1988, Mike +Mechanics released a touching song about fathers and sons. I wish I had a nicer resolution of the music video, but it's the song itself that hits the mark. There's a lot of heart in that piece, and the imagery helps to bring out the bitter-sweetness of the lyrics.
Living Years was written by Mike Rutherford and Brian Alexander Robertson. Robertson solely penned the lyrics and Paul Carrack sang the lead. Both Rutherfords and Robertson had recently lost their fathers. Carrack's dad died he was only eleven years old. You can tell that this work was a labor of love. Living Years hit the top of the charts internationally. It wasn't just a good tune, a good video, but a song that touches on a timeless, common, haunting thought of sons of sons.
I believe it's the goal of every songwriter to capture one's heart, thought and experience in a few clear or abstract lines. Every songwriter is driven to ask their questions, uncover themselves on stage to reveal their pleasures and pains to anyone who'll listen. Robertson caught it, he found the words in which countless orphaned sons in the audience relate.
I wasn't there that morning, when my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him, all the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit, later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo, in my baby's new born tears
I just wished that I had told him, in the living years.
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