The Living Years

Day Three:  Mike & the Mechanics

I know with Ed Sheeran and Jackson Browne I spoke about two examples of their brilliant pieces, but I want to focus on this song in particular.

"The Living Years" is on my list as one of my favorite songs of all time.  The song is so powerful to the point where you actually think, Does this pertain to me?

He starts with a general announcement saying how everyone blames their parents for the way they are.  Everything they worried about are things you worry about.  Fair enough.

Then he starts to get personal.

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

Crumpled bits of paper

Filled with imperfect thought

Stilted conversations

I'm afraid that's all we've got

So we can assume from the fifth line that his father is dead.  We can also assume that he was a victim of his father's worries...something that will "carry through generations."  There's an unresolved conflict between him and his father.

Disagreement is the key in this song.  "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."  They're disagreeing; not seeing eye to eye.  In the chorus he says, "Say 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."  Do I even have to say anything?

The second verse says, "So we open up a quarrel / Between the present and the past / We only sacrifice the future / It's the bitterness that lasts."  As humans, WE STAY BITTER.  It's awful to say and to think about, especially when referring to our parents (most of the time) but it's true!

Now grab a tissue.

I wasn't there that morning

When my Father passed away

I didn't get to tell him

All the things I had to say

I 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

Unresolved conflict is the major theme here.  He wanted to make things right, but he wasn't there to see his father during his last few moments.  He stayed bitter and never told him how he felt.  He "caught his spirit later that same year," but it wasn't the same as being able to see him.

He wishes he could have told him during his living years, because all that he felt will be stuck with him forever...and not in a good way.

Intense, right?