 Other songs were written with a more personal message . " Long Long Way to Go " is often considered one of Collins ' more popular songs never to be released as a single , and was at that point in his career his most political song . Former Police lead vocalist Sting provided backing vocals for the song . Sting and Collins first met through Band Aid , and became good friends after performing together in Live Aid . Collins was working on a song , and thought that Sting , having played at Band Aid , would relate to it very easily . Collins asked Sting to help him provide vocals for this song , and Sting accepted . 
