Gitaris Genesis, Mike Rutherford, yang berinisiatif membentuk grup ini sebagai side project-nya. Mike & the Mechanics. Ia mengajak Paul Carrack dan Paul Young (anggota grup Sad Café, bukan Paul Young yang penyanyi solo). The Living Years rilis bersama album bertajuk sama, pada 1988.
The Living Years bercerita tentang hubungan yang tak baik antara anak dan ayah. Setelah ayahnya meninggal sang anak baru menyadari, ia dan ayahnya memiliki ikatan yang lebih kuat daripada yang disadari sebelumnya. Ia menyesal tak pernah mengungkapkan itu selagi ayahnya masih hidup.
Lagu ini ditulis Rutherford bersama penulis asal Scotlandia, BA Robertson. Secara kebetulan mereka berdua baru saja kehilangan ayah saat menulis lirik tersebut. Ada keterlibatan emosi mereka dalam The Living Years. Lirik 'I wasn't there that morning..When my father passed away' mewakili peristiwa yang mereka alami. Robertson sedang bekerja bersama Rutherford saat sebuah telepon mengabari ayahnya meninggal dunia.
The Living Years
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defense
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different date
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
