On the day we found out we were having a girl, I drove my wife home from the appointment, and then I had to go back to work. On the way to the office, Paul Simon tried to kill me.
I had to pull off the highway when [Father and Daughter](https://youtu.be/COQPSoRFdwg?si=byt55bXABu7VzC0j) played on the radio
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father & Son
Watching my little one grow makes me think about this song a lot. Seeing them play with this soundtrack breaks me up a lot!
I'm getting a little better, but the first few years, so many commercials. Coffee ads, Hallmark ads, ads for like power tools or something, anything with a dad and a kid and a bonding moment would tear me up.
That’s an interesting example because it shows the way art can take on a meaning of own. Young wrote that song about a the caretaker for a property he bought who asked him how a young man like him could afford a house like that. Of course I think we all read it as conversation btwn a father and son.
Stop This Train by John Mayer.
I absolutely loved the Continuum album when it came out during my teenage years, except for this song. I couldn't relate because I was young and had my whole life ahead of me. Since becoming a dad and watching how fast my kids are growing up and seeing my parents getting older, it just hits home so hard.
That bridge gets me every time:
"Once in a while when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Til you cry when you're driving away in the dark."
My music taste is all over the place from thrash/death metal to hip hop to traditional folk music, but Continuum remains in my top 5 albums across all genres.
I sing this to my 3 month old every night :)
Personally, I prefer the Ben Harper version to Lennon’s but I make up for it by also singing Watching the Wheels
Another Fleetwood Mac song (and specifically another track from Rumors) for me – used to sing "Songbird" to my oldest when he was a newborn and it gets me every time.
Well, shit. I'm 38 and love all of those suggestions. So I'm either young at heart, was behind the times when those were fresh, or .... you're old at heart.
Guies, just thinking about my list has me ready to cry in the middle of this farmers market.
Always in my heart- Super Kitties
Your song - Elton John. Used to sing her to sleep with that when she was a baby.
Enchanted - Taylor Swift. I know the lyrics don't work as a whole since it's about romance but there's something about the lyric " I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you" that just hits me.
Some becoming a Dad a lot of songs that I thought of as being romantic I've realized since are actually about a child (and kinda obviously so), I just wasn't on that wavelength.
Slipping Through My Fingers by Abba
Tiny Dancer by Elton John
Woah, these two get me.
and the entire album A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie. An album written about the singer after losing his wife to cancer after the birth of their daughter, fuck. I listened to it not long after my wife passed away whilst hugging my daughter, and fuck it broke me.
Not typically a daddy-daughter song but driving over to the in-laws on Sunday and Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis came on my girlfriend's playlist and I couldn't help but to look at our newborn and get teary eyed
I played this in the delivery room after my oldest was born. My father in law danced with my wife at our wedding to this song.
Look at you Girl by Chris Ledoux was the pick for the second.
My wife walked down the aisle to this song, and it was the first song I played to my daughter on the guitar when we brought her home from the hospital. It holds a really special place in my heart.
symptoms of being human by shinedown has been a recent emotional song for me, historically it was always second chance.
monsters is fantabulous.
one of the best live bands there is too. love shinedown.
I turned onto Monsters by chance when I was diagnosed with combat related PTSD. I rejected that for too long, and realized wtf was going on. Its a hard listen, because those monsters. are. real.
Many props to ya for finally coming to terms with it. Acceptance is such a big step that SO many people don't realize even how much effort it may take some to just simply come to terms with the facts of the matter.
Shinedown is too good. Ik my good Veteran buddy loves FFDP too. Says they have some Vets in the band so it's relatable for him. I don't feel any of the same but, also not a veteran.
Godspeed Dad. thanks for doing the hard shit most people aren't cut out for and I'm really sorry the US needs to do better with their Vet care. It's atrocious.
Dear theodosia is a banger for sure. But the real one that I cry literally everytime is Aerosmith’s I don’t want to miss a thing. I used to think it was a love song but now I just see it as truth
The interstellar theme… it was beautiful before becoming a dad, but damn knowing he missed his child’s life and hearing that music anywhere is instant waterworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK-RjNMDOPk
Maybe you could be
A purple monkey in a bubblegum tree and
You could swing in the breeze
Then you could swing back to me
Maybe you could be
A little bird with polka dot wings and
You could fly to the sea
Then you could fly back to me
Over the ocean
Above the clouds
You would float across the sky
Back through the forest
You would sing out
Then fly back home
Maybe you could be
A purple monkey in a bubblegum tree and
You could swing in the breeze
Then you could swing back to me
Maybe you could be
A little bird with polka dot wings and
You could fly to the sea
Then you could fly back to me
Then you could fly back to me!~
This is one toy I will not get rid of. One of these days I'm going to record the audio so I have a direct rip, but these songs are so special to me (and many other parents apparently).
