Chords for Bob Franke "Hard Love"

[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ [Ab] _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I remember growing up [Ab] like it was only _ yesterday.
_ [Bb] _ _ [Fm] _
Mom [Gm] and Daddy tried their best [Ab] to guide [Eb] me on my way.
But the hard times and the liquor _ drove [Ab] the easy love away.
[Fm] And the only [Gm] love I knew about _ [Ab]
was hard love.
_ [Eb] It was hard love _ _ _ _ _ [Ab]
every hour of the day.
_ [Bb] _ [Fm]
When Christmas [Gm] to my birthday [Ab] was a million [Eb] years away.
_ And the fear that came between them drove [Ab] the tears into my play.
[Fm] There was love [D] in [Gm] Daddy's house, [Ab] but it was hard love.
_ _ [Bb] _ [Fm] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ _ _ [Eb] _ And I recall the gentle courtesy _ [Ab] you gave me as I tried
[Bb] [Fm] to dissemble into [Gm] _ lightness [Ab] all the love [Eb] I felt _ inside.
And for every song of laughter _ [Ab] was another song of pride.
_ [Eb] [Fm] This ain't no [Gm] easy weekend, this is [Ab]
hard love.
_ _ _ [Eb] It was hard love _ _ _ _ [Ab]
every step [Eb] of the way.
[Bb] _ [Fm] _
Hard [Gm] to be so close to you, [Ab]
so [Eb] hard to turn away.
_ And when all the stars and _ [Ab] sentimental songs dissolved today,
[Fm] there was nothing [Gm] left to sing about _ [Ab]
but hard love.
_ _ [Bb] _ [Fm] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ So I love you for your courage [Ab]
and your gentle sense of [Bb] shame.
[Fm] And I loved [Gm] you for your laughter [Ab] and your _ [Eb] language and your name.
And I knew it was impossible, _ but [Ab] I loved you just the same.
_ [Bb] [Ab] You're the only [Gm] love I give to you, [Ab]
this hard love.
_ [Eb] It was hard love.
_ _ _ [Ab] It was hard on you, I know.
[Bb] [Fm] When the only [Gm] love I gave to you [Ab]
was [Eb] love I couldn't show.
_ You forgave the heart that loved you as [Ab] your mother turned to gold.
_ [Eb] [Fm] It ain't nothing [Gm] but the memory [Bb] [Ab] of hard love.
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ [Fm] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ So I'm standing in this [Ab] phone booth with a dollar and a dime,
_ [Bb] _ [Fm] _
_ [Gm] wondering what to say to you [Ab] to ease [Eb] your troubled mind.
For the Lord's cross might redeem us, [Ab] but our own just wastes our time.
[Fm] And to tell the [Gm] two apart is [Ab] always hard love.
_ [Eb] So I'll tell you that I love you [Ab] even though I'm far away.
[Eb] And [Fm] I'll tell you how [Gm] you changed me [Ab] as I [Eb] live from day to day.
How you've helped me to accept myself.
[Ab] And I will forget to say [Bb] _ [Fm] love is never [Gm] wasted, _ even [Ab] when it's hard love.
_ _ [Eb] Yes, it's hard love, _ _ _ but [Ab] it's love all the same.
[Bb] _ [Fm] _ _
[Gm] Not the stuff of fantasy, [Abm] but more [Eb] than just a game.
And the only kind of miracle _ that's [Ab]
worthy of the name.
_ [Bb] [Fm] For the love that [Gm] heals our lives [Ab] is mostly hard _ love.
_ [Eb] _ [Fm] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _