I live down in the Keys and a group is renting the house next door to us- one of the people is the father of the bride and the wedding is this weekend. My husband is a musician so he asked his opinion, then the husband asked me, and now I’m asking you.
He’s been tasked to find a good father/daughter song to dance to and asked for our help. Please Og, no Daddy’s Little Girl or any of that kind of thing. I’ve got a handful of standards together for him, but I’m looking for some songs that you may have heard (or used) and said “Wow, now THAT’S different!” (but appropriate)
For the sake of this thread, I’m looking for not the usual stuff- not Butterfly Kisses or anything like that. Blech. I mention the location because hey, if it’s got some island flare, all the better. Also, it’s father TO daughter, as opposed to the usual daughter to father deal. And not that “Fathers be Good To Your Daughters” song. That one creeps me out some.
Ideas? So far I’ve got a few for him to listen to and chew on:
You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker
What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong
In My Daughter’s Eyes- Martina McBride
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You- Stewart (blech)
Bridge Over Troubled Water- Simon and Garfunkle
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World- Kamakawiwo’ole (this one is my favorite, personally)
My cousin’s bride danced to “Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon, and it was beautiful and very appropriate. I loved it, and covet a recording of that song for myself.
Is this the one with “As long as one and one is two, there has never been a father who loved his daughter more than I love you”? If so, I second that one. I’m not always sure my father loves me but when I hear that I believe he would echo the words in relation to me. So it works.
I like this site for questions about wedding songs to dance to. If you will scroll thru the Dance Maven’s pages you will find plenty of questions about Father-Daughter dances. Or, you could ask her one yourself .
My cousin got married a year ago, and she used the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” The lyrics aren’t necessarily about romantic love, and the parental relationship gives a sweet twist to “God only knows what I’d be without you”.
It makes me kind of sad that All My Loving by The Beatles has that line about “I’ll pretend that I’m kissing / The lips I am missing,” since my parents sang Beatles’ songs to me when I was little, and “All My Loving” is one that Dad sang to me often.
Of course, not as strange as Leave My Kitten Alone, which along with “I Am the Walrus,” was a song I found absolutely hilarious as a child.
It’s pretty obscure, but I always thought Delilah Gets Married might make a good father/daughter dance song. It’s sung from the point of view of a woman who’s nervous about her wedding reception because she didn’t learn how to waltz with her father. In waltz time, of course.
A real father/daughter dance song is “The First Man You Remember” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love. George sings it to his daughter Jenny when they are dancing.
I want to be the first man you remember.
I want to be the last man you forgot.
I want to be the first one that you turn to.
I want to be the last one you regret.
Well, kind sir, I’d be delighted. There is nothing I would rather do.
What could be more sweeter than sharing my first dance with you?
A friend of ours did a fun tox trot with her father to something by Harry Connick Jr. It was fun, not the syruppy-weepy kind of thing. It was quite joyful and celebratory.
My recent wedding, we opted out of the Father/Daughter (and the would-have-been-obligated Mother/Son dance), but we received a positive response to our choice for the wedding party’s entrance into the reception. The party walked in to Queen “You’re My Best Friend.” If they’re looking for a more upbeat Father/Daughter dance, it certainly wouldn’t be the worst choice.
Oh, and I’m voicing dissent for “God Only Knows.” It’s a great, beautiful song. But the verses are entirely the wrong emotion:
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
Seriously, though, I also hate “Butterfly Kisses” with a vengeance. So sappy you could coat a waffle with it. And my wife’s family loves it. ugh. Whatever you pick will be better than that.
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