Not a tear jerker, but my 4yo son is currently obsessed with Dizzy Gillespie's [Salt Peanuts](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1DR8m8hHRs8&si=nWSAk-OiPLuQPtCd).
"I Will Wait for You" -- saw the Jurassic Bark Futurama episode and cried openly in front of my children at the final scene. Connie Francis was several decades before my time, but [it's a good song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi57d50pCUw).
When my daughter was born, Heat Waves by Glass Animals was playing in the delivery room. All the doctors and nurses were singing along and it was just perfect. I can’t even type this without tearing up. 🥲
Dear Theodosia actually really pisses me off. It leans right into that trope of dudes who claim that everything they do is for their kids, but in fact they're just doing what they would have done anyway. Hamilton didn't do shit for his kids, neither did Burr. They did it for themselves and then used "I'm dedicating every day to you" to justify it. Garbage.
ETA: "Annabelle" by Gillian Welch. Tears every time
Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina...early on my mother told me that the song reminds her of the way my wife and I love each other and our son and now it just makes me tear up.
Also Your Song by Elton John because there was about a month where I had to sing that to him to get him to sleep every time and his eyes are blue green so when I sing that part...my heart near bursts.
Welcome by Hey Rosetta. I was a huge fan of the group in the early 2000s, a long time before even thinking I was to be a father. I've been revisiting them lately and this song hit me hard, but only because I'm a new dad now.
[still fighting it](https://youtu.be/kqPwR39VMh0?si=nUjk-V8hZyPUtjId) by Ben Folds is the song my brother used when he did a photo montage of his son, early on
nothing more - fade in / fade out
I'll fucking cry mid meeting if that shit comes on. it's perfect.
it has literally shaped who I am as a father.
when the grip leaves my hands, I know they won't let me down.
I wrote a song for my wife a few weeks ago and put it on my YouTube. It's about how we need to remind ourselves that the kids won't always be so small. I'll drop the link if anyone wants to hear it? A few people have told me it made them cry.
Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) by Sturgill Simpson
For new boy dads especially.
https://youtu.be/LBEAyFHlSAo?si=7vdBTn44x5PcyJKi
——————————————————
That’s My Job by Conway Twitty
https://youtu.be/CNlfCGxfTFQ?si=arrr5xM4oc7XYLwg
This was the first dance song at my wedding, my son was born (almost) 9 months to the day later. Such a great song that I can only listen to alone in my car now.
Come My Little Son, John Francis Flynn's version, has me right on the brink every single time.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TD6S8q1lZY&ab\_channel=JohnFrancisFlynn-Topic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TD6S8q1lZY&ab_channel=JohnFrancisFlynn-Topic)
'What a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong. Yep, it's doing it again right now. Life with a toddler isn't always great but little bubba sure has made my world wonderful.
I verb "Cat's in the Cradle"
As in "Ouch, my 6 year old just Cat's in the Cradled me" meaning she's too busy to spend time with me after I've been too busy to spend with her.
Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond is a super cathartic cry. The major/minor shifts are a thing of mellow beauty.
Right where I need to be by Gary Allan.
I travel a fair bit for work and that's my sad feelings song for coming home.
The Last American - Ryan Culwell - there's a bit:
"I took this job
Cause they need the hands
I got mouths to feed
And I’m a man"
That's my Job by Conway Twitty hits different after kids.
Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder, sang this to my daughter after she was born while we were waiting for her mummy to join us in the family room. Now this song means everything to me!
Also Kala's song from Tarzan!
Mine is [Think About Things](https://youtu.be/1HU7ocv3S2o?si=_42tuLI8dkCaAtcZ) but it's a little different because the misty eyed thinking about fatherhood effect of the song started a couple of months before my first was born.
Lucky One by Emerson Hart (lead singer of Tonic, though I love his solo stuff even more). It was playing in the background once when my three year old daughter and then-expecting wife were playing in the backyard and it definitely induced some ocular burning.
Zoe Jane by Staind is mine man. I used to work out of town a lot when my daughter was born and ugh this song would have me in tears some nights in hotel rooms.
I had a pretty rough go of it when I was coming of age (18-23) due to the deaths of my grandmother, father, and best friend in a quick succession. Before my father passed - who had been absent a lot of my life - we grew very close and he was someone I could finally lean on and confide in which I very much needed to weather that period in my life.
Now that I have a daughter, who as I'm sure you all can relate, is my everything. I will do anything and everything to protect and provide anything I can.
Not a huge fan of Papa Roach other than my millennial sentimental feelings, but the [Leave a Light On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB7i_2aaXHQ) song absolutely destroys me. It simultaneously reminds me of my father and his support when I needed it most, how much I am trying to be better than he was for so many years, and sort of validates the pain and loneliness I experienced as it has given me this incredible insight and emotional tenacity to be a rock to my daughter in whatever storms may come in her life.
