Caught in the vice of heaven and earth   He turned his life into a cell   Imprisoned by the doubts that hound us all   And the desires that we all know so well      His days he lost to promises   His nights he purged of dreams   And he would wake in the hours before sunrise   And dread the coming of the day      Never thought a man could become so desperate   Never thought a life could lose so much hope   To tear at the roots around you   As if in manacles or irons or ropes      They say he told his children that all he taught was lost   And that love and pride and honesty   Were to be gained at too high a cost      It's been thirty summers that I've spent with him   And I expect thirty more to pass   He is blessed by life in so many ways   That I could never turn my back      But I need just one more reminder   Of that man that he used to be   If he would just look deep into my eyes   And say it's in you my love, that I will find the key