Mike & The Mechanics – The Living Years lyrics
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your doorI 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 yearsCrumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I’m afraid that’s all we’ve gotYou 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 defenseSay 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 eyeSo we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It’s the bitterness that lastsSo 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 okaySay 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 eyeI wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to sayI 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 yearsSay 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
1 comment on “Mike & The Mechanics – The Living Years”
Mike & The Mechanics “Living Years” is a great musical video both from a film perspective utilizing the mixture of natural light, and theatrical lighting on location in Australia. While serving in the Navy based on a ship in Norfolk Virginia, I went to see Mike & The Mechanics perform this song. Michael Rutherford (Guitarist from Genisis) shares intimate details of his generational strained relationship with his father who was a World War II veteran that died before Michel could make amends with him which is something I can relate to. Rutherford’s passion for writing this song was inspired by through his own son when he became a father. I had a similar falling out with my father, a WW II veteran who just recently died, but I was able to make amends with him a year before he died. Coincidently, my nine year old daughter, Alicia got to say goodbye to my father, her grandfather. While my father layed in the hospital bed in his weak state, as one of the last words he was able to speak, he sat up, held my daughter’s hand, and said, “I Love You.” Oddly enough, my 22 year old son Nick, who I hadn’t seen since he was 13 because of a strained relationship with his mother called me up to reconnect with me a week before my Dad died. My son, Nick insisted on coming to my father’s funeral, and spent a week with my wife, Hiromi and my daughter Alicia. All is well with my family because I made amends with my father, my son reached out to make amends with me, and my daughter now has a new found brother. We are a family growing through our new kindled relationships, and most importantly this all happened “In The Living Years.” Thank you Michael for sharing your love for your father and son through your music and in the musical video.