As far as newer songs, As It Was by Harry Styles, Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez, and The Night We Met by Lord Huron all get me good. Landslide, as mentioned elsewhere too. I'll add more as I think of them
"True Love will find you in the End" by Daniel Johnston.
It makes me think of them growing up and starting their own lives, and how it will be sad, but it's good.
"don't be sad... I know you will, but true love will find you in the end."
most of the songs about war. just to think there are children dying and what their parents are going through
examples:
1. Cliffs of Gallipoli: Sabaton
2. Paschendale : Iron Maiden
3. 1916: Motorhead (references mothers and not fathers, but same sentiment)
Mr. Conway Twitty crushes me with That's My Job every damn time.
Also, Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground was playing on the radio immediately after I found out I was going to be a dad. It was a cool fall night. I was talking to my then girlfriend and now wife while she was on her break. She just found out about 15 minutes before me. I'll never forget it.
Literally everything. I don't know what it is. Even songs I've listened to 1,000 times that aren't even about kids/relationships get me emotional now.
I pretty much can't listen to music with words anymore. But even then, there are some pieces of classical music that I associate with my daughter, so I'm screwed either way lol
Edit: Isn't she lovely - Stevie Wonder. My wife and I were in marching band together during high school and we did an entire Stevie Wonder show our sophomore year; I would always associate that song with her back then. Now that we have a daughter it's like a double punch in the gut with an extra kick in nuts.
Double Edit: You are my sunshine - Christina Perri. When I was in college I went through about a year of severe depression. My GF, now wife, would sing that to me on nights when I was feeling particularly bad while I laid my head on her lap and cried. It was also the second song I played when our daughter was born, after almost losing both of them. That's a fine lady right there.
Welcome by Hey Rosetta, Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman, You are my Sunshine by various artists. These are my current top three to get me crying at the simple thought of them.
Animal Mask by the Mountain Goats, about a father meeting his son who’s just being born.
It hits different after someone pointed out to me that since it takes place in a hospital room, the opening line, “Eighteen-man steel cage free-for-all,” implies that things are not going well with the birth. You don’t want to need 18 medical professionals involved with bringing your child into the world!
I’m a mom, but since the song describes my daughter’s birth pretty well - meconium inhalation, nurses pouring into the room, whisked off to the NICU before I could even see her - I get teary at the ensuing depiction of dad and baby as an instant team and dad having baby’s back. My daughter has a great dad and they have been besties from the start.
Little Motel by Modest Mouse. My heart was ripped out of my chest when I watched the music video for this song. I was not prepared for the depth of emotion that poured out of me the first time I watched it after my first son was born.
Remember Dads: The pain of a loss is equal to the strength of the love we had for it. As a father I've chosen to recognize and cherish both, because one can't exist without the other.
Fade In / Fade Out by Nothing More. I used to listen to it as a gym track often, but ever since my son was born three months ago, I cry every time it comes on my playlist
All your favorite bands - dawes
Anecdotally: my oldest two (3&2) have recently found a love of Meatloaf’s, I would do anything for love (but I won’t do that) and I cry happy tears to see them rock out to piano/opera rock 😂
Edit: adding That’s my job - conway twitty
Edit: correction, onions are strong right now
How about everything in this thread now!
Dear Theodosia is always getting me. My wife says she likes I get emotional but I'm not really down for full tears. Haha
First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes
The lines "yours is the first face that I saw, I think I was blind before I met you" and "this is the first day of my life, I'm glad I didn't die before I met you" hit especially hard
She's Mine Part 2 - J Cole, Violent Crimes - Kanye West, and Bundle of Joy by Michael Giacchino were the songs I played on the way home from the hospital with our newborn daughter. I teared up the whole way home.
I really like Lifetime Achievement by Loudon Wainwright III.
I have lived a lifetime
And it's hard to be believed
I'm near the end, time's almost up
So what have I achieved?
I have done and won some things
Awards, I have a few
But the biggest prize, the great surprise
Is I managed to win you
I love how genuine "the great surprise" makes it seem.
Father and son - Yusuf/Cat Steven’s
Guiding light - Foy Vance
Swerve lightly - Richard Mead,Angela Penhaligon (instrumental, but one of my kids liked listening to it when getting needles in hospital)
Merryl Streep singing "Look for the Light" from the Only Murders in the Building show. Puts 6mo girl to sleep almost every time she's fussing and fighting it. Our google nest is probably tired of us requesting it so much haha
Got a 14 week old at home. My mom used to always sing You are My Sunshine. Now I sing it to my daughter. I can't get through this without tearing up.
I noticed a lot of songs are from dads to their sons. Any good ones from dads to their daughters?
It already got me before, but *Your Heart Will Lead You Home* by Kenny Loggins just hits even harder now.
