# Father/Daughter wedding dance. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101 "2016-06-22T23:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/1 "2016-06-22T23:15:34Z")
I’d like some help picking a song. (I’m the father of the bride.) My daughter has veto power. So I thought I’d petition the board for some help. I’d like something non-stereotypical. I.e., a song probably not on the lists you get when you google “father daughter wedding dance”. I’ve thought that something Tom Waits-like. E.g., Martha or Grapefruit Moon or All the World is Green. However, those don’t quite have the right sentiment for a father/daughter thing. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/2 "2016-06-22T23:32:44Z")
Is there a song you both like. i’d pick that one. And who cares if it doesn’t have a correct feel? If it works for her and you, it works. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/3 "2016-06-22T23:34:32Z")
“Kooks” by David Bowie - written for his son when he was an infant - is one of my favorites. We used “Dancing Lessons” by Sinead O’Connor, but that was with my stepdad - I liked the sentiment in the chorus: > [@](#): > > And when you wrap your arms around me > When you take me close and say > That you’re so happy and so glad you found me > You take my rainy days and make them go away Husband and his mother danced to Dylan’s Forever Young, as performed by Rod Stewart. I think that might be more “conventional”, though. > [@](#): > > May you grow up to be righteous > May you grow up to be true > May you always know the truth > And see the lights surrounding you > May you always be courageous > Stand upright and be strong > May you stay forever young ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/4 "2016-06-22T23:36:31Z")
I like the Dylan suggestion. I’ve haven’t heard that Bowie song. I’ll look it up. ETA: Could mix icons and do Pete Seeger’s cover: [Pete Seeger - "Forever Young" - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezyd40kJFq0) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/5 "2016-06-23T00:01:08Z")
My favorite choice would be Louis Armstrongs “Wonderful World” but that’s probably too stereotypical. May I suggest Nick Lowe’s “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll”? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/6 "2016-06-23T00:08:23Z")
If you want something that really swings, Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” is awesome. (Sorry, I can’t do youtube links at work) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/7 "2016-06-23T00:50:52Z")
There’s a song called _Delilah Gets Married_ that I always thought would work for a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception, because it’s about a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception. It’s very sweet and the singer has a wonderful voice. I can’t find a full rendition of it online, but lyrics are [here](http://www.yellowtailrecords.com/lyrics/lyr_doug.html#delilah) and you can listen to a short sample on Amazon [here](https://www.amazon.com/Doug-UNCLE-BONSAI/dp/B00000I7FA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0). It’s one of the Doug Songs written by Andrew Ratchin that have pretty much spanned his career as a solo performer and with different groups. This one is from his time with Mel Cooleys. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/8 "2016-06-23T01:06:46Z")
It may be mainstream, but I really haven’t heard this used at a wedding before (even though it does come up when you google it). My wife wanted to use it, but for reasons I won’t mention here, didn’t get the chance. [Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQPSoRFdwg) is a beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/9 "2016-06-23T01:33:51Z")
I don’t know if it would work for a dance, but “Forever Young” is cool, speaking as it does of a kid growing up and leaving the nest. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/10 "2016-06-23T01:36:25Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > My favorite choice would be Louis Armstrongs “Wonderful World” but that’s probably too stereotypical. > > May I suggest Nick Lowe’s “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll”? Yeah. I love Louis, but too stereotypical. I’ll check out Nick Lowe though. > [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > If you want something that really swings, Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” is awesome. (Sorry, I can’t do youtube links at work) I’ll find it. Thanks. ETA: Here it is: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoDPPgWbfXY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoDPPgWbfXY) I’d love to do this, but quite frankly I can’t dance. 😕 > [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > “Kooks” by David Bowie - written for his son when he was an infant - is one of my favorites. OK. I listened to that. I’d say it’s a contender. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a song called _Delilah Gets Married_ that I always thought would work for a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception, because it’s about a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception. It’s very sweet and the singer has a wonderful voice. > > I can’t find a full rendition of it online, but lyrics are [here](http://www.yellowtailrecords.com/lyrics/lyr_doug.html#delilah) and you can listen to a short sample on Amazon [here](https://www.amazon.com/Doug-UNCLE-BONSAI/dp/B00000I7FA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0). > > It’s one of the Doug Songs written by Andrew Ratchin that have pretty much spanned his career as a solo performer and with different groups. This one is from his time with Mel Cooleys. Cool. I’ll check it out. > [@Munch](#): > > It may be mainstream, but I really haven’t heard this used at a wedding before (even though it does come up when you google it). My wife wanted to use it, but for reasons I won’t mention here, didn’t get the chance. [Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQPSoRFdwg) is a beautiful song. I’ve seen it on Google. I’ve listened a bit. It seems a little sentimental, but I do like Paul Simon. So … I’ll listen again. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/11 "2016-06-23T01:38:34Z")
My daughter picked the first song we ever danced to together: _The Hokey Pokey_. We used the Brave Combo version. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/12 "2016-06-23T01:40:43Z")
OK. The Nick Lowe thing is wonderful. It suffers from the Chuck Berry problem (or rather mine)–I can’t dance. Might have to learn. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/13 "2016-06-23T01:47:10Z")
OK. I’ve added Paul Simon to the play list. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/14 "2016-06-23T01:50:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a song called _Delilah Gets Married_ that I always thought would work for a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception, because it’s about a father-daughter dance at a wedding reception. It’s very sweet and the singer has a wonderful voice. > > I can’t find a full rendition of it online, but lyrics are [here](http://www.yellowtailrecords.com/lyrics/lyr_doug.html#delilah) and you can listen to a short sample on Amazon [here](https://www.amazon.com/Doug-UNCLE-BONSAI/dp/B00000I7FA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0). > > It’s one of the Doug Songs written by Andrew Ratchin that have pretty much spanned his career as a solo performer and with different groups. This one is from his time with Mel Cooleys. That satisfies my need to play it for a joke – particularly when you add the info that I can’t dance. I’ll see what my daughter thinks. I’d love to see the guests’ reaction to it. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/15 "2016-06-23T01:52:27Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My daughter picked the first song we ever danced to together: _The Hokey Pokey_. We used the Brave Combo version. Cool. I don’t think that would work for us since we don’t have a backstory for using it. I would love to see someone do that at a wedding though. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/16 "2016-06-23T01:56:52Z")
If you’re feeling mawkish, there’s “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/17 "2016-06-23T02:05:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > If you’re feeling mawkish, there’s “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler. That song makes me cry (or almost). So, no. Love the movie. But I don’t think I could pull that off. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/18 "2016-06-23T02:40:30Z")
Pick a song that means something special to you and your daughter. If it doesn’t mean anything for the other guests, who cares? It’s for you two, not for them. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/19 "2016-06-23T02:50:36Z")
Butterfly Kisses? OW! Who threw that? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101/20 "2016-06-23T03:09:15Z")
If you’re going to learn to dance anyway, for heaven’s sake do the Batusi: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/exhNT2_bHs8/hqdefault.jpg "The Greatest Batusi Ever") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exhNT2_bHs8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-daughter-wedding-dance/758101.md?page=2)