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When a Father’s Love
Michael Bennett
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🇬🇧 English · Original
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Lyrics
Original
Translation
Bilingual
There's grease embedded deep beneath his fingernails
And scars across his knuckles from the hammer and the nails
He clocked in before the sunrise, never clocked out in his mind
Leaving every ounce of youth and every dream to fall behind
He wore a faded denim jacket and a quiet, rigid stare
If you looked into his eyes, you'd see the burdens resting there
He paid the mortgage on the first, he kept the engine running right
But he'd slip into the shadows when he came back home at night
He thought that being a mountain meant you never had to bend
He thought a steady paycheck was the best thing he could send
But late at night when the house is still and everyone's asleep
The mountain finally crumbles and the valley starts to weep
When a father's love is spoken in the sweat upon his brow
But he wishes he had learned to say it out loud somehow
He built a house of brick and pine to keep them from the cold
But he's breaking down in private for the hands he didn't hold
Yeah, he gave them all he had, but he's haunted by the thought
That they'll only see the armor and forget the man who fought
When a father's love is silent, it's the loudest pain to bear
There's a picture on the mantle from the winter of '09
He was working through the holidays right on the assembly line
He missed the school plays, the birthdays
The little moments in between
Chasing down the overtime to fund a quiet family dream
He never learned the gentle words, the tender lullabies
Just the harsh and heavy language of the weary and the wise
So he'd clear his throat and look away when emotions ran too high
Because men from where he came from weren't permitted to cry
He thought that being a shelter meant you had to be the roof
He thought the food upon the table was his undeniable proof
But sitting in his pickup truck parked out in the drive
He wonders if they know how much he loved them deep inside
When a father's love is spoken in the sweat upon his brow
But he wishes he had learned to say it out loud somehow
He built a house of brick and pine to keep them from the cold
But he's breaking down in private for the hands he didn't hold
Yeah, he gave them all he had, but he's haunted by the thought
That they'll only see the armor and forget the man who fought
When a father's love is silent, it's the loudest pain to bear
He washes his face in the bathroom sink, stares into the glass
Wonders where the decade went and how they moved so fast
He whispers to his own reflection a trembling apology
"I just wanted you to have a better life than me"
He trades a thousand spoken "I love yous" for the calluses he earned
But the fire of his tenderness has never stopped
It's always burned
When a father's love is spoken in the sweat upon his brow
But he wishes he had learned to say it out loud somehow
He built a house of brick and pine to keep them from the cold
But he's breaking down in private for the hands he didn't hold
Yeah, he gave them all he had, but he's haunted by the thought
That they'll only see the armor and forget the man who fought
When a father's love is silent, it's the loudest pain to bear
He wipes his eyes, turns off the light, and walks into the hall
He checks the locks, he checks the stove, standing broad and tall
He pauses by their bedroom doors and gently bows his head
A hundred million loving words forever left unsaid
When a father's love
Yeah, when a father's love
It's hidden in the calluses and the tears he couldn't shed