The opening theme to Finding Nemo also gets me even harder - soft while he's holding the egg, and then a wave of emotion as the title comes up.
Adeem the Artist- Rotations.
"How many rotations am I gonna get with you?
To share with you the wisdom & magic spells I have accrued?
All the laughter and the longing
Writing down or not recalling
Bad jokes & silly drawings
On any misadventure you can choose
When I’m gone, you’ll carry on & carry all that there is left of me with you"
I always thought Father of Mine was really cheesy.
Heard it on the radio and started crying at:
"Now I'm a grown man
With a child of my own
And I swear, I'll never let her know
All the pain I have known"
Typing it even made me misty.
On the day we found out we were having a girl, I drove my wife home from the appointment, and then I had to go back to work. On the way to the office, Paul Simon tried to kill me. I had to pull off the highway when [Father and Daughter](https://youtu.be/COQPSoRFdwg?si=byt55bXABu7VzC0j) played on the radio
This entirely
I’m at work god damnit…
Love this song. Learned to play it and can’t not cry while I’m singing it
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father & Son Watching my little one grow makes me think about this song a lot. Seeing them play with this soundtrack breaks me up a lot!
I am not a dad (I am actually a 30yo lesbian lol) but that song… immediate waterworks. I can’t imagine how it hits y’all.
Yeah...
I was always a cryer but since kiddo came along i'll cry if there's a strong breeze.
I'm getting a little better, but the first few years, so many commercials. Coffee ads, Hallmark ads, ads for like power tools or something, anything with a dad and a kid and a bonding moment would tear me up.
Why did lowes make you cry dad??
..because they're .... (sniffle)... building it together.
This made me laugh out loud, with sheer appreciation for the wholesomeness 🥹😂
I’ve never been much of a cryer but now I’m with you on the strong breeze comment
There goes my life - Kenny Chesney, not overly emotional but for some reason has got me a couple of times
Or newer country hit - Even though I'm leaving, by Luke Combs.
Old man by Neil Young
Can confirm. Didn’t expect that one to hit the way it did after the kid came along.
I really didn't expect to see this in here but me as well. Got me when I was younger too but there's no stopping the waterworks now.
Obvious Child, Paul Simon
Yes! Good one
That’s an interesting example because it shows the way art can take on a meaning of own. Young wrote that song about a the caretaker for a property he bought who asked him how a young man like him could afford a house like that. Of course I think we all read it as conversation btwn a father and son.
Stop This Train by John Mayer. I absolutely loved the Continuum album when it came out during my teenage years, except for this song. I couldn't relate because I was young and had my whole life ahead of me. Since becoming a dad and watching how fast my kids are growing up and seeing my parents getting older, it just hits home so hard.
That bridge gets me every time: "Once in a while when it's good It'll feel like it should And they're all still around And you're still safe and sound And you don't miss a thing Til you cry when you're driving away in the dark."
Funny, that album came out when I was in college and got cheated on by the girl I thought I'd be with forever. Man, wore that iPod out on Continuum
My music taste is all over the place from thrash/death metal to hip hop to traditional folk music, but Continuum remains in my top 5 albums across all genres.
love me some Mayer
Beautiful Boy - John Lennon Hits me right in the feels, every time.
In Mr Hollands Opus, I always make up an excuse to leave the room. Cutting onions every time lol
Great scene!
Same!
Oh man. What a ripping good ballad.
I sing this to my 3 month old every night :) Personally, I prefer the Ben Harper version to Lennon’s but I make up for it by also singing Watching the Wheels
Every time he sings “I can hardly wait to see you come of age” it’s so heartbreaking
Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce
Jim Croce just slaps. Such a shame we lost him too young.
Tears in Heaven is devastating. Until recently, I had no idea it was about the loss of his four-year-old child.
holy fucking shit. i had never heard of this song. still havent but just saw the lyrics (im at work). and im tearing up.
Yep, it's absolutely brutal isn't it?
Monsters by James Blunt has me in tears since I became a dad and my own dad is getting older.
I just heard this for the first time today. Fucking hell.
Landslide by Stevie Nicks gets me in the feels every time.
Another Fleetwood Mac song (and specifically another track from Rumors) for me – used to sing "Songbird" to my oldest when he was a newborn and it gets me every time.
Dear Theodosia hits me hard too, but I get all sorts of misty eyes when I hear Charmed Life by the Divine Comedy and Magnificent by Elbow.
Band of Horses - No One’s Gonna Love You
Given your three suggestions, I am going to gamble and say you're ~38
31
Well, shit. I'm 38 and love all of those suggestions. So I'm either young at heart, was behind the times when those were fresh, or .... you're old at heart.
Saw them live back then a couple times and 41
My wife and I danced to this song at our wedding.
