this is hard love

It was hard love, every step of the way
Hard to be so close to you, so hard to turn away

And when all the stars and sentimental songs dissolved today

There was nothing left to sing about but hard love

So I loved you for your courage and your gentle sense of shame

And I loved you for your laughter and your language and your name

And I knew it was impossible, but I loved you just the same

Though the only love I gave to you was hard love

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

So 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 wastes 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 change me as I live from day to day

How you help me to accept myself and I won't forget to say

Love is never wasted, even when it's hard love

Yes it's hard love, but it'slove all the same

Not the stuff of fantasy but more than just a game

And the only kind of miracle that'worthy of the name

For the love that heals our lives is mostly hard love