Songs for Dad
Thirty-four songs about fathers. A warning first: most of the famous ones are about absent, difficult or dead fathers, and they get handed to living, present ones as compliments. The groups below sort by which kind of father yours actually is.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten written about a real father
- Leader of the BandDan Fogelberg · 1981
Written for his father, a bandmaster, while he was still alive. That last part is rarer than you would think.
- My Old ManZac Brown Band · 2017
The modern one, and the one younger families ask for. Plain language, no grandeur, nothing to flinch at.
- Father and SonCat Stevens · 1970
Two generations talking past each other. The truest song about this relationship anybody has written.
- Dance with My FatherLuther Vandross · 2003
Vandross wrote it about his own father, who died when he was seven. Beautiful and, for a living father, very heavy.
- My Father’s EyesEric Clapton · 1998
For a father someone never really knew. Quieter and stranger than the obvious choices.
- The Living YearsMike + The Mechanics · 1988
About things unsaid before it was too late. Powerful, and it can read as an accusation in the wrong room.
- Watching YouRodney Atkins · 2006
A small boy copying his father, swearing included. Funny first, moving second.
- Simple ManLynyrd Skynyrd · 1973
A parent’s advice to a child. Playing it back to him says the advice landed.
- Old ManNeil Young · 1972
Written to a ranch caretaker, not a father, and heard as a father song by everyone. Nobody minds.
- Cat’s in the CradleHarry Chapin · 1974
About a father who was never there. Given to fathers who were, as a compliment, constantly. It is not one.
Check what the song is actually about
The father songbook is unusually full of grief and complaint. “Cat’s in the Cradle” is about neglect. “The Living Years” is about a reconciliation that never happened. “Dance with My Father” is about a man who died when the singer was seven. All three get played at Father’s Day lunches for men who were present, kind and are sitting in the room. Read to the end before you commit.
If your father was straightforwardly good and is still here, you are in the smallest category and the hardest to shop for. “Leader of the Band” and “My Old Man” are the two written from exactly that position. Everything else in that group is borrowed from somewhere adjacent.
If it is complicated, the songs are better. Complicated fathers have produced most of the great writing here, and a song that acknowledges the difficulty will mean more than one that pretends there is none. The middle group is for that, and it should be sent privately rather than played at a table.
On delivery: most fathers do not perform emotion in front of a room. Send it in the morning or play it in a car with just the two of you. He will listen four more times when nobody is watching, which is the outcome you want.
By which father yours is
If he was straightforwardly good
The smallest category in this songbook and the hardest to fill. These are the ones written from that position.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
Usually sent downwards from parent to child. Sending it up is unexpected and works.
- The WeightThe Band · 1968
About taking a load off somebody. For a father who did that quietly and never mentioned it.
- Humble and KindTim McGraw · 2016
A list of rules for being decent. If they were his rules, this is them set to music.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
Direct without being soft. One of the few sincere songs men reliably accept from each other.
- Danny’s SongLoggins and Messina · 1971
Warm and unfussy. Especially good once he is a grandfather.
- You’ve Got a FriendCarole King · 1971
For a father who has become a friend, which tends to happen around your thirtieth.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
A blessing rather than a tribute. Gentler than Rod Stewart’s version.
- Sweet CarolineNeil Diamond · 1969
For a lunch rather than a moment. Both of you will do the shouted part without discussing it.
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. Devastating, and accurate for a lot of families.
- The Living YearsMike + The Mechanics · 1988
About a reconciliation that came too late. Send it while it is not too late.
- Father of MineEverclear · 1997
Angry rather than sad, which is honest and almost nothing else here is.
- Papa Was a Rollin’ StoneThe Temptations · 1972
Twelve minutes in its full version, and the mood is the point rather than the words.
- My Father’s EyesEric Clapton · 1998
About a father Clapton never met. For anyone piecing a man together from other people’s accounts.
- HallelujahJeff Buckley · 1994
Nothing to do with fathers, and it holds an ambivalent feeling better than any song that is.
- Fire and RainJames Taylor · 1970
About loss you have not finished with. Quiet enough to leave on in a car alone.
- Wish You Were HerePink Floyd · 1975
For an absence, whatever kind. Says it without any of the vocabulary.
From a daughter
Daughters get more latitude with fathers than sons do. You can be direct and he will let you.
- My GirlThe Temptations · 1964
The father-daughter standard that will not make anybody cry. Three minutes and everyone knows it.
- I Loved Her FirstHeartland · 2006
Written for the father-daughter dance and used for almost nothing else. It knows its job.
- UnforgettableNatalie Cole with Nat King Cole · 1991
A daughter singing with her father across twenty-six years. The idea is worth more than the recording.
- Isn’t She LovelyStevie Wonder · 1976
Playing back the song he probably played about you. The reversal is the gift.
- Butterfly KissesBob Carlisle · 1997
The 1990s father-daughter song. Heavier than most occasions need, and right at a wedding.
- The BestTina Turner · 1989
Unsubtle and completely sincere. For a sixtieth, loudly, with the whole room in.
- True ColorsCyndi Lauper · 1986
For a father who has spent a long time being what everyone needed.
- In My LifeThe Beatles · 1965
Gentle and short. Looks back without sounding like a eulogy, which for a living father matters.
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 famous father 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
- Ray at Sixty-OneCountry · thirty-one years at the plant, same truck since nineteen3:29
- 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 the best song about a father?
- “Leader of the Band” and “My Old Man” are the two best about a good father who is still alive, which is a much smaller category than the songbook suggests. Most of the famous ones are about absence.
- Is “Cat’s in the Cradle” a good Father’s Day song?
- No, and it is played at Father’s Day lunches every year regardless. It is about a father who was never there, given as a compliment to fathers who were. Read it through once and you will not use it again.
- What song should a daughter send her dad?
- “My Girl” for something light, “Unforgettable” if you like the idea of a duet across generations, “Butterfly Kisses” if the occasion can carry it. Daughters get more latitude here than sons and can afford to be direct.
- What if my relationship with him is complicated?
- Then the better songs are available to you. “The Living Years”, “Father of Mine” and “My Father’s Eyes” all acknowledge the difficulty, which means more than a song pretending there is none. Send it privately.
- Can I get a song written about my dad?
- Yes. Answer five questions about him — his name, the occasion, 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.