Parental Love Song

A mother's house
Has a room for each child
It's only describing
The interior of her heart.

— Björk, "Her Mother's House"

Some love songs are between romantic partners or spouses. Others are between good friends. Still others are between parent and child.

These come in several varieties — wishing for success, calming fears and insecurities, saying "thanks for the memories", or just telling the other person how special he/she is.

This is not necessarily a Music trope; it appears in movies and even books as well.

Sub-trope to Ode to Family. See also Platonic Declaration of Love.

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Examples

Parent to Child

Anime and Manga

• The 1970 Japanese animated short The Kindly Lion (Yasashii Lion) by Mushi Productions is focused on a parental relationship between a female dog and a lion (Muku-muku and Buru-buru, respectively). In the animated version, she's heard singing a lullaby to her newly adopted son as she's rocking him back and forth alongside Buru-buru drinking from his mother. The short is based on a children's book of the same name by Takashi Yanase (who also written the lyrics).
  Buru-buru, good little boy, go to sleep, go to sleep
  Drink plenty of milk, plenty, plenty, drink plenty
  Buru-buru, good little boy, go to sleep, go to sleep
  Loolalala, loolalala, loolalala, loolala...

Animated Film

• "My Sweet Baby" from Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is about Ginger and Rocky's affection for their daughter, Molly. The lyrics and the visuals indicate that they love her despite how terrifying her fearless nature is for them and wish she wouldn't grow up so soon.
• "Baby Mine" from Dumbo is a lullaby sung to Dumbo by his mother after she's been locked up for defending him from a group of rude boys.
  Baby mine, don't you cry.
  Baby mine, dry your eyes.
  Rest your head close to my heart,
  Never to part, baby of mine.
• "Deliver Us" from The Prince of Egypt has a section sung by Yocheved as she sets her infant son afloat to save him from the genocidal Pharoah, singing about how she's doing this to give him a chance to escape death and she hopes they'll meet again.
• "You'll Be in My Heart" written by Phil Collins for Tarzan. The lyrics do not indicate what kind of love it is about, but in the movie it is sung to Tarzan by his surrogate mother Kala (Collins wrote it about his daughter).
  For one so small
  You seem so strong
  My arms will hold you
  Keep you safe and warm...
• "Mother Knows Best" from Tangled combines this with Villain Song. She wants Rapunzel to think it's about her love for Rapunzel. It is actually meant to ruin Rapunzel's self-esteem and keep her emotionally dependent on Gothel and afraid of the outside world.
• In The Chipmunk Adventure, Eleanor sings "My Mother", a lullaby about a mother's love to the baby penguin that Eleanor smuggled aboard their hot-air balloon.
• Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: "My Son", a lullaby Geppetto sings to his son Carlo about how much he loves him, and which came from Carlo's mother.
  My son, my son
  You are my shining sun
  My moon, my stars
  My clear blue daylight sky
• Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter" from The Wild Thornberrys Movie, sung by a father promising to guard his daughter and watch her grow.
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman has a montage of the title characters' father-son dynamic set to the below-mentioned "Beautiful Boy".
• The villain song of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is a lullaby from Zira to her son. However, it's more about her hate for Simba than her love for Kovu (who she wants to turn into a Tyke Bomb).
• The Japanese theme for Storks, "Heiwa" by AI, could fit, as it was named after the singer's baby daughter.
• In Brave, the song "Noble Maiden Fair" that Elinor sings to little Merida.
• Coco—In-Universe, "Remember Me" wound up marketed as a romantic song, but it was actually written by Héctor for his daughter Coco.
• Song of the Sea: Bronaugh sings the titular song to her son and unborn daughter. It’s also the song Saoirse needs to send the Fair Folk of Ireland to their home.

Film— Live Action

• In "Cheer Up, Charlie," from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Charlie's mother sings about how her son's life will get better whether he finds a Golden Ticket or not. (See Theatre below for another adaptation's equivalent song!)
• In "Suddenly", a song added to Les Misérables (2012), Valjean sings about how happy he is to adopt Cosette and vows to protect her.
• Theater Camp: The in-universe production Joan, Still contains a song adoringly sung by Joan to her new son, Troy. When the real Troy hears it, he finally understands why everyone loves the camp so much.

