Expert: Bong Santos - 1/6/2007

Question
I'm fairly certain this is an 80's song but it might be early 90's. Sorry if I get it wrong.

It's a mellow, inspirational song, sung by a single male voice with a chorus that comes in to sing -- well, the chorus :-)

He sings his bit, then the choir comes in and sings lyrics to the effect of, "sing it loooooouuuud/sing it hiiiiigh/even though/we don't see/eye to eyeeeeee" and it might be a children's choir. They alternate. His lyrics emphasize a phrase like, "in the (something) years".

Like I said, mellow, uplifting, single male voice in that Eric Claptonish sort of way, choir comes in to sing the chorus.

Heard it on a fuzzy radio station and couldn't make out the lyrics well enough to Google it up myself, so now, I turn to the Expert> Hope you can help!

.-. Scooter

Answer
Hi Scooter,

No doubt, it's THE LIVING YEARS by MIKE & THE MECHANICS. It's the second single (after NOBODY'S PERFECT) off their second album, 1988's THE LIVING YEARS. Written by bassist and former Genesis MIKE RUTHERFORD & B.A. ROBERTSON, both of whom just lost their fathers then, the song combined features of both writers' relationships with their fathers; MIKE's strained relationship with his late father and the birth of B.A.'s son three months after his father's death. It spent a week at #1 on the Hot 100 Chart on March 25, 1989.
Here's its lyrics:

THE LIVING YEARS / MIKE & THE MECHANICS

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that Im a prisoner
To all my father held so dear
I know that Im 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
Im afraid thats all weve got

You say you just dont see it
He says its perfect sense
You just cant get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
Its too late when we die
To admit we dont see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
Its the bitterness that lasts

So dont yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you dont give up, and dont give in
You may just be o.k.

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
Its too late when we die
To admit we dont see eye to eye

I wasnt there that morning
When my father passed away
I didnt get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
Im sure I heard his echo
In my babys new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
Its too late when we die
To admit we dont see eye to eye


Maraming salamat po!!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines