The Best Father’s Day Songs

(This Blog Originally Appeared Last Year)

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there that have stayed and stay on the job. One of the toughest, most thankless jobs out there.

Here are some jams and some tear-jerkers to marinate on today.

Lets get right into it shall we?

This one hits like a sledgehammer to the gut. Then steps on your balls while you're on the ground in the fetal position. 

A chilling reminder from Harry Chapin that life goes by fast. Too fast. And that we can never get back the moments we missed out on for work or being busy. 

The song closes with the singer's son kindly blowing him off as he had done throughout his son's life, and it occurring to him that things had come full circle. 

“And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He’d grown up just like me,
my boy was just like me.”

If that doesn't get you in the plums than I don't know what will.

(Fun fact- even though Chapin died at the age of 38, his song has lived on and helped generations of men. According to his late wife Sandy, she still get's letters from people thanking her for her husband's song helping them realize the importance of being involved in their children's lives.)

(Other fun fact. This song was such a sucker punch in GTA V. You'd be out hijacking cars, robbing fools when all of a sudden you throw somebody out of their Tempesta, hop in, and "Cat's In The Cradle" is on the radio. Made you instantly rethink all your life's decisions.)

The live version -

Also, the cover by the quintessential 90's "I'm mad at my father " band Ugly Kid Joe -

Also, The Man In Black covered it.

My jam. 

This song still goes.

Clown me all you want. Call me a pussy til the cows come home. But Everclear was fucking awesome. What happened to these guys?

If you're telling me "Santa Monica" doesn't get you going you're lying to yourself.

Another tear-jerker. This song finds Urban realizing all the little mannerisms and ticks he has from his dad in everything he does. Jingling car keys, strumming his fingers on the table are just a few. 

“The older I get, the more I can see,
how much he loved my mother and brother and me,
And he did the best that he could,
And I only hope when I have my own family
That every day I see
A little more of my father in me.”

“Daddy wasn’t no scholar, no
No, he didn’t have a PhD,
But in my eyes and down in my heart
My daddy means the world to me.”

Another rough one. Bruce sings about the strange urge he had for years and years to drive by his father's house. 

"I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart,
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts."

Lionel Richie is the man.

"fathers, be good to your daughters,"

This ended up being one of Lennon's last songs before he died. A heartfelt ode to his son Sean. Lennon's lyrics depict him wanting more than anything to comfort his son after a nightmare. 

"The greatest man I never knew lived just down the hall
And everyday we said hello but never touched at all,"

"He never said he loved me
Guess he thought I knew."

Banger.

"In a great big land of freedom
At a time we really need 'em,
they don't make 'em like my daddy anymore."

Does it get any better than Luther Vandross?

Cold answer, no. No it does not.

Country folk storytelling at its best.

One of Stevie Wonders greatest songs ever, a tribute to his newborn daughter. So beautiful. The harmonica

"Me and your mama had some troubles,
There's been a whole lotta things on our minds,
but lately when we look at you,
we know that we've been wastin' time."

A chilling song by Cat Steven's lending advice to his son. 

"You will still be here tomorrow,
but your dreams may not,"

I was going to save this for tonight's Sunday Night Sample blog but knew it'd be a crime to leave out of this list.

Will Smith sampled Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.’s 1981 love song of the same name and put a father/son twist on it.

The song features his son Trey from his first marriage. It's a heart melter, even as dated as it is.

“Always tell the truth, say your prayers
Hold doors, pull out chairs, easy on the swears,
You’re living proof that dreams come true
I love you and I’m here for you.”

13 minutes of brilliance from The Godfather of Soul.

An awesome song for all the great step dads out there.

Greatest duet ever? Thanks to technology, daughter and father got to unite on this all time classic.

Bob Carlisle - Butterfly Kisses

I added this one this year because I’d totally forgotten about it and heard it out of nowhere a couple weeks ago on Y2Country on Sirius and it cut me off at the knees.

If you’re a girl dad, or a daughter with a good father this one’s water works city.

Music man…

Happy Father’s Day everybody