[3] According to O'Sullivan, he wrote the song after seeing film footage of starving children in Africa (during the Nigerian Civil War) on television for the first time.

[5] Pop historian Paul Gambaccini described it as "one of the great songs of all time" in the 2007 BBC documentary Kings of 70s Romance.

Tom Jones who, like O'Sullivan, was managed by Gordon Mills, covered it on his 1971 album She's a Lady.

[8] That same year, a faithful rendering of the song but with new Italian lyrics was released by I Profeti as the title track of their second album Era Bella.

It was also covered by the Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings on his self-titled first solo album released in 1976.