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