Monthly Archives: November 2012

As a teenager living through the 1980’s, I wasn’t mature enough to understand the meaning of the song The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics.  Like most kids, I was too preoccupied by my own life, living for the moment.  However, when this song hit the charts in 1988, the lyrics struck a chord with my soul.

While in college, I lost my best friend from high school to cancer and had another close friend lose his brother in a car accident.  When divorces exploded at the end of this decade, I had more friends to console, trying to understand what had just happen to their parents.  By the time I was about to graduate from the University of Delaware in the early 1990’s, trials and tragedy’s were an annual occurrence.  Death wasn’t just a word in a song, it had become real, impacting my life.

When I read the bio of Mike Rutherford online, the founder of Mike and the Mechanics and lead bass player of the classic group Genesis, I was impressed by the dedication, energy and time  it takes musicians before success is reached.  I am reminded that since life is short, its vital to make the most of each day you are given on earth.  Although, I am currently no where near where I want to be in life, its time to get on with the living years!

by Jay Mankus

ps- the lyrics of The Living Years are listed below for your reading pleasure.

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 thoughts
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
Talkin’ in defense

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 date
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

Say it loud, say it clear
Say it loud
Don’t give up
Don’t give in
And don’t know what you can do next