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Ode to Family

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"How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?"

Family is one of the most important things out there for people. Naturally there are many songs about family, and The Power of Family displayed. Most are between a parent and their child but other versions exist. Sibling Teams are prone to having at least one song about family.

Compare and contrast with Friendship Song. Super-Trope to Parental Love Song (which is about parent-child bonds).


Examples:

    Anime 

    Fan Works 
  • TRULY OUTRAGEOUS: A Jem Fan Film! has the song "Sisters Are There", which is sung when Jerrica explains to Ashley and Ba Nee that, despite their bickering, they're still foster sisters nevertheless.

     Film — Animation 

     Film — Live-Action (mostly) 
  • Disenchanted (2022) has "Love Power" which Queen Nancy of Andalasia sings to Morgan to help her remind Morgan of all of her happy memories of Morgan's stepmother Giselle to help her bring Giselle's magical memory tree back to life. Which also allows Nancy and Morgan to travel back to the live action world from the animated Andalasia.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Barney & Friends has the song "My Family's Just Right For Me" (debuting in the episode of the same name), which has 3 different types of families described in each verse (with the emphasis that they are all loving families): a boy with a traditional family (both parents, 2 siblings, and pets), a girl having divorced parents and mainly living with her mother, and a boy living with his grandmother.

    Music 
  • "Où peut on être mieux qu'au sein de sa famille" was written on 1789 by André Grétry for the play Lucile of Jean-François Marmontel, and was used as a semi-official song during the Bourbon Restauration.
    Où peut-on être mieux, où peut-on être mieux
    Qu'au sein de sa famille ?
  • "Hey Brother" by Avicii is a song about sibling love.
  • Big Red Machine's "Brycie" is an ode to Aaron Dessner's twin brother and The National bandmate Bryce Dessner.
  • Confession Executive Committee ~Love Series~:
    • Early on in the series, the Setoguchi siblings Yu and Hina get a song focusing on their relationship. "Embarrassment-Hiding Adolescence" concerns itself with how much Hina annoys Yu at times, but when it comes down to it he'll be there for her.
    • "My Angel" is one of these. The singer, Sena Narumi, talks about her beloved little sister Mona and their close bond, brief fallout, and Sena's undying support for her. Mona later gets a response song, "My Ally", talking about her perspective of their relationship, and the also share the sibling love song "Sis Love". The Narumi family as a whole receives one titled "Happiness", in which the patriarch Yuusuke talks about how blessed he is to have his wife and kids in his life and his desire to do right by them, contrast to how he was with his own parents.
  • The Cranberries' "Ode To Family", a song about Dolores' childhood and the pressures of fame, and how her parents held her strong throughout her adolescence and musical success.
  • "Nothing Left But Family" by Rebecca Ferguson is about how her kids drive her crazy, but she still loves them. Because if she didn't, she'd be out of there.
  • Melanie Martinez's "Dollhouse" from Cry Baby, is about a family of Stepford Smilers where the parents are trying to keep up a Happy Marriage Charade. By the Sequel Song "Sippy Cup" the mother has killed her husband and his mistress.
  • "Helena" by My Chemical Romance is a tribute for Gerard and Mikey Way's grandmother.
  • "Brother" by NEEDTOBREATHE is a song with two different interpretations: it's either literally about brothers or it's about Christians who metaphorically call one another "brother".
  • Amanda Palmer's song "It Runs in the Family" is less a song about celebrating family and more about one complaining about it, or more particularly about how your genetics affect you.
  • "We are Family", a disco single by Sister Sledge, is about sisterhood.
  • Within Temptation: "Say My Name" is about someone whose relative has Alzheimer's.
  • Subverted with "You Are My Sunshine". Despite its constant use of being used between parents and their children, the song is a Break-Up Song. The full song makes it clear but most have never heard the full version.
  • "Somos familia" by Spanish singer Álex Ubago makes his family his home.
  • Zucchero: The song "Diamante" (Diamond) is dedicated to Zucchero's grandmother Diamante Arduini Fornaciari, who passed away before the song's album entered production. In fact, despite Zucchero being a songwriter, he didn't write this song at all, and it's because of how deeply emotional it was for him, so he asked fellow Italian musician Francesco de Gregori to write the lyrics for him.

    Puppet Shows 
  • Sesame Street:
    • One song is about how families can have two parents, one parent, or a kid living with their aunt/uncle/grandparents, but they're still families.
    • One song is about different animal families (from chickadees to fleas).
    • "Brothers and Sisters" is about how siblings fight sometimes but have a strong bond.
    • "I Love My Family" is about how Julia and her family love doing things together (with the unspoken message that her autism doesn't prevent this).

    Web Animation 
  • RWBY:
    • "Gold" is a song about how Yang will always be there for her younger sister Ruby.
    • "Home" is about Qrow's love for his nieces.

    Western Animation 
  • The theme tune to The Loud House talks about how Lincoln has trouble with his ten sisters but loves them dearly.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has "Apples to the Core" about the strong bond of Applejack's family (referred to colloquially as "the Apples").
  • Phineas and Ferb has Stacy’s song "Little Brothers”, which is about Candace’s feelings regarding her younger brothers. It plays this trope for laughs as in addition to it being genuinely heartfelt, Stacy is being factual.
    Even when you break my toys, you will always be my little brothers
    'Cause you're younger, we're related, and you're boys.

 
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Video Example(s):

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We are Da Bearz

On the bus ride over to a reggae concert, the Bearz family (in this retelling of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears) sing a little ode to their carefree lifestyle.

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Main / IAmSong

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