I had lost complete custodial rights to my son's when this song came out. It hurts to hear this today almost 30 years later. But so many people have been in this situation. I am grateful to both Sting and Toby Keith for putting my pain into words.
It is babysitting when she gets the house, alimony, and child support. It is when the Father is living in a 1 bdrm room rental (where kids cannot stay overnight) due to the cost of marriage/divorce. It is when the Father has to work full-time, leaving a day so on the weekend to see them. Weeknights are school nights, so those and every other weekend are the Mother's time. Sting did not just nail it, he drove a stake through the topic.
This is definitely not Sting's genre as a vocalist. Great song though. The studio version, where Toby sings the main vocals, is m u c h better than this.
I read an interview with Toby Keith about him doing this song with Sting. He said from the beginning they did not get along. This was their music company's idea. Keith said his in your face kidding around attitude and Stings calm cool relax attitude crash against each other from day one. According to Keith, Sting agreed to let Keith record the song to give it a second chance at radio, as long as Sting could play bass guitar and sing duet vocals on it. Keith told Country Music that he regretted making the record, describing it as a compromise: "He was on the same label on the pop side," Keith recalls. " Everybody was talkin' about that tune, how great it was and how country it sounded. So they brought it over and said, 'Do this and we'll get Sting to come and sing on it, too.' The personalities conflicted. He's a real introvert. I was a real outgoing guy. He didn't like my abrasive and brash manner. It wasn't fun at all. It was a horrible experience.
