Songfacts®:

• This song was written by Graham Gouldman in memory of his father, poet and playwright Hymie Gouldman, who died in 1991. In an interview with Mike Cohen of the Jewish Telegraph, Gouldman spoke of his father's influence on his life and career: "I'm always happy to talk about my father. He was the biggest influence on me. I always used to phone him during my 10cc days for help. Kevin called him 'Hyme the Rhyme.' He loved words. He always taught me to be original. He had high standards. He was a genius. What he did for a living was incidental, it was the writing that he lived for. And some of that has rubbed off on me."
• Morten Harket, who was lead singer of the Norwegian pop group a-ha, recorded this for his 1995 debut solo album Wild Seed.
• Gouldman included a new version of the song on his 2000 solo album And Another Thing.... In the liner notes of the album, he noted: "It reflects my feelings at the time. I suppose I was trying to put a positive slant on his passing, remembering all the things we had done together and his artistic legacy to me. The last verse of the song best reflects my feelings on this. This song has been recorded by many artists and remains one of my favorites. Very emotional." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Daryl - Stoke, England, for all above