"How Come, How Long" is a song written, produced and performed by

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

(Kenneth Edmonds). It was released as the third and final single from his fourth album, '' The Day'' (1996). It is a duet with American singer-songwriter

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. 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 The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Performers * Will Smith – Men In Black/ Gettin' Jiggy Wit It * R. K ...

this song received a nomination for

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers ...

, which it lost to " Don't Look Back" by

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

. The following year, the song received the same nomination with the live version included on Babyface's ''

Unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

'' album, losing this time to

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

and

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

with their rendition of "I Still Have That Other Girl".

Background

The track was written, produced and performed by

as a duet with American singer-songwriter

, who also co-wrote the song. The lyrics deal with domestic violence and is inspired by the

Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the second wife of American professional football player, actor, and media personality O. J. Simpson. She was murdered outside her Brentwood home, along with her friend Ro ...

case.

Critical reception

On the ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' review of '' The Day'', David Browne wrote that this "domestic-abuse saga" needed "tougher music to make its point". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated the song four out of five, stating that "Wonder's input (singing and harmonica-playing) is obvious on this emotionally-charged soul ballad". The magazine's Alan Jones viewed it as "a worthy social commentary piece (about wife beating)".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for this song, directed by

F. Gary Gray Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969) is an American director and producer. Gray began his career as a director on numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning music videos, including "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube, " Natural Born Killaz" by ...

, shows several residents of an apartment building ignoring the shouts, screams, and arguments between a married couple, ending with a twist, showing that the woman killed her abusive husband, ending with ''her'' being arrested. This video received a nomination for Best R&B Video at the

1997 MTV Video Music Awards The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. American singer Beck took home the ...

, which was awarded to "

I'll Be Missing You "I'll Be Missing You" is a tribute song by American rapper Puff Daddy and singer Faith Evans, featuring the R&B group 112. It honors Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, a fellow artist on Bad Boy Records and Evans's husband, who was mu ...

" by

Puff Daddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

(

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

) featuring

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

and 112. It also was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. ...

, losing to "

Got 'til It's Gone "Got 'til It's Gone" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, featuring American rapper Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip and Canadian singer Joni Mitchell, from her sixth studio album, ''The Velvet Rope'' (1997). It was written by Jackson, Jimmy Jam ...

" by

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

Track listing

* US CD single #"How Come, How Long" – 5:11 #"

Every Time I Close My Eyes "Every Time I Close My Eyes" is a song written, produced and performed by American musician Babyface. It was released as the second single from his fourth album, '' The Day'' (1996). Mariah Carey performs the backing vocals, after Babyface did th ...

" (Timbaland remix) – 4:23 * UK CD single (XPCD2161) #"How Come, How Long" (Radio edit) – 4:12 * CD maxi single (EPC 664402 2) #"How Come, How Long" (radio edit) – 4:12 #"How Come, How Long" (Natty & Slaps remix) – 5:08 #"How Come, How Long" (Laws & Craigie remix) – 6:28 #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Timbaland remix) – 4:55

Chart

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

The following people contributed to "How Come, How Long": *Babyface — main performer and producer *

—

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

— producer,

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ing * Jimmy Douglas — remixing *Jon Gass — mixing *

Benny Medina Benny Medina (born January 24, 1958) is an American record executive, talent manager, and television producer. Early life and education Medina was born in East Los Angeles, California, into a poor family. The death of his mother and abandonment ...

—

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

—

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

References

External links

Song Lyrics
on Rhapsody
Listen to the song
{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1997 singles 1997 songs Babyface (musician) songs Stevie Wonder songs Male vocal duets Music videos directed by F. Gary Gray Songs written by Babyface (musician) Songs written by Stevie Wonder Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician) Songs about domestic violence Soul ballads