M1ke + The MeChaN1C5 - The Living Years

Songtekst van M1ke + The MeChaN1C5 - The Living Years

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 OK

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

Songinfo

Het nummer werd geschreven door Mike Rutherford en BA Robertson, van wie beide vaders onlangs waren gestorven. De tekst gaat over gespannen relatie met B. A. Robertson zijn vader en de geboorte van zijn zoon drie maanden na de dood van zijn vader. Paul Carrack, de leadzanger in dit nummer, verloor zijn vader toen hij pas 11 jaar oud was.

Volgens componist Burt Bacharach is ' The Living Years' een van de mooiste teksten van de laatste 25 jaar.

Trivia

Mike and the Mechanics is een Britse pop/rockband. In eerste instantie was het een hobbyband van de (bas-)gitarist van Genesis Mike Rutherford.
Voor de zang maakt hij afwisselend gebruik van Paul Carrack (ex- Ace en Squeeze) en Paul Young (niet de zanger die solo veel hits scoorde in de Top 40 maar de zanger van de groep Sad Café). Paul Young overleed in 2000.

Mede componist B.A. Robertson had in Nederland 2 Tipparade noteringen met "Bang bang" in 1979 en "To be or not to be" in 1980.