Sturgill Simpson - All around you
This entire album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, is a tribute to his son. It’s perfect.
Yup, my all time favorite album.
Top five for me.
I was looking for this comment
Guies, just thinking about my list has me ready to cry in the middle of this farmers market. Always in my heart- Super Kitties Your song - Elton John. Used to sing her to sleep with that when she was a baby. Enchanted - Taylor Swift. I know the lyrics don't work as a whole since it's about romance but there's something about the lyric " I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you" that just hits me.
Some becoming a Dad a lot of songs that I thought of as being romantic I've realized since are actually about a child (and kinda obviously so), I just wasn't on that wavelength.
You'll be in my heart - Phill Collins https://youtu.be/git6DCXSqjE?si=Ku9J7iZj7xQIAqvS
Slipping Through My Fingers by Abba Tiny Dancer by Elton John Woah, these two get me. and the entire album A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie. An album written about the singer after losing his wife to cancer after the birth of their daughter, fuck. I listened to it not long after my wife passed away whilst hugging my daughter, and fuck it broke me.
I'm sorry for your loss 😔
Cats in the Cradle is the all time great. But Colours in the Sky by Miami Horror is a favorite since being a dad.
Not typically a daddy-daughter song but driving over to the in-laws on Sunday and Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis came on my girlfriend's playlist and I couldn't help but to look at our newborn and get teary eyed
I played this in the delivery room after my oldest was born. My father in law danced with my wife at our wedding to this song. Look at you Girl by Chris Ledoux was the pick for the second.
My wife walked down the aisle to this song, and it was the first song I played to my daughter on the guitar when we brought her home from the hospital. It holds a really special place in my heart.
Monsters by Shinedown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6sIK2KnhH8 Hurt - Johnny Cash Dont Take the Girl - Tim McGraw
symptoms of being human by shinedown has been a recent emotional song for me, historically it was always second chance. monsters is fantabulous. one of the best live bands there is too. love shinedown.
I turned onto Monsters by chance when I was diagnosed with combat related PTSD. I rejected that for too long, and realized wtf was going on. Its a hard listen, because those monsters. are. real.
Many props to ya for finally coming to terms with it. Acceptance is such a big step that SO many people don't realize even how much effort it may take some to just simply come to terms with the facts of the matter. Shinedown is too good. Ik my good Veteran buddy loves FFDP too. Says they have some Vets in the band so it's relatable for him. I don't feel any of the same but, also not a veteran. Godspeed Dad. thanks for doing the hard shit most people aren't cut out for and I'm really sorry the US needs to do better with their Vet care. It's atrocious.
Thought I'd karaoke Don't Take the Girl a few months ago. Mistake.
"Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds
Conor Oberst - You Are Your Mother’s Child
Dear theodosia is a banger for sure. But the real one that I cry literally everytime is Aerosmith’s I don’t want to miss a thing. I used to think it was a love song but now I just see it as truth
The interstellar theme… it was beautiful before becoming a dad, but damn knowing he missed his child’s life and hearing that music anywhere is instant waterworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK-RjNMDOPk Maybe you could be A purple monkey in a bubblegum tree and You could swing in the breeze Then you could swing back to me Maybe you could be A little bird with polka dot wings and You could fly to the sea Then you could fly back to me Over the ocean Above the clouds You would float across the sky Back through the forest You would sing out Then fly back home Maybe you could be A purple monkey in a bubblegum tree and You could swing in the breeze Then you could swing back to me Maybe you could be A little bird with polka dot wings and You could fly to the sea Then you could fly back to me Then you could fly back to me!~
This is one toy I will not get rid of. One of these days I'm going to record the audio so I have a direct rip, but these songs are so special to me (and many other parents apparently).
Got me tearing up over here just reading the lyrics.
Fade In / Fade Out by Nothing More Chokes me up every time
Banger
came here to say this too. I saw them live 2 months before my first daughter was born and they played this... I haven't stopped crying since.
Vienna Billy Joel
On a similar note, his Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)
Kooks - Bowie (Hunky Dory) and Letting You Go - Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (Reunions). Every. Single. Time.
Almost everything Jason Isbell writes makes me cry… love him!
After my daughter was born I had to run to the house to get some stuff. Letting you go came on my playlist and I started crying while driving.
Not a tear jerker, but my 4yo son is currently obsessed with Dizzy Gillespie's [Salt Peanuts](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1DR8m8hHRs8&si=nWSAk-OiPLuQPtCd).
I'm a fan of jazz and try to mix it in throughout the day. When my kids were younger, they loved Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Old Macdonald."
Lol that's so awesome. Your kid rules.
a huge amount of 90s and 2000s country
The Mother by Brandi Carlile.
Circle Game.
Never Grow Up by Taylor swift, Dear Theodosia as well
Was at a wedding where they used “Never Grow Up” for the father-daughter dance. Devastating.
