Songs About Fathers Are Largely Negative

Why I Can't Make a Mix CD for Father's Day

Erin L, Yahoo! Contributor Network
May 10, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

I intended to follow up my article, "Mom Themed Songs for an Awesome Mother's Day Mix CD" with a similar article for Father's Day. But when I began to make my list, I found that not only do fewer songs mention fathers than mothers, but that songs about fathers are largely uncomplimentary.

Nonetheless, when I did a Google search for father's day songs in order to augment the list I made off the top of my head, I found some of these negative songs actually suggested. The most inappropriate addition to an article I found was the song "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. If your father was a workaholic and you want to punish him retroactively, go ahead and include this song in your mix. But actually including "Cat's in the Cradle" makes as much sense as making REM's "The One I Love" your wedding song, as REM includes the sarcastic lyrics "this one goes out to the one I love/this one goes out to the one I left behind/A simple prop to occupy my time."

Three common themes dominate father-centered songs of the rock era. The first is the idea that sons are doomed to repeat the sins of their fathers. We see this theme not only in "Cat's in the Cradle" but also in The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun." The singer says his father "was a gambler/down in New Orleans" and that he himself has spent "his life in sin and misery/in the house of the rising sun." Never mind that a house of the rising sun is a house of prostitution which more than likely ruins more women's lives than men's, this song's protagonist goes "back to New Orleans to wear that ball and chain." He has become a wreck of a person just like his father. The same goes for Hank Jr in the barroom sing-along "Family Tradition."

Next comes the subject of the broken home, an increasing societal problem naturally reflected in art. The main character in Waylon Jennings's "Ain't Living Long Like This" not only became a rounder just like dad, he says that all he remembers of his long gone father "is a drunk man's breath." The broken home, this time from the father's point of view, also takes center stage in Johnny Rivers's hit (penned by Chuck Berry) "Memphis Tennessee." The singer is living with his uncle, who takes messages by writing them on the wall, instead of his child from whom he was "pulled apart because her mom did not agree."

Finally, rock of course espouses rebelliousness against authority, often represented by the father. The most extreme example of this theme is in The Doors' "The End" which actually includes patricide, not to mention incest. But let's also look at Cat Stevens's "Father and Son." The song transcribes a conversation between a son who wants to leave home and the father who asks him not to be rash. The father sings, "it's not time to make a change/just relax and take it easy/you're still young, that's your fault/ there's so much you have to go through." The son replies, "how can I try to explain/when I do they turn away again...there's a way and I know that I have to go away."

Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as Luther Vandross's "Dance With My Father," a sweet sentiment but unfortunately featuring a dead father. But there aren't enough exceptions to fill a blank CD you burn at home. Even lists of father-daughter wedding songs include vague songs about loving support like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" rather than songs directly about fathers.

Sorry dads, I guess moms have it all over you when it comes to popular music. Hope you like the tie.

Published by Erin L

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