Discussion: Favorite Song About Fathers

On this Father’s Day, I cannot help but reflect on my father’s influence in my life. With an Associate’s degree in nursing, he is one of the smartest people I know. He has so much trivia rolling around in his head that we always tell him that he could be on one of those trivia shows and win the million. He’s certainly smarter than a fifth grader. He has a great sense of humor that I have picked up from a young age. We would always get into trouble with my mom for our sarcasm.

He has so many other attributes that I’m sure would bore all of you if I were to go into them here. However, the most important trait that I love and appreciate about my dad is his ability to support us in our decisions, even if they haven’t been decisions that he had hoped we would make. So, this long winded tribute to my father simply is meant to lead to the song about fathers that deeply resonates with me, which is Conway Twitty’s “That’s My Job”.

It is a sweet song about a father who supports his son without an inclination of hesitation. In fact, he unequivocally feels that being a support to his son is his job: “That’s my job/that’s what I do/everything I do is because of you to keep you safe with me/that’s my job you see.”

The song’s simple bridge ultimately captures the way I feel about my dad: “Every person carves his spot and fills the hole with light/and I pray some day I might light as bright as he.”

That’s my favorite. What’s yours?

24 Comments

  1. “That’s My Job” is a fantastic song.

    Having lost my father in January of ’07, my playlist for this holiday is pretty somber. I alternate between Rodney Crowell’s “Things I Wish I’d Said” and Iris Dement’s “No Time to Cry.”

  2. In country music, absolutely Pat Green’s “Dixie Lullaby” (whose placement on your 2007 “best singles” list I recall semi-meanly haggling about, sorry). A beautiful meeting of gorgeous melody, simple lyric, and heartfelt delivery that conveys the unique warmth and majesty of a father’s love.

    Outside of country music, Eric Clapton’s “My Father’s Eyes” is probably my all-time favorite, and Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father” is definitely a modern classic.

  3. One song that could be included in this context is one of Elvis Presley’s greatest latter-day ballads, and in fact one of his greatest recordings, period–“Don’t Cry Daddy”, which was written by Mac Davis. It is about a father who for reasons unmentioned in the song has lost his significant other, and the children who are “always first/to feel the pain and hurt the worst” are aos the ones to give him solace in his time of grief. A very touching recording from the King, released in late November 1969, and a #6 hit in January 1970.

  4. “The Car” by Jeff Carson is an underrated father – son song. I do believe the video for the song was ACM Video of the Year in 1996.

    Also Alan Jackson’s “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” is a great father – son & father – daughter song.

  5. I’ve always loved Holly Dunn’s “Daddy’s Hands”. That song nails me every time I hear it still after all these years…….

  6. Well, “That’s My Job” and “Daddy’s Hands” are taken so I’ll throw out a new one I really like from Crystal Shawanda:

    Sorry for your loss Jake. If memory serves you’re still pretty young right? His memory will go on forever. I lost my parents and now I smile when I think about them. I also see them both in my own kids every single time I look at them. It’s a comfort. You’ve got that to look forward to!

    A RN Kevin? My youngest son is a RN in ICU. For the next year and a half anyhoo then he goes back for two more years of med school for his anesthetist ticket. Funny, he’s the smartest guy I know too! ;-)

  7. Well whip me, beat me, and call me Edna! I didn’t check the storyline again! Heh!

    I beg your forgiveness Leeann. If not then you can stand me on the wall and shoot me at dawn! ;-)

  8. My Dad passed away five years ago so I really don’t look forward to the day as much as I once did.

    I guess the three quintessential songs about Fathers are “Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” song originally by Gene Autry , “Daddy and Home” a Jimmie Rodgers classic that Tanya Tucker revived some years back, and “Daddy’s Hands” by Holly Dunn. My personal favorite would be “Daddy and Home” which I remember my Dad singing and playing on his guitar when I was a boy

  9. Happy father’s day to all the dads. Here are my picks for best father’s songs, in no special order..
    That’s my Job, Daddy’s Hands, Drive, Keep It Between the Lines, and one no one has mentioned so far, daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind

  10. I like many of the one’s already mentioned, but just to add to the list there was Aaron Tippin’s “He Believed” which was a good song. I also have to mention Billy Currington’s “Walk A Little Straighter” which isn’t a happy song, but for a lot of people it was able to speak to them. I know somebody who loved the song because it almost perfectly described their relationship with their father. It’s stories like theirs which makes me so grateful for having two loving and supportive parents.

  11. A few more I’ve thought about since yesterday. Not really considered a “Dad song”, but “You’ve got to Stand for Something” has some great advice from a dad. And how about a few from dad’s point of view. “In Pictures” by Alabama “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw and “Butterfly Kisses” by The Raybon Brothers, Bob Carlisle and Jeff Carson

  12. I would have to say the best father-son songs have been listed already. “Dance With My Father” was done by both Buddy Jewell and Kellie Coffey and I always wondered why it wasn’t a big hit for her.

    I also love Jeffrey Steele’s “20 Years Ago” which Montgomery Gentry did last year.

    “That’s My Job” is a great song too.

    one of the best outside of country is “Father & Son” by Cat Stevens.

  13. Edna…er…Jarheaddad–
    My dad spent many years working in the ICU too. I think he could have been a doctor, but chose not to go through the years of schooling due to money and already having a young family after leaving the Navy.

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