Songs about daughters from moms and dads, for every age

Play "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder (1976) first. He wrote it for his daughter, Aisha, and you can hear her as a baby on the album version, which makes it hard to beat for a newborn slideshow or a first birthday. The rest of these songs about daughters are sorted by who's pressing play. Dads get their own list, and so do moms. After that come country songs, songs about her growing up, a few for her wedding day and the upbeat ones for a party where nobody wants to cry before the cake.

From dads, for daughters

You've got a hair tie in your teeth, a four-year-old wriggling on the bathroom stool and a tutorial paused on your phone at the tricky bit.

The first ponytail never goes well. These are for that dad, the one who keeps trying, and most of them sound better sung slightly out of tune in the car than played on a good speaker.

"Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" by Billy Joel (1993). He wrote it for his daughter, Alexa, as a bedtime song that quietly admits he won't be around forever. Heavy for a toddler, right for her 21st.
"Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon (2002). Written for The Wild Thornberrys Movie, and cheerful enough for a seven-year-old's car playlist.
"Daughters" by John Mayer (2003). Send it to the friend who just found out it's a girl.
"Gracie" by Ben Folds (2005). Named after his daughter and sung like he's perched on the end of her bed at lights-out.
"Hushabye Mountain" by Dick Van Dyke (1968). The bedtime song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where he sings it to his two kids. Slow and a little sad.
"Dear Theodosia" by Leslie Odom Jr. and Lin-Manuel Miranda (2015). In Hamilton, Burr sings his half to his baby daughter and Hamilton sings the other half to his son, so it suits a house with one of each.
"My Girl" by The Temptations (1964). Technically a love song, but grandpas have been singing it to granddaughters for sixty years and nobody's stopped them.
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977). Good on the morning of a spelling test, since nobody stays grumpy through the chorus.
"Forever Young" by Rod Stewart (1988). A dad's list of wishes for a kid about to head out the door, and the one to save for graduation night.
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (1967). For the dad who hums. It's slow enough to sway a newborn to at 3 a.m.

From moms

These ones sting a bit more.

A lot of the songs moms pick are about watching her walk away (to the school gate first, and years later to a front door that isn't yours), and they get harder to hear the older she gets. Grandma will cry at the ABBA one. So plan for it.

"Slipping Through My Fingers" by ABBA (1981). Björn Ulvaeus wrote the words about his and Agnetha Fältskog's daughter heading off to school. If she grew up on Mamma Mia!, she knows the Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried version.
"In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride (2003). A mom seeing herself the way her daughter does. Lovely at a baby shower, a bit much at a 16th.
"Little Star" by Madonna (1998). Lourdes, Madonna's daughter, is who it's for. Almost nobody at the party will know it.
"The Mother" by Brandi Carlile (2018). About becoming a mom to her daughter, Evangeline, and right for anyone who's exhausted and amazed in roughly equal parts.
"Love Can Build a Bridge" by The Judds (1990). Naomi and Wynonna Judd were a real mother and daughter, which is half the reason to pick it.
"I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994). For the teenage years, ideally the morning after a slammed door.
"Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera (2002). Send it after a rough week at school. The song is about words that hurt and how to let them bounce off.
"Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston (1985). It's a cover (George Benson sang it first, in 1977), and it's the one moms belt while unloading the dishwasher.
"Mama" by Spice Girls (1996). From the daughter's side. She'll groan at 13 and play it at your 60th.

Country songs about daughters

Somewhere between the car seat and the learner's permit, country music decided this subject belonged to it. Hard to argue.

These sound right with the windows down on a back road, and at least two of them will get you at a stoplight. If she's at the age where your music is embarrassing, save them for when you're alone in the car.

"My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw (2006). From the horse movie Flicka, where McGraw also played the dad.
"There Goes My Life" by Kenny Chesney (2003). It starts with a scared young guy and ends with her car packed for college. Don't play it at the actual dorm drop-off (the box fan, the mini fridge that won't fit under the bed), because you still have to drive home.
"Ready, Set, Don't Go" by Billy Ray Cyrus (2007). A year later he re-recorded it as a duet with his daughter, Miley, and that's the version to find.
"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack (2000). Mostly advice, delivered gently. Write the title in the card for her 18th and let her look it up.
"Daddy's Hands" by Holly Dunn (1986). Sung from the daughter's side, so it's hers to play for him on Father's Day.
"Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton (1971). Dolly's mom sewed her a coat out of rags, and the song tells that story so plainly a little kid can follow it.
"Born to Fly" by Sara Evans (2000). For the girl already staring past the end of the road.
"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts (2006). Slideshow music, with the baby photos on the first verse and the cap and gown on the last chorus.
"Baby Girl" by Sugarland (2004). Written as letters home from a daughter chasing a music career and always short on cash. Funny if she just moved into her first place.
"The Best Day" by Taylor Swift (2008). Swift wrote it for her mom, so pair it with your own home videos.