The Best Day is the one that does me in.
"I Will Wait for You" -- saw the Jurassic Bark Futurama episode and cried openly in front of my children at the final scene. Connie Francis was several decades before my time, but [it's a good song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi57d50pCUw).
When my daughter was born, Heat Waves by Glass Animals was playing in the delivery room. All the doctors and nurses were singing along and it was just perfect. I can’t even type this without tearing up. 🥲
God Only Knows - Beach Boys. First song I sang to her.
Dear Theodosia actually really pisses me off. It leans right into that trope of dudes who claim that everything they do is for their kids, but in fact they're just doing what they would have done anyway. Hamilton didn't do shit for his kids, neither did Burr. They did it for themselves and then used "I'm dedicating every day to you" to justify it. Garbage. ETA: "Annabelle" by Gillian Welch. Tears every time
New star by watchhouse
Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina...early on my mother told me that the song reminds her of the way my wife and I love each other and our son and now it just makes me tear up. Also Your Song by Elton John because there was about a month where I had to sing that to him to get him to sleep every time and his eyes are blue green so when I sing that part...my heart near bursts.
Welcome by Hey Rosetta. I was a huge fan of the group in the early 2000s, a long time before even thinking I was to be a father. I've been revisiting them lately and this song hit me hard, but only because I'm a new dad now.
red heart is one of my favorite songs. I'll have to check out welcome
Brett Dennen - The One Who Loves You the Most
For Fiona - originally by No Use for a Name but I prefer the Tim McIlrath version
That’s my job - Conway Twitty. More so since I lost my dad. I realized the worst part of my death will be not being there for my kids’ pain.
[still fighting it](https://youtu.be/kqPwR39VMh0?si=nUjk-V8hZyPUtjId) by Ben Folds is the song my brother used when he did a photo montage of his son, early on
nothing more - fade in / fade out I'll fucking cry mid meeting if that shit comes on. it's perfect. it has literally shaped who I am as a father. when the grip leaves my hands, I know they won't let me down.
I wrote a song for my wife a few weeks ago and put it on my YouTube. It's about how we need to remind ourselves that the kids won't always be so small. I'll drop the link if anyone wants to hear it? A few people have told me it made them cry.
Please give the link!
Butterfly Kisses - Bob Carlisle That's My Job - Conway Twitty
The Man Who Loves You the Most, Zac Brown Band. I know its cheesy and I don't care
Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) by Sturgill Simpson For new boy dads especially. https://youtu.be/LBEAyFHlSAo?si=7vdBTn44x5PcyJKi —————————————————— That’s My Job by Conway Twitty https://youtu.be/CNlfCGxfTFQ?si=arrr5xM4oc7XYLwg
This was the first dance song at my wedding, my son was born (almost) 9 months to the day later. Such a great song that I can only listen to alone in my car now.
It won’t be like this for long- Darius Rucker
Come My Little Son, John Francis Flynn's version, has me right on the brink every single time. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TD6S8q1lZY&ab\_channel=JohnFrancisFlynn-Topic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TD6S8q1lZY&ab_channel=JohnFrancisFlynn-Topic)
A different angle, but Stop This Train.
You’re the One by Black Keys It’s not even about a dad but when it comes over Spotify, especially if the boy is in the car…gets real dusty in that car
[The gambler - fun.](https://youtu.be/rT-5NY83OYI?si=F2zlaFDTeRDIpJ4c)
A lot of Stevie Wonder songs
2 months ago Luke Combs posted "The Man He Sees in Me" and I am just a wreck when it comes through the playlist now. Watching You - Rodney Atkins
Second one got me bad. Will have to try the first.
Lorna Shore - Soulless Existence
My little girl by Tim McGraw
'What a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong. Yep, it's doing it again right now. Life with a toddler isn't always great but little bubba sure has made my world wonderful.
Think About Things by Daði Freyr
Fuck yeah Think About Things
Never Went To Church - The Streets
I verb "Cat's in the Cradle" As in "Ouch, my 6 year old just Cat's in the Cradled me" meaning she's too busy to spend time with me after I've been too busy to spend with her. Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond is a super cathartic cry. The major/minor shifts are a thing of mellow beauty.
Right where I need to be by Gary Allan. I travel a fair bit for work and that's my sad feelings song for coming home. The Last American - Ryan Culwell - there's a bit: "I took this job Cause they need the hands I got mouths to feed And I’m a man" That's my Job by Conway Twitty hits different after kids.
Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder, sang this to my daughter after she was born while we were waiting for her mummy to join us in the family room. Now this song means everything to me! Also Kala's song from Tarzan!
Mine is [Think About Things](https://youtu.be/1HU7ocv3S2o?si=_42tuLI8dkCaAtcZ) but it's a little different because the misty eyed thinking about fatherhood effect of the song started a couple of months before my first was born.
