Lyrics:

THE LIVING YEARSMike + The MechanicsEvery generationBlames the one beforeAnd all of their frustrationsCome beating on your doorI know that I'm a prisonerTo all my Father held so dearI know that I'm a hostageTo all his hopes and fearsI just wish I could have told him in the living yearsCrumpled bits of paperFilled with imperfect thoughtStilted conversationsI'm afraid that's all we've gotYou say you just don't see itHe says it's perfect senseYou just can't get agreementIn this present tenseWe all talk a different languageTalking in defenceSay it loud, say it clearYou can listen as well as you hearIt's too late when we dieTo admit we don't see eye to eyeSo we open up a quarrelBetween the present and the pastWe only sacrifice the futureIt's the bitterness that lastsSo Don't yield to the fortunesYou sometimes see as fateIt may have a new perspectiveOn a different dayAnd if you don't give up, and don't give inYou may just be O.K.Say it loud, say it clearYou can listen as well as you hearIt's too late when we dieTo admit we don't see eye to eyeI wasn't there that morningWhen my Father passed awayI didn't get to tell himAll the things I had to sayI think I caught his spiritLater that same yearI'm sure I heard his echoIn my baby's new born tearsI just wish I could have told him in the living yearsSay it loud, say it clearYou can listen as well as you hearIt's too late when we dieTo admit we don't see eye to eye-----------------------------------------------------