Songs about daughters growing up

Her height marks on the kitchen doorframe are still there, the lowest ones in crayon.

Fair warning. Songs about daughters growing up tend to ambush you in the grocery store parking lot, usually on a Tuesday, usually when you only came in for milk. Some of these are for her, the teenager who'd rather walk home than sit through a sad song, and some are for you, later.

For a graduation slideshow, put the slow ones first and end on one she'd pick herself.

"Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift (2010). The first verse is a baby asleep, and the last one is a grown-up alone in a new apartment in a big city. Skip that verse if you're driving.
"The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert (2009). A grown woman knocks on the door of the house she grew up in and asks to come inside for a minute. If you've sold the place with the doorframe, brace yourself.
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (1975). Just Stevie Nicks and a guitar, about getting older and changing course. Quiet enough for a 30th with candles and no balloons.
"Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson (2004). For the small-town girl with a packed bag. It came out on The Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack.
"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield (2004). Sunny English pop for the first day of high school.
"Wildflowers" by Tom Petty (1994). Play this one the night before she leaves. It's about letting someone go somewhere she'll feel free.
"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (2009). From Hannah Montana: The Movie, and yes, she's the daughter in that Billy Ray duet.
"Who You Are" by Jessie J (2011). Aimed squarely at the 15-year-old who's trying too hard to fit in.
"Photograph" by Ed Sheeran (2014). Romantic on paper. Sheeran's video for it is home footage of him as a little kid, which is why parents put it under slideshows.

For her wedding day

If she's handed you the job of picking the dance song, settle it before the final dress fitting. Practice in the kitchen. You'll want at least two run-throughs in socks on the tile (phone propped against the fruit bowl) before the real thing.

Every one of these keeps the dance about the two of you. Moms get a dance too these days, so a couple of them work for mom as well.

There's a longer list of father daughter dance songs if you'd like more slow ones to choose from.

"Times of Your Life" by Paul Anka (1975). Slow and warm, and the words are all about looking back, which is exactly where your head will be.
"You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban (2003). A cover of a 2002 Secret Garden song. It's big and churchy, so it works better at the rehearsal dinner than on the dance floor.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). About two and a half minutes long, so nobody has time to get awkward.
"Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion (1996). Pick this one if the dance is really a thank-you, to her mom or to the dad who raised her on his own.
"Sunrise, Sunset" by Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova (1964). From the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof, where two parents sing it at their daughter's wedding. Your aunts will know every word.
"Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross (2003). The one for a bride whose dad has died. She can dance it with her mom or the grandpa who taught her to ride a bike.

Upbeat ones for her birthday

Right, enough crying.

Plenty of songs for daughters are slow, and a birthday needs the other kind, the ones a living room of eight-year-olds can jump to and a 30-year-old will still dance to in her own kitchen. Under a photo, the song title on its own usually reads better than a lyric, and she won't wince at it in five years. And if you need words for the card as well, borrow a line from these birthday wishes for a daughter.

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper (1983). Works at a sleepover and at a 40th, which almost nothing else on this page can say.
"September" by Earth, Wind & Fire (1978). If her birthday falls in September, this is already her song.
"Let It Go" by Idina Menzel (2013). Strictly a ballad, though six-year-olds will stand on the chairs for it.
"Wings" by Little Mix (2012). Loud British pop with a chorus a 10-year-old can shout and nothing you'll need to skip.
"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips (1990). All three singers are daughters of famous parents (Carnie and Wendy Wilson's dad is Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Chynna's parents are John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas).
"Levitating" by Dua Lipa (2020). For the 16th. She'll approve, which on that birthday is the whole point.
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin (1967). Play it for a grown daughter who runs her own house now. Otis Redding sang it first, two years earlier.

A song with her name in it

Not one song above says Nia. Or Sofia, or whatever's written in marker on her lunchbox.

