Intro:
E D2/E C#m/E D2/E
Verse 1:
E D2/E
Oh this son of mine I love so well
C#m/E D2/E
And all the toil it takes
E C#m7
I’d give to him a garden
D E
and keep it clear of snakes
G#m A
But the one thing he most treasures
B C#m F#m
Is to make his own mistakes - ohhh
E D2/E
He goes charging on the cliffs of life
C#m/E D2/E
A reckless mountaineer
E C#m7
I could help him not to stumble
D E
I could warn him what to fear
G#m A
I could shout until I’m breathless
B C#m F#m
And he’d still refuse to hear - ohhh
Chorus:
F#m Amaj7 B
But you cannot close the acorn
G#m7 C#m
Once the oak begins to grow
G#m G#m7 C#m7
And you cannot close your heart
F#m A7 B
To what it fears and needs to know
G#m A C#m B
That the hardest part of love
E
Is the letting go
Verse 2:
E D2/E
As a child I found a sparrow
C#m/E D2/E
Who had fallen from the nest
E C#m7
And I nursed him back to health
D E
Till he was stronger than the rest
G#m A
But when I tried to hold it
B C#m
It would peck and scratch my chest
F#m
Till I let it go
E D2/E
And I watched it fly away from me
C#m/E D2/E
With its brightened self resolve
E C#m7
And part of me was cursing
D E
I had helped it grow so strong
G#m A
And I feared it might go hungry
B C#m F#m
And I feared it might go wrong - ohhh
Chorus:
F#m A7 B
But I could not close the acorn
G#m7 C#m
Once the oak began to grow
G#m G#m7 C#m7
And I cannot close my heart
F#m A7 B
To what it fears and needs to know
G#m A C#m B
That the hardest part of love
E
Is the letting go
E D2/E C#m/E D2/E
E D2/E
And it’s only in Eden
C#m/E D2/E
Grows a rose without a thorn
E C#m7
And your children start to leave you
D E
On the day that they were born
G#m A
They will leave you there to cheer for them
B C#m F#m
They will leave you there to mourn ever so
E D2/E
Like an ark on uncharted seas
C#m/E D2/E
Their lives will be tossed
E C#m7
And deeper is your love for them
D E
The crueler is the cost
G#m A
And just when they start to find themselves
B C#m F#m
Is when you fear they’re lost - ohhh
Chorus:
F#m Amaj7 B
But you cannot close the acorn
G#m7 C#m
Once the oak begins to grow
G#m G#m7 C#m7
And you cannot close your heart
F#m A7 B
To what it fears and needs to know
G#m A C#m B
That the hardest part of love
G#m A C#m B
And the rarest part of love
C#m A B
And the truest part of love
E
Is the letting go