The song was a chart hit around the world, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 on 25 March 1989, the band's only number one and last top ten hit on that chart,[2] and reaching number-one in Australia, Canada and Ireland and number 2 in the UK.

In 1996, famed composer Burt Bacharach opined that the song was one of the finest lyrics of the last ten years.

[6] Rutherford said:[6] Being of similar age, we both came from an era where our parents had lived through two world wars, when young men wanted to be like their fathers – wear the same clothes, do the same things.

It also includes an appearance by actress Maggie Jones, best known for playing Blanche Hunt in the soap opera Coronation Street.

There are alternative recordings of the song,[35] instrumental as well as vocal, reggae to classical crossover, from artists as diverse as American country music band Alabama, Chris De Burgh, West End theatre star Michael Ball, Marcia Hines, Engelbert Humperdinck, James Last, The London Symphony Orchestra, Christian artist Russ Lee, Rhydian, John Tesh, Russell Watson, the London Community Gospel Choir, the Newsboys, The Isaacs, The Katinas, Japanese singer Kaho Shimada, Italian band Dik Dik and Michael English.

Mike + The Mechanics band member Paul Carrack, who performed the original lead vocal, has made a number of solo interpretations.