A HeartCraft song card is the one that does. You tell HeartCraft who she is and share a few memories (the prom photo on the stairs, the soccer bag that lived in your trunk for six years), and her name gets sung in the chorus while your stories go into the lines. The language and the feel of it are your call.

It's ready in about 10 minutes and arrives on your WhatsApp or email as a link, so you can play it at the party or forward it to her phone, where it opens without an app. If it's for her birthday, start a birthday song for her.

A few last questions

What's a good song for a stepdaughter or an adopted daughter?

"You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins (1999) is the one to try. In Tarzan it's sung by a gorilla mom raising a baby who isn't hers, and the song is about being different and belonging anyway.

Can I use these songs in a slideshow I post online?

Yes at home, or on the TV at her party. Posting is different, because Instagram and YouTube can mute or block copyrighted music, so add the song inside the app when you post instead of building it into the video file.

Is there a song for my daughter turning 17?

"Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1976). The chorus puts the girl on the dance floor at seventeen, so for one year it's about her.

Should the song be one she likes or one I like?

Hers, if it's playing at her party. For a card or a slideshow you're giving her, yours is fine, as long as you tell her why you picked it.

From dads, for daughters

You've got a hair tie in your teeth, a four-year-old wriggling on the bathroom stool and a tutorial paused on your phone at the tricky bit.

The first ponytail never goes well. These are for that dad, the one who keeps trying, and most of them sound better sung slightly out of tune in the car than played on a good speaker.

"Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" by Billy Joel (1993). He wrote it for his daughter, Alexa, as a bedtime song that quietly admits he won't be around forever. Heavy for a toddler, right for her 21st.
"Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon (2002). Written for The Wild Thornberrys Movie, and cheerful enough for a seven-year-old's car playlist.
"Daughters" by John Mayer (2003). Send it to the friend who just found out it's a girl.
"Gracie" by Ben Folds (2005). Named after his daughter and sung like he's perched on the end of her bed at lights-out.
"Hushabye Mountain" by Dick Van Dyke (1968). The bedtime song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where he sings it to his two kids. Slow and a little sad.
"Dear Theodosia" by Leslie Odom Jr. and Lin-Manuel Miranda (2015). In Hamilton, Burr sings his half to his baby daughter and Hamilton sings the other half to his son, so it suits a house with one of each.
"My Girl" by The Temptations (1964). Technically a love song, but grandpas have been singing it to granddaughters for sixty years and nobody's stopped them.
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977). Good on the morning of a spelling test, since nobody stays grumpy through the chorus.
"Forever Young" by Rod Stewart (1988). A dad's list of wishes for a kid about to head out the door, and the one to save for graduation night.
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (1967). For the dad who hums. It's slow enough to sway a newborn to at 3 a.m.

From moms

These ones sting a bit more.

"Slipping Through My Fingers" by ABBA (1981). Björn Ulvaeus wrote the words about his and Agnetha Fältskog's daughter heading off to school. If she grew up on Mamma Mia!, she knows the Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried version.
"In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride (2003). A mom seeing herself the way her daughter does. Lovely at a baby shower, a bit much at a 16th.
"Little Star" by Madonna (1998). Lourdes, Madonna's daughter, is who it's for. Almost nobody at the party will know it.
"The Mother" by Brandi Carlile (2018). About becoming a mom to her daughter, Evangeline, and right for anyone who's exhausted and amazed in roughly equal parts.
"Love Can Build a Bridge" by The Judds (1990). Naomi and Wynonna Judd were a real mother and daughter, which is half the reason to pick it.
"I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994). For the teenage years, ideally the morning after a slammed door.
"Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera (2002). Send it after a rough week at school. The song is about words that hurt and how to let them bounce off.
"Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston (1985). It's a cover (George Benson sang it first, in 1977), and it's the one moms belt while unloading the dishwasher.
"Mama" by Spice Girls (1996). From the daughter's side. She'll groan at 13 and play it at your 60th.

Country songs about daughters

Somewhere between the car seat and the learner's permit, country music decided this subject belonged to it. Hard to argue.