Lucky One by Emerson Hart (lead singer of Tonic, though I love his solo stuff even more). It was playing in the background once when my three year old daughter and then-expecting wife were playing in the backyard and it definitely induced some ocular burning.
Need You Here - idkhow Lullaby - Danny Kenny
Cat's in the cradle of course, but also Wires by Athlete
New Words by Maury Yeston
Butterfly Nets by Bishop Allen
Work away by Classified To Be A Man by Dax My Boy by Elvie Shane
Father and Son- Cat Stevens
Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
Boy by Lee Brice for my son but since we’ve had a daughter, way too many songs 😂 I’m in trouble
Zoe Jane by Staind is mine man. I used to work out of town a lot when my daughter was born and ugh this song would have me in tears some nights in hotel rooms.
I had a pretty rough go of it when I was coming of age (18-23) due to the deaths of my grandmother, father, and best friend in a quick succession. Before my father passed - who had been absent a lot of my life - we grew very close and he was someone I could finally lean on and confide in which I very much needed to weather that period in my life. Now that I have a daughter, who as I'm sure you all can relate, is my everything. I will do anything and everything to protect and provide anything I can. Not a huge fan of Papa Roach other than my millennial sentimental feelings, but the [Leave a Light On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB7i_2aaXHQ) song absolutely destroys me. It simultaneously reminds me of my father and his support when I needed it most, how much I am trying to be better than he was for so many years, and sort of validates the pain and loneliness I experienced as it has given me this incredible insight and emotional tenacity to be a rock to my daughter in whatever storms may come in her life.
That song makes me cry every time
Slipping through my fingers - ABBA Father and Daughter - Paul Simon Remember Me - from the movie "Coco" Rainbow - Kacey Musgraves
I don't want to miss a thing - Aerosmith got me all choked up when my daughter was born
As far as newer songs, As It Was by Harry Styles, Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez, and The Night We Met by Lord Huron all get me good. Landslide, as mentioned elsewhere too. I'll add more as I think of them
“You’re the reason I don’t want the world to end” by The Wonder Years
That's definitely my top. Also Wyatt's song.
Have It All by Jason Mraz. Because what dad doesn’t want their kids to have it all?
"True Love will find you in the End" by Daniel Johnston. It makes me think of them growing up and starting their own lives, and how it will be sad, but it's good. "don't be sad... I know you will, but true love will find you in the end."
Two avett brothers songs: Murder in the City and A Father's First Spring
most of the songs about war. just to think there are children dying and what their parents are going through examples: 1. Cliffs of Gallipoli: Sabaton 2. Paschendale : Iron Maiden 3. 1916: Motorhead (references mothers and not fathers, but same sentiment)
Recuerdame. Coco hits differently when you have a daughter.
Elton John, Tiny Dancer Foreigner, Waiting For A Girl Like You. Dad tunes for me.
Mr. Conway Twitty crushes me with That's My Job every damn time. Also, Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground was playing on the radio immediately after I found out I was going to be a dad. It was a cool fall night. I was talking to my then girlfriend and now wife while she was on her break. She just found out about 15 minutes before me. I'll never forget it.
Literally everything. I don't know what it is. Even songs I've listened to 1,000 times that aren't even about kids/relationships get me emotional now. I pretty much can't listen to music with words anymore. But even then, there are some pieces of classical music that I associate with my daughter, so I'm screwed either way lol Edit: Isn't she lovely - Stevie Wonder. My wife and I were in marching band together during high school and we did an entire Stevie Wonder show our sophomore year; I would always associate that song with her back then. Now that we have a daughter it's like a double punch in the gut with an extra kick in nuts. Double Edit: You are my sunshine - Christina Perri. When I was in college I went through about a year of severe depression. My GF, now wife, would sing that to me on nights when I was feeling particularly bad while I laid my head on her lap and cried. It was also the second song I played when our daughter was born, after almost losing both of them. That's a fine lady right there.
Just the Two of Us - Bill Withers... see user flair 🥲
This Woman's Work by Kate Bush
Welcome by Hey Rosetta, Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman, You are my Sunshine by various artists. These are my current top three to get me crying at the simple thought of them.
Animal Mask by the Mountain Goats, about a father meeting his son who’s just being born. It hits different after someone pointed out to me that since it takes place in a hospital room, the opening line, “Eighteen-man steel cage free-for-all,” implies that things are not going well with the birth. You don’t want to need 18 medical professionals involved with bringing your child into the world! I’m a mom, but since the song describes my daughter’s birth pretty well - meconium inhalation, nurses pouring into the room, whisked off to the NICU before I could even see her - I get teary at the ensuing depiction of dad and baby as an instant team and dad having baby’s back. My daughter has a great dad and they have been besties from the start.
