40 Father-Son Songs, From Dad to Son and Son to Dad

What is the best father and son song?

"Father and Son" by Cat Stevens is the one most people name first: it is written as a conversation, with the father's verses and the son's answers in different voices. "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin is the warning every dad remembers, and "Watching You" by Rodney Atkins is the modern country favorite about a little boy copying his father. For a grown son honoring his dad, "A Song for Dad" by Keith Urban is hard to beat.

Songs from a father to his son

1. "Father and Son", Cat Stevens: a father's advice and a son's reply, in one song.
2. "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)", John Lennon: a lullaby written for his son Sean.
3. "Watching You", Rodney Atkins: a dad realizing his boy copies everything he does.
4. "Anything Like Me", Brad Paisley: finding out he is having a son, and laughing at what is ahead.
5. "Song for My Son", Walker Hayes featuring Kane Brown: a father's hopes for his boy.
6. "Tough Little Boys", Gary Allan: a tough guy undone by being a dad.
7. "Boy", Lee Brice: a father's advice for every stage of growing up.
8. "Love Without End, Amen", George Strait: a father's love that never runs out.
9. "Just the Two of Us", Will Smith: a hip-hop love letter to his son Trey.
10. "A Father and a Son", Loudon Wainwright III: honest and funny about how hard it is to talk.
11. "Father to Son", Queen: a rock anthem about what a father passes down.
12. "My Boy", Elvie Shane: a stepdad who chose his son.

Songs from a son to his dad

13. "A Song for Dad", Keith Urban: realizing he became his father, and being proud of it.
14. "The Living Years", Mike + The Mechanics: about saying what matters while there is still time.
15. "Leader of the Band", Dan Fogelberg: a tribute to his father, a band director.
16. "Drive (For Daddy Gene)", Alan Jackson: learning to drive in his father's boat and truck.
17. "My Father's Eyes", Eric Clapton: seeing a father he never met in his own son.
18. "He Didn't Have to Be", Brad Paisley: a thank-you to the stepfather who stepped up.
19. "My Old Man", Zac Brown Band: a grown son understanding his father at last.
20. "Daddy's Son", Trey Pendley: a viral country song about turning out like dad.
21. "Dance with My Father", Luther Vandross: one more dance with a father who is gone.
22. "Walk a Little Straighter", Billy Currington: a son asking his father to be the man he needs.
23. "Dads Don't Die", Nate Smith: about a father who lives on in his kids.

Rock father son songs

24. "Cat's in the Cradle", Harry Chapin: the classic warning about missing it.
25. "Hey Jude", The Beatles: Paul McCartney's comfort song for John Lennon's son Julian.
26. "Teach Your Children", Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: what each generation teaches the other.
27. "Simple Man", Lynyrd Skynyrd: life advice passed down, for fathers and sons alike.
28. "Forever Young", Bob Dylan: written for his son Jakob.
29. "Oh Very Young", Cat Stevens: about how fast youth goes.

Country father-son songs

30. "There Goes My Life", Kenny Chesney: from surprise baby to the day they leave.
31. "Don't Blink", Kenny Chesney: an old man's advice about how fast life goes.
32. "You're Gonna Miss This", Trace Adkins: enjoy every stage.
33. "Humble and Kind", Tim McGraw: what a father hopes his son remembers.
34. "The Best Day", George Strait: a son's best days, all spent with his dad.
35. "Then They Do", Trace Adkins: missing the chaos once the kids are grown.

Hip-hop and R&B father son songs

36. "Like Father, Like Son", The Game featuring Busta Rhymes: about the birth of his son (clean edit recommended).
37. "Papa'z Song", 2Pac: about growing up without a father, and the father he wanted to be (clean edit recommended).
38. "Lean on Me", Bill Withers: a promise that runs both ways between a father and a son.
39. "Count on Me", Bruno Mars: a simple promise to always be there.
40. "I'll Be There", The Jackson 5: a promise to always show up.

Father son songs about growing up

Some of the most moving songs follow a boy from the crib to the driveway: "Cat's in the Cradle", "Watching You", "Boy" and "There Goes My Life" each cover twenty years in four minutes. They work well for a graduation slideshow or an 18th birthday, when a dad wants to say how fast it went. More in our list of songs for my son.

Songs for a new dad and his baby boy

For a baby shower, a first Father's Day or the first night home, choose something gentle: "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)", "Anything Like Me", "Tough Little Boys" and "Just the Two of Us". A new dad holding his son while one of these plays is a moment worth filming.

Songs for a complicated father-son relationship

Not every father-son story is simple. If your dad was absent, or you are working through a hard relationship, "Walk a Little Straighter", "Papa'z Song", "The Living Years" and "Cat's in the Cradle" put words to it honestly. Sometimes sending one of these is the first step toward a conversation you have both been avoiding.

Father-son songs for a wedding

At a groom's wedding, some couples add a short father-son moment: a toast, a slideshow or a dance with the groom's parents. "Father and Son", "My Old Man", "A Song for Dad" and "Humble and Kind" all fit. For the mother-son dance, see our list of mother-son dance songs.

Father-son songs for Father's Day

A son sending his dad one song with a short message often means more than a gift. "A Song for Dad", "My Old Man", "He Didn't Have to Be" (for a stepdad) and "Leader of the Band" are the most shared. For more, see our list of songs about dads and the best Father's Day gift from a son.

Father-son songs for a funeral

When a son says goodbye to his father, "The Living Years", "Dance with My Father", "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" and "Dads Don't Die" are the songs most often chosen. Our list of funeral songs for dad has more, including hymns.

How to choose a father-son song

• Who is singing to whom? Pick a dad-to-son song for a birthday or graduation, a son-to-dad song for Father's Day.
• Use his music. A classic rock dad will feel "Father to Son" more than a pop ballad.
• Keep it short. One song and one line is enough. Fathers and sons rarely need speeches.
• Stepdads count. "My Boy" and "He Didn't Have to Be" are written for exactly that bond.

A song written about your father and son story

All of these songs are about someone else's father. A personalized song can be about yours: the fishing trips, the first car, the advice you ignored and later used, the game you watched every Sunday. It is a Father's Day or birthday gift a dad will play for his friends, and it works just as well from a father to his son on a graduation or wedding day. See our guides to a Father's Day song for dad and a birthday song for dad.

How to create a father-son song

1. Choose a style from 14 genres: country, rock, hip-hop, acoustic and more.
2. Add both names, or what you call each other.
3. Share three memories, each with one concrete detail.
4. Review the lyrics and edit or regenerate them for free before any music is made.
5. Listen to 4 free 45-second previews and choose your favorite.

The full 3 to 4 minute song costs $24.99, or $29.99 for Premium with four full versions and editable lyrics. You get the MP3, a gift page and the lyrics as a PDF.

Say it in a song: create a father-son song and hear four previews for free.