"My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw (2006). From the horse movie Flicka, where McGraw also played the dad.
"There Goes My Life" by Kenny Chesney (2003). It starts with a scared young guy and ends with her car packed for college. Don't play it at the actual dorm drop-off (the box fan, the mini fridge that won't fit under the bed), because you still have to drive home.
"Ready, Set, Don't Go" by Billy Ray Cyrus (2007). A year later he re-recorded it as a duet with his daughter, Miley, and that's the version to find.
"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack (2000). Mostly advice, delivered gently. Write the title in the card for her 18th and let her look it up.
"Daddy's Hands" by Holly Dunn (1986). Sung from the daughter's side, so it's hers to play for him on Father's Day.
"Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton (1971). Dolly's mom sewed her a coat out of rags, and the song tells that story so plainly a little kid can follow it.
"Born to Fly" by Sara Evans (2000). For the girl already staring past the end of the road.
"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts (2006). Slideshow music, with the baby photos on the first verse and the cap and gown on the last chorus.
"Baby Girl" by Sugarland (2004). Written as letters home from a daughter chasing a music career and always short on cash. Funny if she just moved into her first place.
"The Best Day" by Taylor Swift (2008). Swift wrote it for her mom, so pair it with your own home videos.

Songs about daughters growing up

Her height marks on the kitchen doorframe are still there, the lowest ones in crayon.

For a graduation slideshow, put the slow ones first and end on one she'd pick herself.

"Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift (2010). The first verse is a baby asleep, and the last one is a grown-up alone in a new apartment in a big city. Skip that verse if you're driving.
"The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert (2009). A grown woman knocks on the door of the house she grew up in and asks to come inside for a minute. If you've sold the place with the doorframe, brace yourself.
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (1975). Just Stevie Nicks and a guitar, about getting older and changing course. Quiet enough for a 30th with candles and no balloons.
"Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson (2004). For the small-town girl with a packed bag. It came out on The Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack.
"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield (2004). Sunny English pop for the first day of high school.
"Wildflowers" by Tom Petty (1994). Play this one the night before she leaves. It's about letting someone go somewhere she'll feel free.
"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (2009). From Hannah Montana: The Movie, and yes, she's the daughter in that Billy Ray duet.
"Who You Are" by Jessie J (2011). Aimed squarely at the 15-year-old who's trying too hard to fit in.
"Photograph" by Ed Sheeran (2014). Romantic on paper. Sheeran's video for it is home footage of him as a little kid, which is why parents put it under slideshows.

For her wedding day

Every one of these keeps the dance about the two of you. Moms get a dance too these days, so a couple of them work for mom as well.

There's a longer list of father daughter dance songs if you'd like more slow ones to choose from.

"Times of Your Life" by Paul Anka (1975). Slow and warm, and the words are all about looking back, which is exactly where your head will be.
"You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban (2003). A cover of a 2002 Secret Garden song. It's big and churchy, so it works better at the rehearsal dinner than on the dance floor.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). About two and a half minutes long, so nobody has time to get awkward.
"Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion (1996). Pick this one if the dance is really a thank-you, to her mom or to the dad who raised her on his own.
"Sunrise, Sunset" by Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova (1964). From the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof, where two parents sing it at their daughter's wedding. Your aunts will know every word.
"Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross (2003). The one for a bride whose dad has died. She can dance it with her mom or the grandpa who taught her to ride a bike.

Upbeat ones for her birthday

Right, enough crying.

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper (1983). Works at a sleepover and at a 40th, which almost nothing else on this page can say.
"September" by Earth, Wind & Fire (1978). If her birthday falls in September, this is already her song.
"Let It Go" by Idina Menzel (2013). Strictly a ballad, though six-year-olds will stand on the chairs for it.
"Wings" by Little Mix (2012). Loud British pop with a chorus a 10-year-old can shout and nothing you'll need to skip.
"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips (1990). All three singers are daughters of famous parents (Carnie and Wendy Wilson's dad is Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Chynna's parents are John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas).
"Levitating" by Dua Lipa (2020). For the 16th. She'll approve, which on that birthday is the whole point.
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin (1967). Play it for a grown daughter who runs her own house now. Otis Redding sang it first, two years earlier.

A song with her name in it

Not one song above says Nia. Or Sofia, or whatever's written in marker on her lunchbox.

A few last questions

What's a good song for a stepdaughter or an adopted daughter?

"You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins (1999) is the one to try. In Tarzan it's sung by a gorilla mom raising a baby who isn't hers, and the song is about being different and belonging anyway.

Can I use these songs in a slideshow I post online?

Is there a song for my daughter turning 17?

"Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1976). The chorus puts the girl on the dance floor at seventeen, so for one year it's about her.

Should the song be one she likes or one I like?

Hers, if it's playing at her party. For a card or a slideshow you're giving her, yours is fine, as long as you tell her why you picked it.