Birthday Songs for Son
Thirty-four birthday songs for a son. The ones actually written about sons come first, then picks sorted by how old he is, because a song for a four-year-old and a song for a thirty-year-old have nothing in common.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten written about sons
- Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)John Lennon · 1980
Lennon wrote it for Sean, then five years old. The most tender song on this list and hard to hear if you know what happened next.
- Danny’s SongLoggins and Messina · 1971
Kenny Loggins wrote it for his brother’s newborn son. Warm and unfussy, and it fits a first birthday better than anything else here.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
A parent listing everything they want for a child. Plays at graduations for the same reason it works at eighteenth birthdays.
- Father and SonCat Stevens · 1970
Two voices, two generations, neither hearing the other. For a son who is leaving, or has left, and a father who minds.
- Watching YouRodney Atkins · 2006
A small boy copying his father, including the swearing. Funny first and moving second, which is the right order at a party.
- Simple ManLynyrd Skynyrd · 1973
A mother’s advice to a son. If you are the one giving the toast, this says most of it.
- You’ll Be in My HeartPhil Collins · 1999
From Tarzan, so a lot of men in their thirties have a whole childhood attached to it. Use that.
- Forever YoungRod Stewart · 1988
Stewart wrote his version thinking about his own children. A blessing rather than a birthday song, which is what a milestone wants.
- Humble and KindTim McGraw · 2016
A list of rules for being decent. If that is what you have been saying to him for twenty years, here it is set to music.
- My Old ManZac Brown Band · 2017
Written the other way round — a son about his father. Play it if he is now a father himself.
Pick for the age he is now
The single most common mistake is choosing a song about the boy he was for a man who is thirty-four. “Beautiful Boy” is perfect at three and slightly painful at thirty, unless the two of you have the kind of relationship where that is the joke. Ask yourself whether he would play it to someone else, and if the answer is no, move down the list.
For a party, a sentimental song and a loud song do different jobs and you need both. The loud one goes on when the cake arrives; the sentimental one goes with the toast or the slideshow, when people are seated and quiet. Playing the sentimental one over a room full of standing people wastes it.
Men are, on average, worse at receiving this kind of gift in public. If he is the sort who deflects, put the song somewhere private — sent that morning, played in the car — rather than in front of thirty people. It will land twice as hard and he will not have to perform a reaction.
If you are choosing for a teenager, choose from his music and not from yours, even if his music is bad. A song he likes says you paid attention; a song you like says you did not.
By how old he is
For a small boy
Under about ten. Short, singable, and it helps enormously if he already knows it from something.
- You’ve Got a Friend in MeRandy Newman · 1995
From Toy Story, so he already knows it. The safest choice on this page for any boy under eight.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
Easy to sing, impossible to be upset through, and it does not sound like children’s music.
- 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.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes, ends properly, and the grandparents will be pleased. Good under a slideshow of his first years.
- You Are My SunshineJimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell · 1940
If you sang it to him as a baby, sing it again. Children remember being sung to more than being played to.
- HappyPharrell Williams · 2013
The one that reliably makes a room of six-year-olds move. Put it on before the cake, not after.
- Best Day of My LifeAmerican Authors · 2013
Bright and uncomplicated. Good over a video of the party itself.
- Puff, the Magic DragonPeter, Paul and Mary · 1963
Old enough that a grandparent can sing along, which is half the point at a family birthday.
For a teenager
Choose from his music, not yours. These are the ones that cross over without embarrassing him.
- Times Like TheseFoo Fighters · 2002
About starting over. For a boy who has had a hard year and would not say so.
- The CaveMumford & Sons · 2009
Loud and hopeful in a way teenagers accept from adults. Works at an eighteenth.
- UnwrittenNatasha Bedingfield · 2004
Corny and effective. For a sixteenth or an eighteenth, and better in a slideshow than in a room.
- Good TimeOwl City & Carly Rae Jepsen · 2012
Pure party. No message at all, which is occasionally the correct choice.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About being from somewhere. For a son who is about to leave for university.
- Fight SongRachel Platten · 2015
For a boy who is fighting something. Obvious, and obvious works when someone needs it.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
Every generation accepts this one. Good for the morning of the birthday rather than the party.
- In Da Club50 Cent · 2003
One line about a birthday and two decades of parties. He will know it, and so will everyone older than him.
For a grown man
Thirty and up. These have some weight to them, which is what a milestone birthday can take.
- Thunder RoadBruce Springsteen · 1975
About being young and wanting out. Play it to a man of forty and watch what happens.
- Free Fallin’Tom Petty · 1989
A whole room will sing the chorus without being asked. Reliable at any birthday past thirty.
- Old ManNeil Young · 1972
A young man realising he is turning into an older one. For a son who has just become a father.
- My WayFrank Sinatra · 1969
For a fiftieth or a sixtieth, and only for a man with a bit of defiance in him. Late in the evening.
- CelebrationKool & The Gang · 1980
It has been doing this job since 1980 and it still works. On when the cake arrives.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
The original, and gentler than Rod Stewart’s. For a quiet moment rather than a party.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About being frightened of getting older. For a fortieth, if he would find that funny rather than pointed.
- Sweet CarolineNeil Diamond · 1969
Three generations know the shouted part. The last song of the night, every time.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your son 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 team, the car, the thing he said at four that the family still repeats — because that is what none of the records above can have.
Make his 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
- Vera in AugustFolk · read out at a memorial, dahlias and all3:07
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 son?
- It depends entirely on his age. For a small boy, “Danny’s Song” or “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”. For a teenager, something from his own playlist. For a grown man, “Thunder Road” or “Free Fallin’” will do more than anything written about sons.
- What song should a mother sing to her son?
- “Simple Man” is a mother’s advice to a son and sits low enough for most voices. “You Are My Sunshine” if you sang it to him as a baby — the repetition is the whole gift.
- What can I play at a son’s 30th or 40th birthday?
- Something from when he was eighteen, because that is the music people keep. Then one loud thing for the cake. “Free Fallin’” and “Celebration” between them cover most rooms.
- Can I get a birthday song written about my son?
- Yes. Answer five questions about him — his name, the birthday, three things only your family knows, the feeling you want and the music he likes — and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.
Other birthday lists
Birthday songs for daughterBirthday songs for dadMilestone birthday songsSweet 16 songsFor him, not for the birthday
Songs for son