Say it now in the living years.

As we come to Father’s Day here in Australia tomorrow, I was recently struck by a line from the Mike and the Mechanics big 1988 hit, “In the living years". In this song, the singer mentions that he and his father didn’t always see eye to eye but he still loved him, although he never said so and he now laments that missed opportunity to say so to his father, in his father’s living years!
Now some, like the songwriters of that song, and the writer of this item, no longer have the opportunity to tell their father that they love them, but if you do still have that opportunity to do so, please do so. And even if it is not Father’s Day where you are, you don’t even have to wait till then to do so. Nor is it only relative to Fathers. If there is someone that you love that you have not told so verbally lately, please do so now, while they are still in their living years. So that unlike the writers of this song, you won’t have to lament over not doing it later, in the years to come. So in the words of this song: “SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR”.
So will you do that now? Go out and tell, not only your father, but everyone you love, that you love them, now in their living years. And again: “SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR”.

In the Living Years, by Mike and the Mechanics. 1988
Songwriters: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/ROBERTSON, BRIAN ALEXANDER

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

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

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 defence

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

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

So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.

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

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

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