Songs About Daughters
Thirty-four songs about daughters. Most of the famous ones were written by fathers watching a child get older, which is why so many of them ache. Sorted by where she is now rather than by who is singing.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten written about a real daughter
- Isn’t She LovelyStevie Wonder · 1976
Written when his daughter Aisha was born; her actual cry is on the record. Joyful rather than wistful, 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 said out loud.
- Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)John Lennon · 1980
Written for Sean, and borrowed for daughters constantly because nothing else says the same thing as gently.
- The Best DayTaylor Swift · 2008
A daughter writing about her mother, and given to her as a Christmas present. The direction most of this list does not go.
- Slipping Through My FingersABBA · 1981
A mother watching a daughter leave for school. The most quietly devastating song ever written about this.
- Butterfly KissesBob Carlisle · 1997
The father-daughter song of the 1990s. Sentimental past the point some families can take.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
A parent listing everything they want for a child. The default at graduations for good reason.
- DaughtersJohn Mayer · 2003
Addressed to fathers, not daughters, and it is about doing the job badly. Read it before you use it.
- Wide Open SpacesThe Chicks · 1998
A young woman leaving home while her mother watches. Specific about exactly one kind of departure.
- Never Grow UpTaylor Swift · 2010
Written to a child and then, in the last verse, to herself. Ruthless if you are a parent of a teenager.
Most of these were written by fathers
The father-daughter songbook is enormous and the mother-daughter one is thin, which is worth knowing before you go looking. If you are a mother, expect to borrow: “Slipping Through My Fingers” and “The Best Day” are the two written from your side, and after that you are choosing songs written by men and hearing them differently.
Almost every famous song here is about time passing rather than about the person. That makes them perfect for a wedding, a graduation or an eighteenth, and slightly odd for an ordinary Tuesday. If you are sending something without an occasion attached, choose from the last group — those are about who she is, not about her getting older.
Two warnings. “Daughters” by John Mayer is about men who damage their daughters, not a tribute, and it gets used as one constantly. “Butterfly Kisses” is a father struggling to let go, which is beautiful at a wedding and heavy anywhere else. Both are good songs used wrongly more often than not.
If she is grown, resist the song about the child she was. It is the commonest mistake on this page. A thirty-year-old woman getting a song about her first steps is being told what she used to be worth, however kindly you mean it. The grown-woman group exists for that reason.
By where she is now
While she is small
Lullabies and songs a parent sings badly in a kitchen. It helps if she already knows it.
- You Are My SunshineJimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell · 1940
Sung to more small children than any other song in English. Sing it rather than play it.
- Baby MineFrank Churchill & Ned Washington, from Dumbo · 1941
A lullaby about being separated. Devastating for the adults and comforting for the child.
- BlackbirdThe Beatles · 1968
Two minutes, one guitar, and about something small being told it can fly. Learnable in an evening.
- Somewhere Over the RainbowJudy Garland · 1939
The oldest and safest choice. Her grandmother will know every word too.
- 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 whole criterion.
- Rainbow ConnectionKermit the Frog, written by Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher · 1979
For a dreamy child. Works as a bedtime song for years afterwards.
- Puff, the Magic DragonPeter, Paul and Mary · 1963
About a child growing out of something. The adults hear it differently, which is the point.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
Easy to sing and impossible to be upset through. Good for a difficult bedtime.
When she is leaving
A wedding, a graduation, a first flat, a country. The songs everybody cries to, used on purpose.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About a child growing and a parent ageing at once. Short, which at a wedding is mercy.
- I Loved Her FirstHeartland · 2006
Written for the father-daughter dance and used at almost nothing else. It knows its job.
- My GirlThe Temptations · 1964
The father-daughter dance that will not make anybody cry. Three minutes and everyone knows it.
- UnforgettableNatalie Cole with Nat King Cole · 1991
A daughter singing with her father across twenty-six years. The idea is the gift.
- Then They DoTrace Adkins · 2003
About children growing up while you are busy with something else. For the parents more than for her.
- Times Like TheseFoo Fighters · 2002
For a daughter starting over after something went wrong. Loud enough not to feel like pity.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About a person being a place. For a daughter moving far away.
- ViennaBilly Joel · 1977
Slow down, you have time. The most useful thing anyone can say to a twenty-two-year-old.
When she is grown
About who she is rather than how fast it went. These treat her as an adult, which is usually what she wants.
- Both Sides NowJoni Mitchell · 1969
About looking at the same life from two ages. Her 2000 recording is the one for grown daughters.
- Ribbon in the SkyStevie Wonder · 1982
The grown-up companion to “Isn’t She Lovely”. Warm without treating her like a child.
- True ColorsCyndi Lauper · 1986
For a daughter who has stopped hiding something. Say nothing else and let it play.
- DreamsFleetwood Mac · 1977
Cool rather than sentimental, which a lot of adult daughters would rather have from a parent.
- The BestTina Turner · 1989
Unsubtle and sincere. For a fortieth, loudly, with the whole room in.
- I’ll Stand by YouThe Pretenders · 1994
The promise going the other way. For a year when she is the one who needs holding.
- You’ve Got a FriendCarole King · 1971
For a daughter who has become a friend, which happens somewhere around her thirtieth.
- For GoodFrom Wicked, by Stephen Schwartz · 2003
Two people saying they changed each other. It will undo a certain kind of family immediately.
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. The famous songs on this page are about somebody else’s daughter, which is exactly the gap a written one fills.
Start her 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
- Marcus at FortyPop · written to be funny, at a friend’s request3:00
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 daughter?
- “Isn’t She Lovely” for joy, “Gracie” for specificity, “Slipping Through My Fingers” if you want the room in pieces. Most of the famous ones are about time passing rather than about the person.
- What song should a mother sing to her daughter?
- The mother-daughter songbook is thin. “Slipping Through My Fingers” and “The Best Day” are the two written from that side; after that you are borrowing songs written by fathers and hearing them differently.
- What is a good father-daughter dance song?
- “My Girl” if you want the room smiling, “I Loved Her First” if you want it in tears. “Butterfly Kisses” does the second job and is heavier than most weddings need.
- What should I send a grown daughter?
- Not a song about the child she was. “Ribbon in the Sky”, “Dreams” or “Both Sides Now” treat her as an adult, which is almost always what she would rather have.
- Can I get a song written about my daughter?
- Yes. Answer five questions about her — her name, the occasion, 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.