"The park is full of Sunday fathers and melted ice cream / We try to do the best within the given time / A kid should be with his mother, everybody knows that / What can a father do but baby-sit sometimes?”--from Sting's "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying"

One of the best songs about divorced dads is Sting's "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" (later also recorded by Toby Keith). Part of what interests me about it is that it doesn't describe a horrible divorce case, but instead a "routine" one, and shows us how painful even a routine divorce is for so many fathers. I particularly like his description of the legions of dispossessed fathers who spend Sundays in the park with their kids, clinging to what little is left of their fatherhood.

To listen to the song via Youtube.com, click here. The video is either inconsequential or packs deeper artistic meaning than my dull-witted mind can understand, but it does allow readers to hear the song. The lyrics appear below.

I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying

Seven weeks have passed now since she left me
She shows her face to ask me how I am
She says the kids are fine and that they miss me
Maybe I could come and baby-sit sometime
She says, "Are you O.K.? I was worried about you
Can you forgive me? I hope that you'll be happy."

I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm so happy I'm laughing through my tears

I saw a friend of mine
He said, "I was worried about you
I heard she had another man
I wondered how you felt about it?"

I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm so happy I'm laughing though my tears

Saw my lawyer, Mr Good News
He got me joint custody and legal separation

I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm laughing through my tears
I'm laughing through my tears

I took a walk alone last night
I looked up at the stars
To try and find an answer in my life
I chose a star for me
I chose a star for him
I chose two stars for my kids and one star for my wife
Something made me smile
Something seemed to ease the pain
Something about the universe and how it's all connected

The park is full of Sunday fathers and melted ice cream
We try to do the best within the given time
A kid should be with his mother
Everybody knows that
What can a father do but baby-sit sometimes?

I saw that friend of mine, he said,
"You look different somehow"
I said, "Everybody's got to leave the darkness sometime"

I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm laughing through my tears
I'm laughing through my tears
I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm laughing through my tears
I'm laughing through my tears

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 12:11 am and is filed under Fatherhood, Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Music. You can trackback from your own site.