Lyrics:

If there's one thing that I know
It is that two shades of hope
One the enlightening soul
And the other is more like a hangman's rope

Well it's true, you may reap what you sow
But not that despair is the all-time low
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

There's once someone I loved
Whose heart overflowed his cup
And his shoes got covered in blood
Oh but he never knew
'Cause he only looked up
Well he was a troubled soul
Who'd known pain more than most I know
Yet it was hope that dealt the hardest blows

And the girl that holds the hand of
Of a somewhat distant man
Though she did everything she can
Still his heart set sail for a distant land
And she wonders sometimes if he knows
How she feels like a trampled rose
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

Ah ooh baby
Ooh, oh oh

Well some people think their sin
Caused the cancer that's eating into them
And the only way they can win
Is by the healing of somebody's hands on their skin
But when the cancer does not go
Baby hope dealt the hardest blows

And now all these truths are sold
With foundations below them
That were dug out in winter's cold
When the world stole our young and prayed on the old

Well hope deals in the hardest blows
Yet I cannot help myself but hope

I guess that's why love hurts
And heartache stings
And despair's never worse
Than the despair that earth brings

But hope deals the hardest blows, dear
The hardest...
Hope deals the hardest blows