Two Shades of Hope

If there's one thing that I know
It is the two shades of hope
One, the enlightening soul
And the other is more like a hangman's rope
Well it's true, you may reap what you sow
But note that despair is the all-time low
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

There was once someone I loved
Whose heart overflowed his cup
And his shoes got covered in blood
Oh, but he never knew 'cause he only looked up
Well he was in trouble and so
Who'd known pain more than most, I know
Yet it was hope that dealt the hardest blows

And the girl that holds the hand
Of her somewhat distant man
Though she did everything she can
Still his heart set sail for distant lands
And she wonders, sometimes, if he knows
How she feels like a trampled rose
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

Well, some people think their sin
Caused the cancer that's eating into them
And the only way that they can win
Is by the healing of somebody's hands on their skin and prayin'
But when the cancer does not go
Baby, hope dealt the hardest blows

And now all these truths are so
With foundations below them
They were dug out in a winter's cold
When the world stole our young and preyed on the old
Well, hope deals in the hardest blows
Yet I cannot help myself but hope

I guess that's why love hurts
And heartache stings
And despair is never worse
Then the despair that death brings
But hope deals the hardest blows
Dear, the hardest
Hope deals the hardest blows