The Hardest Part of Love

Oh this son of mine I love so well
 And oh the toll takes
 I give to him a garden and I keep it clear of snakes
 But the one thing he most treasures is to make his own mistakes, ohhh
 He goes charging up the cliffs of life, a reckless mountaineer
 I could help him not to stumble, I could warn him what to fear
 I could shout until I'm breathless, and he'd still refuse to hear, ooh
 But you cannot close the acorn once the oak begins to grow,
 And you cannot close your heart to what it fears and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 Is the letting go
 As a child, I found a sparrow that had fallen from its nest,
 And I nursed it back to health till it was stronger that the rest
 But when I tried to hold it,
 Then it pecked and scratched my chest till I let it go
 And I watched it fly away from me with its bright and selfless song
 And part of me was cursing I had helped it grow so strong
 And I feared it might go hungry, and I feared it might go wrong, ohh
 But I could not close the acorn once the oak began to grow
 And I cannot close my heart to what it fears and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 Is the letting go
 (Is the letting go)
 And it's only in Eden grows a rose without a thorn
 And your children start to leave you on the day that they are born
 They will leave you there to cheer for them, they will leave you there to mourn, ever so
 Like an ark on uncharted seas, their lives will be tossed
 And the deeper is your love for them, the crueler is the cost
 And just when they start to find themselves, is when you fear they're lost, ohhh
 But you cannot close the acorn once the oak begins to grow
 And you cannot close your heart to what it fears and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 And the rarest part of love
 And the truest part of love (love)
 Is letting go