Songs for a Son
Thirty-four songs about sons. The famous ones split cleanly into two kinds: a parent watching a small boy, and a grown man realising what his father meant. Both are here, plus the awkward stretch in between that almost nobody writes about.
Updated September 202634 songs
Ten written about a real son
- Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)John Lennon · 1980
Written for Sean, then five. The most tender song here, and hard to hear if you know what happened weeks later.
- 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 exactly.
- Father and SonCat Stevens · 1970
Two voices, two generations, neither hearing the other. The truest song about this relationship anyone has written.
- Watching YouRodney Atkins · 2006
A small boy copying his father, swearing included. Funny first, moving second, which is the right order.
- My WishRascal Flatts · 2006
A parent listing everything they want for a child. The default at graduations and eighteenth birthdays.
- Simple ManLynyrd Skynyrd · 1973
A mother’s advice to a son. From either parent it is the closest thing to a manual.
- 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.
- Never Grow UpTaylor Swift · 2010
Written to a child and then, in the last verse, to herself. Ruthless if you are the parent of a teenager.
- My Old ManZac Brown Band · 2017
The other direction — a grown son about his father. Play it when he becomes one himself.
- Old ManNeil Young · 1972
A young man realising how much like an older one he has turned out. Almost unbearably on the nose.
The gap in the middle
There is a large and well-stocked shelf of songs about small boys, and another about grown men looking back at their fathers. Between about twelve and twenty-five there is almost nothing, which is unfortunate because that is exactly when most parents run out of ways to say anything at all. If that is where you are, the second group below is built from songs about that age rather than about that relationship.
Men, on the whole, receive this kind of thing badly in public and well in private. A song played at a party gives him no option but to make a joke; the same song sent at eight in the morning gets listened to four more times when nobody is watching. If you only take one thing from this page, take that.
Be careful with the advice songs. “Simple Man”, “Humble and Kind” and “My Wish” are all instructions, and instructions land differently depending on whether he currently feels like he is failing at something. If he is having a bad year, choose from the last group instead — those are about who he is rather than who he should be.
One thing worth saying about “Cat’s in the Cradle”: it is a song about a father who was never there, and it gets given to fathers who were, as a compliment. It is not one. If you want that register done properly, “Father and Son” is the same subject handled with more care.
By where he is now
While he is small
Songs to sing rather than play. It helps enormously if he already knows it from something.
- You Are My SunshineJimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell · 1940
Sung to more small children than any other song in English. Sing it badly and it still works.
- You’ve Got a Friend in MeRandy Newman · 1995
From Toy Story, so he already knows it. The safest choice for any boy under eight.
- BlackbirdThe Beatles · 1968
Two minutes, one guitar, learnable in an evening. About something small being told it can go.
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
For a boy who worries. Easy to sing and it does not sound like children’s music.
- Rainbow ConnectionKermit the Frog, written by Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher · 1979
For a dreamy child, and 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.
- What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong · 1967
Two minutes and the grandparents will be pleased. Good under a slideshow of his first years.
- Baby MineFrank Churchill & Ned Washington, from Dumbo · 1941
A lullaby about separation. Comforting for the child and difficult for the adult, which is correct.
The years nobody writes songs about
Thirteen to twenty-five. Not about the relationship, because he does not want that — about the age.
- Times Like TheseFoo Fighters · 2002
About starting over. For a boy who has had a hard year and will not discuss it.
- The CaveMumford & Sons · 2009
Loud and hopeful in a way teenagers accept from adults. Rare combination.
- ViennaBilly Joel · 1977
Slow down, you have time. The single most useful thing anyone can say to a nineteen-year-old.
- Thunder RoadBruce Springsteen · 1975
About being young and wanting out of somewhere. If he cannot wait to leave, this is the song.
- HomeEdward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros · 2009
About a person being a place. For the week he moves out.
- Fast CarTracy Chapman · 1988
About leaving with almost nothing and hoping. Harder-edged than the rest of this group.
- Take Me Home, Country RoadsJohn Denver · 1971
For the first time he is homesick, which will happen around week three and he will not say so.
- Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)Green Day · 1997
Written bitter and adopted as a farewell. For the end of school, whatever he pretends about it.
When he is a grown man
Twenty-five and up. About who he is rather than who he was, and none of them are instructions.
- Free Fallin’Tom Petty · 1989
A whole room will sing the chorus. Reliable at any occasion past thirty.
- The WeightThe Band · 1968
About taking a load off somebody. For a son who has quietly become the one who does that.
- Lean on MeBill Withers · 1972
Direct without being soft. One of the few sincere songs men reliably accept.
- Forever YoungBob Dylan · 1974
A blessing rather than a farewell. The right thing when he becomes a father himself.
- LandslideFleetwood Mac · 1975
About change and being afraid of it. For a fortieth, if he has mentioned it first.
- Times Like TheseFoo Fighters · 2002
Works at nineteen and again at forty-one, for the same reason both times.
- My WayFrank Sinatra · 1969
For a son who has been stubborn his entire life and turned out fine. Late in the evening.
- Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969
For a year that is finally over. Three minutes and it forgives everything.
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. For a son in the middle years, a song is often the only way to say something he will let you say.
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
- Marguerite at the StopFolk · forty years from a bus stop in the rain2:19
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 son?
- “Beautiful Boy” for a small one, “Father and Son” for a leaving one, “Old Man” for a grown one. Almost nothing exists for the years between thirteen and twenty-five, which is when parents most need it.
- What song should a mother sing to her son?
- “Simple Man” is literally a mother’s advice to a son and sits low enough for most voices. “You Are My Sunshine” if you sang it when he was small — the repetition is the whole gift.
- Is “Cat’s in the Cradle” a good father-son song?
- Not as a compliment. It is about a father who was never there, and it gets given to fathers who were. If you want that subject handled with care, “Father and Son” does it better.
- How do I give a son a song without embarrassing him?
- Send it privately, early in the morning, with no explanation. Played at a party he has no option but to make a joke of it; sent alone he will listen four more times when nobody is watching.
- Can I get a song written about my son?
- 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.