As somebody who has always enjoyed listening to music and finding out the story behind them, fatherhood has presented me with lots of great songs to listen to on a theme I’m now very familiar with.

So, I thought I’d list some of my favourites… In no particular order, and with YouTube videos where I can find them:

Gracie – Ben Folds

From Wikipedia: “Two months after their wedding, Frally gave birth to their twins, Louis Francis (July 22, 1999) and Gracie Scott (July 23, 1999), the former inspiring his song “Still Fighting It” and the latter inspiring his song “Gracie.””

Beautiful Boy – John Lennon

From Wikipedia: “The song was written for Lennon’s son Sean, his only child with Yoko Ono. It begins with John comforting his son from what is presumably a nightmare and develops into John passionately describing the love he has for his son and the joy Sean gave him.”

Daughter – Loudon Wainwright III

“Everything she sees, she says she wants. Everything she wants, I see she gets. That’s my daughter in the water, everything she owns I bought her, Everything she owns. That’s my daughter in the water, everything she knows I taught her. Everything she knows.”

Father and Daughter – Paul Simon

I know this song was written for a movie (‘The Wild Thornberrys’) so it may not technically have been written for one of his children. But it’s pretty damn good, and I couldn’t find a decent video for “St Judy’s Comet”…

Godspeed – The Dixie Chicks

From Wikipedia: “”Godspeed” was originally recorded by Radney Foster in 1999; his wife suggested sending it to the Dixie Chicks because Natalie Maines had just had a baby.”

Father and Son – Cat Stevens

From Wikipedia: “Cat Stevens originally wrote “Father and Son” as part of a proposed musical project with actor Nigel Hawthorne called Revolussia, that was set during the Russian Revolution; the song was about a boy who wanted to join the revolution against the wishes of his father.”

Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton

I’m sure everyone knows the tragic origins to this song, so I shalln’t repeat them here. What an amazing song though!

A Little Soul – Pulp

“I’ve got no wisdom that I want to pass on. Just don’t hang ’round here, no, I’m telling you son. You don’t wanna know me. Oh, that’s just what everybody’s telling me. And everybody’s telling me you look like me but please don’t turn into me. You look like me but you’re not like me I hope.”

The Living Years – Mike + The Mechanics

From Wikipedia: “The Living Years was co-written by Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, both of whose fathers had recently died. The song combined features of each writer’s relationship with their father; it dealt with Rutherford’s strained relationship with his late father and the birth of Robertson’s son three months after his father’s death.”

Living Proof – Bruce Springsteen

“Well now on a summer night in a dusky room, Come a little piece of the Lord’s undying light, Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon. In his mother’s arms it was all the beauty I could take, Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make, In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused, Searching for a little bit of God’s mercy, I found living proof”

So, did I miss your favourite? If so, let me know in the comments!