I heard this song a few years ago for the first time, and it struck me as so sad in a way.

Today it came on the radio, and I decided to look up the story behind it.

A heartbreaking lament to his son, this was written by Radney Foster, who told us that the story behind the song is one of the toughest situations in which a parent can be put. Says Foster: "Yeah, my oldest boy, Julien... his mother and I separated when he was very young, and divorced. And things were as good as can be expected in those kinds of situations. We were both trying very hard to be good parents. But she re-married a guy from France, and immigrated to France with my son... to 5,000 miles away.

He was 5. Which led to all kinds of things; big court battles, all kinds of things. A big mess. And when I had lost, and knew that there was nothing else I could do to try to keep him closer to home, and he was going, I wanted something that he could take with him, that he would know that I loved him. And so I wrote that little lullaby, and I put it on cassette 5 times in a row. He had a little Fisher Price big button thing that he could listen to at night, and to his mother's credit, she let him. I recorded it in my home studio with just me and my guitar, and I thought that would be the last time I ever recorded it.

(After this, it was released, but multiple singers and groups reached out and asked to record and release it)

https://open.spotify.com/track/1zpIpaDCv77z6zN2fHNTW9?si=8-zvb8hwQROoudpginFLFw