The Hardest Thing Songtext
von Colin Buchanan

You were born outside of Liverpool in England
The bank propelled your father left and right
You told me about your boarding school adventures
That magic world that lived in black and white

You turned 18 and enlisted in the Air Force
To fly Horsa gliders over enemy lines
You never lost your wide-eyed joy of flying
And Hitler took that bullet just in time

Expectations placed you at the ledger
But your banker′s life was never meant to be
You weathered Granddad's English aspirations
And he set you sail across the Irish Sea

You always had your chin up to the sky
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride
You looked every single challenge in the eye
But the hardest thing you ever did was die


To Artie Chris, you were more than just a nephew
Treasured like the son she never bore
You stepped into the paper mill at Swift Brook
In your coat and tie you walked the factory floor

And when you went to Dr Dugdale′s with a toothache
You left there with a filling and a bride
I love that photo on the steps of Christchurch
G.K.B. with Joan Margaret by his side

You always had your chin up to the sky
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride
You looked every single challenge in the eye
But the hardest thing you ever did was die

Cranmer Road was your Irish family castle
Until the middle boss sent you on your way
You bravely sailed the six of us to safety
From Southampton down into Port Philip Bay

You were 40 when you set foot in Australia
Resourceful and relentless and near broke
You faced hardship like that acre of Lantana
Hacked it out by hand and sent it up in smoke


You always had your chin up to the sky
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride
You looked every single challenge in the eye
The hardest thing you ever did was die

"Don't grow old," you'd always tell your grandkids
An ugly, early whiff of Waterloo
Your life began the spiral into helpless
And this time there was nothing you could do

All the finest stories have a champion
To step in when the darkest hour has come
The Savior came and bore you safely over
The hardest thing you both have ever done

You always had your chin up to the sky
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride
You looked every single challenge in the eye
But the hardest thing you ever did was die

You looked every single challenge in the eye
But the hardest thing you ever did was die