Birthday Songs for Daughter
Thirty-four birthday songs for a daughter. The ones actually written about daughters come first, then picks sorted by how old she is. A few of the famous ones are worth a warning, and those are flagged.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten written about daughters
- Isn’t She LovelyStevie Wonder · 1976
Wonder wrote it when his daughter Aisha was born, and her actual cry is on the record. Joyful rather than sentimental, which is rare here.
- GracieBen Folds · 2005
Written for his daughter and specific in a way almost nothing else is — a face in a car window, a name. The best song on this list.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
A parent listing everything they want for a child. The default at eighteenth birthdays and graduations, for good reason.
- Butterfly KissesBob Carlisle · 1997
The father-daughter song of the 1990s. Sentimental past the point some families can take — you will know which yours is.
- You’ll Be in My HeartPhil Collins · 1999
From Tarzan, so anyone who was small in 1999 has a whole childhood attached. Use that.
- Forever YoungRod Stewart · 1988
Stewart wrote his version thinking about his own children. A blessing rather than a birthday song, which suits a milestone.
- DaughtersJohn Mayer · 2003
Addressed to fathers rather than to daughters, and it is about doing the job badly. Read the lyric before you use it.
- Humble and KindTim McGraw · 2016
A list of rules for being decent. If that is what you have been saying to her for twenty years, here it is set to music.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About a child growing and a parent getting older at the same time. Devastating at a eighteenth, mercifully short.
- Sweet Child o’ MineGuns N’ Roses · 1987
Written about Axl Rose’s girlfriend, not a child, so you are borrowing it. Nobody has ever minded.
Two warnings and one rule
Some of the most-recommended father-daughter songs are not saying what people think they are saying. “Daughters” by John Mayer is about men who damage their daughters. “Butterfly Kisses” is about a father struggling to let go, which is beautiful at a wedding and slightly heavy at a sixteenth. Read every lyric to the end before you commit to it in front of a room.
The other trap is choosing the song about the child she was for a woman who is thirty. “Isn’t She Lovely” is a song about a newborn. It is perfect for a first birthday and it lands strangely at a thirtieth, unless the two of you find that funny. Ask whether she would play it to a friend.
The rule that matters more than either: pick from her music, not from yours. This is the thing daughters notice. A song from her own playlist says you have been paying attention; a song from your playlist says you have been thinking about your own feelings. If you genuinely do not know what she listens to, that is worth finding out before the birthday for reasons beyond the song.
For a party, you want one loud song and one quiet one. The loud one goes on when the cake arrives; the quiet one goes with the toast or the slideshow, when people are sitting down. Playing the quiet one over a standing room wastes it.
By how old she is
For a small girl
Under about ten. It helps enormously if she already knows it from a film, and it helps more if you sing it rather than play it.
- You Are My SunshineJimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell · 1940
If you sang it to her as a baby, sing it again. The repetition is most of the gift.
- Rainbow ConnectionKermit the Frog, written by Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher · 1979
For a dreamy child. Slow enough to be a bedtime song on the night of the party.
- How Far I’ll GoAuli’i Cravalho, from Moana · 2016
The current one. Any girl born after about 2012 knows every word, which is the entire criterion here.
- Let It GoIdina Menzel, from Frozen · 2013
You know what this will do to a room of small girls. Decide whether you want that before you press play.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
Easy to sing, impossible to be upset through, and it does not sound like children’s music.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes, ends properly, and the grandparents will be pleased. Good under a slideshow.
- HappyPharrell Williams · 2013
The one that reliably moves a room of six-year-olds. Before the cake, not after.
- Best Day of My LifeAmerican Authors · 2013
Bright and uncomplicated. Good over a video of the party itself.
For a teenager
From her music, not yours. These cross over without embarrassing her, which is the only test that matters at this age.
- UnwrittenNatasha Bedingfield · 2004
Corny and effective. The default for a sixteenth slideshow for twenty years now.
- RoarKaty Perry · 2013
For a girl who has had to stand up to something this year. Obvious, and obvious helps.
- Fight SongRachel Platten · 2015
Same job as “Roar”, slightly less shouting. Better if she is the quieter kind.
- Good as HellLizzo · 2016
For a party rather than a moment. It will get her friends up and it will not embarrass her.
- Girls Just Want to Have FunCyndi Lauper · 1983
Old enough that her mother will dance to it too, which at a sixteenth is either the point or the problem.
- Dog Days Are OverFlorence + The Machine · 2008
Builds to something. Good for the entrance at a bigger party.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
Every generation accepts this one. Good for the morning of, rather than the party.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About being from somewhere. For a daughter who is about to leave for university.
For a grown woman
Thirty and up. These can carry some weight, which is what a milestone birthday will take.
- Both Sides NowJoni Mitchell · 1969
About looking at the same life from two ages. Her 2000 recording, if you can find it, is the one.
- DreamsFleetwood Mac · 1977
Cool rather than sentimental, which a lot of grown daughters would rather have from a parent.
- The BestTina Turner · 1989
Unsubtle and completely sincere. For a fortieth, loudly, with everyone joining in.
- Ribbon in the SkyStevie Wonder · 1982
The grown-up companion to “Isn’t She Lovely”. Warm without treating her like a child.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
For a daughter turning forty who has said something about getting older. Only if she said it first.
- Sweet CarolineNeil Diamond · 1969
Three generations know the shouted part. The last song of the night, every time.
- Dancing QueenABBA · 1976
It will get the aunts up before the chorus. There is no arguing with it.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
The original, gentler than Rod Stewart’s. For a quiet moment rather than a party.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your daughter sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. Listen for the detail — the nickname, the year she was impossible, the thing she still says — because that is what none of the records above can have.
Make her song- Ruth’s Yellow KitchenCountry · a grandmother who fed everyone who came to the door3:39
- Marcus at FortyPop · written to be funny, at a friend’s request3:00
- Nadia for Our First DanceR&B · a first dance, written about the two of them3:18
How it works
Three steps. The first one is the only hard part.
- 1Tell the storyFive questions. Who it’s for, the occasion, three details only you two know, the feeling you want, and the names that have to be in it.
- 2Pick the soundCountry, pop, acoustic, R&B, gospel or rock. A man’s voice or a woman’s.
- 3Listen, then unlockA 30-second preview in about two minutes. Pay only if you love it. You get the full song, the lyrics, and a page you can send.
Common questions
- What is a good birthday song for a daughter?
- For a small girl, something she already knows from a film. For a teenager, something from her own playlist. For a grown woman, “Ribbon in the Sky” or “Both Sides Now” treat her as an adult, which is usually what she wants.
- What song should a mother sing to her daughter?
- “You Are My Sunshine” if you sang it when she was small, and “Landslide” if she is old enough for it. Both sit low enough for most voices, which matters if you intend to actually sing rather than press play.
- Is “Butterfly Kisses” a good choice?
- At a wedding, yes. At a birthday it is heavier than most people expect — it is a song about a father struggling to let go, not a song about a daughter. Read it through first and decide whether the room can take it.
- What plays well at a daughter’s 16th or 18th?
- One song from her playlist for the party and one from yours for the slideshow. “Unwritten” has been carrying sixteenth-birthday videos for twenty years and still works.
- Can I get a birthday song written about my daughter?
- Yes. Answer five questions about her — her name, the birthday, three things only your family knows, the feeling you want and the music she likes — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.
Other birthday lists
Birthday songs for sonSweet 16 songsBirthday songs for momMilestone birthday songsFor her, not for the birthday
Songs about daughters