Father’s Day Songs
Thirty-four songs for Father’s Day. The problem with this occasion is that the famous father songs are mostly about absence, regret and men who were not there — and they get played every June for men who were. The groups below sort by which father is actually being celebrated.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten for the day
- My Old ManZac Brown Band · 2017
The best modern one. Plain language, no grandeur, and nothing anybody has to flinch at.
- Leader of the BandDan Fogelberg · 1981
Written for his father while he was still alive, which is rarer in this songbook than it should be.
- Danny’s SongLoggins and Messina · 1971
Warm and unfussy. Especially good for a first Father’s Day.
- Watching YouRodney Atkins · 2006
A small boy copying his father, swearing included. Funny first, moving second.
- My GirlThe Temptations · 1964
From a daughter, and it will not make anyone cry. Three minutes and everybody knows it.
- Humble and KindTim McGraw · 2016
A list of rules for being decent. If they were his rules, this is them set to music.
- Father and SonCat Stevens · 1970
The truest song about this relationship. Funny or painful in whatever proportion your family provides.
- Simple ManLynyrd Skynyrd · 1973
A parent’s advice to a child. Playing it back says the advice landed.
- Isn’t She LovelyStevie Wonder · 1976
Playing back the song he probably played about you. The reversal is the gift.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
A blessing rather than a tribute, and it runs in both directions between generations.
Three songs to stop playing in June
“Cat’s in the Cradle” is about a father who was never there and a son who becomes the same. It is played at Father’s Day lunches every single year, as a compliment, for men who turned up to everything. Read it once through and you will not use it again.
“Dance with My Father” was written by Luther Vandross about a father who died when he was seven. It is beautiful and it is a song of loss. For a living father it is a strange thing to choose, unless the family is specifically marking a bereavement.
“The Living Years” is about a reconciliation that came too late. If that is your situation, it is the right song and you should send it now rather than at the funeral. If it is not, it will land as an accusation nobody in the room was expecting.
The general point: this songbook was written mostly by people working something out, which is why it is good and why it is a poor fit for a card. If your father was straightforwardly present and kind, you are in the smallest category in popular music. Choose from the first group, or from his own shelf, and let the record he loves carry the message.
By which father you are celebrating
If he was there
The smallest category in this songbook. These are the ones written from that position rather than around it.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
Usually sent downwards from parent to child. Sending it up is unexpected and effective.
- The WeightThe Band · 1968
About taking a load off somebody, which is what he did without ever mentioning it.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
Direct without being soft, which is the narrow register most men accept.
- You’ve Got a FriendCarole King · 1971
For a father who has become a friend, which tends to happen around your thirtieth.
- UnforgettableNatalie Cole with Nat King Cole · 1991
A daughter singing with her father across twenty-six years. The idea is the gift.
- Old ManNeil Young · 1972
A young man realising how like an older one he has become. For a son who is now a father.
- Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)John Lennon · 1980
For a first Father’s Day, from the other direction. Gentle enough to survive a room.
- Sweet CarolineNeil Diamond · 1969
For the lunch rather than the moment. Both of you will do the shouted part.
If it is complicated
Where the good writing is. Send these privately rather than playing them at a table.
- Cat’s in the CradleHarry Chapin · 1974
The definitive song about a father who was not there. Accurate, and not a compliment.
- The Living YearsMike + The Mechanics · 1988
About saying it too late. If that is your situation, send it now rather than at the funeral.
- Father of MineEverclear · 1997
Angry rather than sad, which is honest and rare in this category.
- My Father’s EyesEric Clapton · 1998
About a father he never met. For anyone assembling a man from other people’s accounts.
- Papa Was a Rollin’ StoneThe Temptations · 1972
Twelve minutes in full. The mood is the point rather than the words.
- HallelujahJeff Buckley · 1994
Nothing to do with fathers, and it holds an ambivalent feeling better than any song that is.
- Both Sides NowJoni Mitchell · 1969
For understanding a parent differently at forty than you did at twenty.
- Wish You Were HerePink Floyd · 1975
For an absence of any kind. Says it without any of the vocabulary.
If he is not here
The first Father’s Day after is the hardest one. These are for that, and for the tenth.
- Dance with My FatherLuther Vandross · 2003
Written about a father who died when Vandross was seven. This is the page it belongs on.
- Supermarket FlowersEd Sheeran · 2017
About clearing a hospital room. It is really about the week after, which is when this is hardest.
- Tears in HeavenEric Clapton · 1992
Clapton wrote it after his son died. Borrowed here, and the borrowing is worth knowing.
- Go Rest High on That MountainVince Gill · 1995
Comforting rather than crushing, which after a first year is what most people want.
- If Heaven Wasn’t So Far AwayJustin Moore · 2011
Plain-spoken country about wanting one more afternoon. Exactly the Father’s Day feeling.
- Fire and RainJames Taylor · 1970
For a loss that is not finished. Quiet enough to leave on alone in a car.
- PhotographEd Sheeran · 2015
For the grandchildren who will not remember him. Play it with the pictures out.
- In My LifeThe Beatles · 1965
The right last song of a difficult day. Two and a half minutes and it does not push.
Three demonstration songs
What a song about your father sounds like
We wrote these from made-up answers to the same five questions you would fill in. They are not customer work. Given how much of the Father’s Day songbook is about absence, a written one has an unusually clear advantage: it can be about a man who was there.
Start his song- Biscuit Tin ElaineAcoustic · a mother who worked eleven years of night shifts2:50
- Ruth’s Yellow KitchenCountry · a grandmother who fed everyone who came to the door3:39
- Ray at Sixty-OneCountry · thirty-one years at the plant, same truck since nineteen3:29
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 are the best Father’s Day songs?
- “My Old Man” and “Leader of the Band” are the two best about a good father who is still alive, which is a much smaller category than the songbook suggests. Something from his own shelf usually beats both.
- Why is “Cat’s in the Cradle” a bad Father’s Day song?
- Because it is about a father who was never there and a son who becomes the same. It gets played every June as a compliment for men who turned up to everything. Read it once through and you will not use it again.
- What should I play if my father has died?
- “Dance with My Father” belongs here rather than at a lunch for a living one. “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” is the most specifically Father’s Day of the lot — it is about wanting one more afternoon.
- What if our relationship is complicated?
- Then the better songs are available to you. “The Living Years” and “Father of Mine” acknowledge the difficulty, which means more than a song pretending there is none. Send it privately rather than playing it at a table.
- Can I get a Father’s Day song written?
- Yes, and it can do the thing most of this songbook cannot: be about a father who was present. Answer five questions and you will hear a 30-second preview in about two minutes. The full song is $19.