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Hard Hand to Hold Lyrics
Look him in the eyes
theres no need to be scared
hes as powerless as you and me
though his face is well worn
and his clothes a bit torn
that don't mean that you shouldn't believe.
When he asks you your name,
he says brother we're all here in the same game
but you shrink back like he's a disease
Yeah your shakin' and you moan
you say oh please take me home
and the homeless all sang the reprease.
It's a hard hand to hold
that is looking for control
It is tempting to fight
when you know that you're right
It's hard to lie down
when you don't trust the ground
It is hard to hold on
it is hard to hold on.
Walking home again
becomes a battle with the wind
as it teases your provisions against shame
Like all that wax in your hair
it becomes painfully clear, that as long as it's a fight you'll never win.
When you get to the door
your'e so busy fighting wars
that you can't look upon your lady as a friend
you're trying so hard to be right
you missed the love in that first sight
and your lover feels alone once again.
It's a hard hand to hold
that is looking for control
It is tempting to fight,
when you know that you're right
It's hard to lie down
when you don't trust the ground
It is hard to hold on
it is hard to hold on.
Entering the liquor store
you try your hardest to ignore
that street sleeper on your left there all alone
and the young man on your right
with unchained soles and love of night
you look so scared they'll laugh and wander if you're stoned
But somewhere deep inside
they feel a pain they've learned to hide
'cause that same fear has brought much trouble on their homes
and they know you won't feel safe
until that cop car wins it's race
And another life is driven off it's road.
theres no need to be scared
hes as powerless as you and me
though his face is well worn
and his clothes a bit torn
that don't mean that you shouldn't believe.
he says brother we're all here in the same game
but you shrink back like he's a disease
Yeah your shakin' and you moan
you say oh please take me home
and the homeless all sang the reprease.
that is looking for control
It is tempting to fight
when you know that you're right
It's hard to lie down
when you don't trust the ground
It is hard to hold on
it is hard to hold on.
becomes a battle with the wind
as it teases your provisions against shame
Like all that wax in your hair
it becomes painfully clear, that as long as it's a fight you'll never win.
your'e so busy fighting wars
that you can't look upon your lady as a friend
you're trying so hard to be right
you missed the love in that first sight
and your lover feels alone once again.
that is looking for control
It is tempting to fight,
when you know that you're right
It's hard to lie down
when you don't trust the ground
It is hard to hold on
it is hard to hold on.
you try your hardest to ignore
that street sleeper on your left there all alone
and the young man on your right
with unchained soles and love of night
you look so scared they'll laugh and wander if you're stoned
But somewhere deep inside
they feel a pain they've learned to hide
'cause that same fear has brought much trouble on their homes
and they know you won't feel safe
until that cop car wins it's race
And another life is driven off it's road.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I agree with everyone on viewing people less fortunate as less than human, etc. and I think that's definitely one message in the song. Additionally though, this song rings extremely true to me because some people (myself included) close themselves off and avoid letting people in out of fear of getting hurt and "losing the fight." I think he's saying that you can't go through life afraid to be vulnerable because eventually nobody will be there to hold hands with (figuratively and literally.)
my favorite song by willy mason.
ahh, delicious!
"It's a hard hand to hold that is looking for control It is tempting to fight, when you know that you're right"
All true. A song surely about our preconceptions, the futility of imposing draconian controls and how it is always the most marginal that suffer the most, ie the homeless
I think this song is more about how hard it is to hold on other people. Relations with others are so very hard to keep. Nobody feels safe, and we're so alone thorugh our lives.
Really, really good song.
I fully think its kind of obviously about the treatment of the less fortunate because and how people automatically try to ignore homeless people because it's just easier. But a deeper meaning could be showing how humans are kind of desensitised and when they see something going on thats not right it's much easier to just block it out than take action.
eg...'you shrink back like he's a disease' and
'you try your hardest to ignore that street sleeper on your left there all alone'
anyway thats just a little insight most probably wrong but haha wateva.... this is a beautiful song with amazing acoustic willy mason is my idol
I fully think its kind of obviously about the treatment of the less fortunate because and how people automatically try to ignore homeless people because it's just easier. But a deeper meaning could be showing how humans are kind of desensitised and when they see something going on thats not right it's much easier to just block it out than take action.
eg...'you shrink back like he's a disease' and
'you try your hardest to ignore that street sleeper on your left there all alone'
anyway thats just a little insight most probably wrong but haha wateva.... this is a beautiful song with amazing acoustic willy mason is my idol
It appears to be about human relationships, and like most have said, focusing in on those less fortunate, though I think there is more to it than just that.
I think the entire theme is just that when you treat everyone else as less than human i.e. a disease, or a competition, or an opponent in a war, it leaks into everything ("you can't look upon your lady as a friend").
I love the part with the cop, because everyone is rooting for police to take lives off of the earth, just because we're scared. We're all so scared, and that is no way to live.