How Come, How Long

"How Come, How Long"
Single by Babyface featuring Stevie Wonder
from the album The Day
ReleasedJuly 7, 1997
Recorded1996
GenrePop, R&B, soul, soft rock
Length5:10 (album version) 4:11 (radio edit)
LabelEpic, Sony
Songwriter(s)Babyface, Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)Babyface
Music video
"How Come, How Long" on YouTube
Babyface singles chronology
"Every Time I Close My Eyes"
(1997)
"How Come, How Long"
(1997)
"(Always Be My) Sunshine"
(1997)
Audio sample
How Come, How Long

"How Come, How Long" is a song written, produced and performed by Babyface (Kenneth Edmonds). It was released as the third single from his fourth album, The Day (1996). It is a duet with American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder.

The lyrics deal with domestic violence, regarding a woman who was killed by her husband after tremendous physical abuse. This release met with mixed reaction by critics and did not chart on any major charts in the United States, finding a better chart performance in the United Kingdom, where it became a top ten hit for the performers. At the 40th Grammy Awards this song received a nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, which it lost to "Don't Look Back" by John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison.[1] The following year, the song received the same nomination with the live version included on Babyface's Unplugged album, losing this time to Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach with their rendition of "I Still Have That Other Girl".[2]

  1. ^ "40th Grammy Awards". Rock on the Net. 1998-02-25. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  2. ^ "41st Grammy Awards". Rock on the Net. 1999-02-25. Retrieved 2009-01-12.