In the Living Years

by Mike and the Mechanics

an English pop/rock band formed in 1985 by Mike Rutherford from the band “Genesis.” The band included Scottish singer and songwriter B. A. Robertson, and singer Paul Carrack. This song, which was written by Rutherford and Robertson after both of their fathers had recently died, is from the band’s second album “Living Years” It’s sung by Carrack, who had also lost his own father when he was only eleven years old.

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

Oh, crumpled bits of paper filled with imperfect thoughts
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 defense

Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (oh 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 date
And if you don’t give up, and don’t give in, you may just be okay

Say it, say it, say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
Because it’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

I wasn’t there that morning when my father passed away
Didn’t get to tell him all the things I had to say
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

So say it, say it, say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (it’s too late when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

Hey, so say it, say it, say it loud, say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
Say it loud, don’t give up, don’t give in …

Vocabulary:

generation: people born in the same time period
blames: says that someone else did something wrong
frustrations: anger at yourself for not being able to do something
beating: knocking hard
prisoner: someone without any freedom to choose
held so dear: thought was important
hostage: prisoner
crumpled: thrown away by making a ball of the paper
stilted: formal and uncomfortable
see: understand
in defense: trying to prove that you’re right
see eye to eye: agree
quarrel: argument
sacrifice: kill
bitterness: hatefulness
yield: let someone else win, give up
fortunes: results
fate: something that must happen
perspective: way of seeing something, meaning
give up: stop trying
give in: accept defeat
passed away: died
caught his spirit: saw him in a different form
his echo: part of him