# Songs/Poems about Fathers and Sons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129 "2010-06-14T13:34:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/21 "2010-06-14T16:17:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Brevity has a certain accessibility, especially for ESL students. One of the best brief evocations of a son’s late understanding about his father is the poem _[Those Winter Sundays](http://poetryoutloud.org/poems/poem.html?id=175758)_ by Robert Hayden. There’s a reason it’s anthologized so heavily. Beat me to it. When I discovered this poem last year it just did me in. I would guess many ESL stdents could identify. "Sundays too my father got up early And put his clothes on in the blueback cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. [[shortened quote]] ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/22 "2010-06-14T16:47:19Z")
[Long Distance](http://tesslynch.tumblr.com/post/53280267/though-my-mother-was-already-two-years-dead-dad) by Tony Harrison. [Nettles](http://plagiarist.com/poetry/4935/) by Vernon Scannell. [On My First Sonne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_My_First_Sonne) by Ben Jonson. [The Lesson](http://thekumarexperience.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/poetry-the-lesson-by-edward-lucie-smith/) by Edward Lucie-Smith. [My father thought it](http://www.williamhoward.cumbria.sch.uk/intranet/English/KS_4/course_elements/poetry/armitage.htm#father) by Simon Armitage. All nice and short for EAL. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/23 "2010-06-14T17:02:44Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “The Living Years” by Mike and the Mechanics, sung by Paul Carrack. From the same group, the OP could show them the bizarre video for _Silent Running_, where the kid realizes his dad is some alien from outer space. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/24 "2010-06-14T17:29:13Z")
[Martin Simpson - Never any Good](http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=zwqbi7mlYOg&feature=related) [Ian Dury - My Old Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUwncHqICtM) [The Singing Loins - So Long My Old China](http://www.singingloins.co.uk/New%20Lyrics.htm#SO_LONG,_MY_OLD_CHINA__) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/25 "2010-06-14T17:35:25Z")
This one’s a little (okay, a lot) depressing: [Disappoint](http://assemblage23.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42#disappoint), by Assemblage 23. It’s written from the point of view of a son wondering if he had anything to do with his father’s suicide, and it’s based on true life. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/26 "2010-06-14T18:34:52Z")
How about Kenny Rogers - [Coward of the County](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK543f0_UKc)? ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/27 "2010-06-14T18:42:50Z")
[Marc Cohn - Silver Thunderbird](http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=9MkgmlAQPxo&feature=related) [Richard Thompson - End of the Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZWXrVWtvg) [Richard Thompson - Hard on Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgvevtPRqC4) […and one about **mothers** and sons.](http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=zRLSq10Y2F8&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/28 "2010-06-14T18:50:15Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > […and one about **mothers** and sons.](http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=zRLSq10Y2F8&feature=related) If we’re branching out, here’s a really good one about fathers and daughters: Tori Amos’s [Winter](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svCBs5lelhM) (though it might be a bit harder to understand for ESL students). Beautiful song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/29 "2010-06-14T18:51:19Z")
I THINK that I shall never see A poem lovely as daddy A man whose hungry mouth is prest Against mother’s flowing breast; A dude that looks for love all day, When Mom fails to throw some his way; [[shortened]] ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/30 "2010-06-15T09:37:29Z")
\ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/31 "2010-06-15T10:06:29Z")
\ Once you’ve made them weep with _Cat’s in the Cradle_, make them sob with “Dance with my Father” by Luther Vandross. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/32 "2010-06-15T10:21:32Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > [Ian Dury - My Old Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUwncHqICtM) I thought that was going to be [My Old Man’s a Dustman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7GeZ3YmONw). Oh, my old man’s a dustman He wears a dustman’s hat He wears cor blimey trousers And he lives in a council flat He looks a proper nana In his great big hob nailed boots He’s got such a job to pull em up That he calls them daisy roots [[excerpt shortened]] _Throws a can in the wrong direction to misdirect Markxxx while we make our escape_ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/33 "2010-06-15T11:29:31Z")
“Walk Like a Man” by Bruce Springsteen “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by the Temptations ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/34 "2010-06-15T11:42:23Z")
“Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” by U2 (all about Bono and his terminally ill father) Then there’s “Soliloquy,” a big number from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s \*\*\*Carousel. \*\*\* This number comes when Billy Bigelow has just found out he’s going to be a Dad. In the first half, he boasts about all the cool, macho things he’ll do with his son. The second half is more tender and reflective, and comes when he realizes the child MAY be a girl, and will need very different things from a father. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/35 "2010-06-15T11:48:38Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Father and Son by Cat Stevens seems the blaringly obvious choice here. Ditto! Walk like a Man - Four Seasons ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/36 "2010-06-15T12:07:03Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0_CpawBfzoI/hqdefault.jpg "I've been watching you-Rodney Adkins") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_CpawBfzoI) I’ve Been Watching You- Rodney Adkins [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCF7Dnov8vA) Theme to Courtship of Eddie’s Father ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/37 "2010-06-15T12:09:56Z")
If you’re talkin’ family, you’re talkin’ Country and Western - That’s My Job - Conway Twitty Use Mine - Steve Seskin If you aren’t in tears and calling your dad after listening to these two, you have no soul (assuming you had a good dad). ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/38 "2010-06-15T12:17:51Z")
_Cat’s in the Cradle_ by Harry Chapin. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/39 "2010-06-15T13:38:37Z")
Eric Clapton’s [Tears in Heaven](http://www.lyrics007.com/Eric%20Clapton%20Lyrics/Tears%20In%20Heaven%20Lyrics.html) Tom Paxton’s [My Son John](http://www.mydfz.com/Paxton/lyrics/msj.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129/40 "2010-06-15T13:58:11Z")
People, please keep the SDMB rules on copyrights in mind. Unless you’re quoting something in the public domain (and I don’t think that applies to any of the songs or poems used here, although I admit I’m not positive), use no more than about five lines or one verse. Link to another site for the rest of the text. Thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-about-fathers-and-sons/543129.md?page=3)