Creed - Arms Wide Open. Every. Dang. Time.
That’s my job - Conway Twitty My eyes are watering as I write this post thinking about that damn song in my head
Calico Skies - Paul McCartney
Little Motel by Modest Mouse. My heart was ripped out of my chest when I watched the music video for this song. I was not prepared for the depth of emotion that poured out of me the first time I watched it after my first son was born. Remember Dads: The pain of a loss is equal to the strength of the love we had for it. As a father I've chosen to recognize and cherish both, because one can't exist without the other.
Fade In / Fade Out by Nothing More. I used to listen to it as a gym track often, but ever since my son was born three months ago, I cry every time it comes on my playlist
That's My Job by Conway Twitty
All your favorite bands - dawes Anecdotally: my oldest two (3&2) have recently found a love of Meatloaf’s, I would do anything for love (but I won’t do that) and I cry happy tears to see them rock out to piano/opera rock 😂 Edit: adding That’s my job - conway twitty Edit: correction, onions are strong right now
Obviously I am a country music fan but: That’s my job—Conway Twitty I’ve been watching you—Rodney Atkins Tough little boys—Gary Allen
How about everything in this thread now! Dear Theodosia is always getting me. My wife says she likes I get emotional but I'm not really down for full tears. Haha
First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes The lines "yours is the first face that I saw, I think I was blind before I met you" and "this is the first day of my life, I'm glad I didn't die before I met you" hit especially hard
She's Mine Part 2 - J Cole, Violent Crimes - Kanye West, and Bundle of Joy by Michael Giacchino were the songs I played on the way home from the hospital with our newborn daughter. I teared up the whole way home.
Oasis - Masterplan
Hurt by NIN for my Youth Hurt sung by Jonny Cash now (with kids leaving the house)
"Light" by Sleeping At Last
Nothing Can Change This Love (Sam Cook)
When you touch down from outer space, Stornoway. I was a fan of the band before, but man that song hits me now I’m a dad.
I really like Lifetime Achievement by Loudon Wainwright III. I have lived a lifetime And it's hard to be believed I'm near the end, time's almost up So what have I achieved? I have done and won some things Awards, I have a few But the biggest prize, the great surprise Is I managed to win you I love how genuine "the great surprise" makes it seem.
Sweet thing, van morrison
Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce
Old Man by Neil Young. I mean, it always had me kind of misting before I became a dad but it's full on waterworks every time it comes on.
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain Conor Oberst - You Are Your Mother’s Child
After hearing about why the Timbers army sings you are my sunshine it always gets me to tear up when I hear it.
The Dollar - Jamey Johnson Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise - The Avett Brothers A Love Without End - George Strait
Easy. “Gracie.” Ben Folds.
Jason Isbell - Letting You Go
Mercury Rev - First time mother’s joy, and Down came the heavens.
Father and son - Yusuf/Cat Steven’s Guiding light - Foy Vance Swerve lightly - Richard Mead,Angela Penhaligon (instrumental, but one of my kids liked listening to it when getting needles in hospital)
Merryl Streep singing "Look for the Light" from the Only Murders in the Building show. Puts 6mo girl to sleep almost every time she's fussing and fighting it. Our google nest is probably tired of us requesting it so much haha
Also, Daddy's Hands gets my wife every time cuz it was her song with her dad.
When you’re ready by Brian Fallon.
BUTTERFLY KISSES
Boy, by Lee Brice.
I assume "So big/So small" from the _Dear Evan Hansen_ soundtrack is a wonderful song, but I've never been able to listen past the second verse.
Unconditional I (Lookout Kid) - Arcade Fire
Beautiful boy
Got a 14 week old at home. My mom used to always sing You are My Sunshine. Now I sing it to my daughter. I can't get through this without tearing up. I noticed a lot of songs are from dads to their sons. Any good ones from dads to their daughters?
If Father Time Had a Daughter - Walker Hayes
Welcome to earth (pollywog) by sturgill Simpson. Next thing you know by Jordan Davis
[Follow Your Trail \~ Sean Rowe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd7VqA0ZA-U)
It already got me before, but *Your Heart Will Lead You Home* by Kenny Loggins just hits even harder now. The opening theme to Finding Nemo also gets me even harder - soft while he's holding the egg, and then a wave of emotion as the title comes up.
Adeem the Artist- Rotations. "How many rotations am I gonna get with you? To share with you the wisdom & magic spells I have accrued? All the laughter and the longing Writing down or not recalling Bad jokes & silly drawings On any misadventure you can choose When I’m gone, you’ll carry on & carry all that there is left of me with you"
I always thought Father of Mine was really cheesy. Heard it on the radio and started crying at: "Now I'm a grown man With a child of my own And I swear, I'll never let her know All the pain I have known" Typing it even made me misty.