Literature

• From Coraline, the "twitchy-witchy" song, in which Coraline's father expresses his affection by telling her (goofily) the things he'll do for her and the things he would never do.
• The original version of the lullaby from Holes encourages a child in spite of the troubles that that child will face.
  Be strong, my weary wolf
  Turn around boldly
  Fly high, my baby bird
  My angel, my only
• "Knife Edge" in the Noughts & Crosses series has "Rainbow Child", an in-universe radio hit sung by various characters to their kids. We see its full lyrics in the penultimate chapter as Sephy sings it to Callie Rose.

Live-Action TV

• The "Soft Kitty" song in The Big Bang Theory, originally a lullaby sung to Sheldon Cooper by older female relatives (mother and mee-maw), which in times of stress he asks Penny to sing to him.
• In the The Odd Couple (1970) episode "The Paul Williams Story", Paul Williams writes a song based on the words Felix wanted to say to his runaway daughter. It brings them back together again.
• "I Love My Daughter" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a deliberate parody of the way some father/daughter love songs in particular can come out sounding... wrong. The original version was extremely pervy and apparently hilarious, but it just didn't suit the character of Darryl who really is a good guy at heart, so the broadcast version instead has him desperately try to sing a wholesome fatherly song only to get increasingly flustered when his words come out sounding the wrong way.
• "A Miracle" from Roundhouse seems to be this (it closes out an entire episode where the main family prepares for the arrival of a new baby), though it's sung by the entire cast and not just the parents.
  They say, they say, they say that he's got my eyes.
  Oh baby, baby, baby, I'm hypnotized.
  Oh baby, baby, baby, how I love you.
  Please say, please say, please say that you love me, love me too.
  He's a miracle, my my my my baby...

Music

• "Thanks for My Child" by Cheryl 'Pepsii' Riley dedicated to her son. The highlights of this song are as follows complete with this heartwarming exchange between Riley and her son:
  "The love I have for you baby, is the love I have in me"
  Cheryl: I love you, sweetheart.
  Child: I love you too, Mommy!
• "Remedy" by Adele, dedicated to her son.
• Amy Grant's "Baby Baby", though the lyrics were vague enough for the video to spin it as a romantic song. (One of the laser-karaoke versions featured on Oddity Archive uses it over footage of a woman and a small child playing around in a park.)
• Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness: "Cecilia and the Satellite."
• "Rockabye" by Anne Marie, Sean Paul, and Clean Bandit. It's told by a third person, but it still counts.
• Beyoncé's "Blue" is written about her daughter, Blue.
• Billy Joel wrote "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)" for his daughter Alexa.
• "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle and others is about a little girl and her father's relationship as she grows up.
  I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.
  I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
  Every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses...
• Bob Dylan's Planet Waves has one: "Forever Young", written for his kids.
• Brotherhood of Man's "Save Your Kisses for Me" seems like an ordinary love song until the final line, which reveals that the subject is a three-year-old.
• Carly Simon's "Love of My Life" was written for her children.
• Céline Dion: "A New Day Has Come" and "Miracle."
• Chicago’s “Little One.”
• "Memphis, Tennessee" by Chuck Berry, as revealed at the end of the song. Until the last verse it sounds like he's singing about a girlfriend.
• "I Think About You" by Collin Raye. A father bemoaning the sexualization of women in advertising, thinking about his young daughter.
• Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle" was written for his then-unborn son, AJ.
• Dan Bull has "The God Father", a God of War Ragnarök song about Kratos and Atreus's bond, which also derives from Dan's own experiences as a father. The song is dedicated to Dan's son, George.
  Whatever feats I have achieved
  Whatever deeds I've done
  Will never leave a legacy
  Compared to thee, my son
• "Kooks", which David Bowie wrote soon after the birth of his son Zowie.
• Disciple has More, a song about the singer's love for his child and his hopes that their life and relationship with God will be even better than his own.
• Ed Sheeran's "Small Bump", in which the narrator sings a lullaby to his unborn child, promising to always love and protect them. The last few lines reveal that the mother miscarried.
• Eddy Arnold's "That Little Boy of Mine".
• Eminem's most positive muse is his daughter Hailie (and later, the rest of his children). He has written several... though some get dark in tone.
  • "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" is, by Word of God, a song about how much Marshall loves his daughter, but it is also a Murder Ballad about Slim Shady getting her to help him dispose of the body of his murdered wife after she tried Taking the Kids.
  • "Hailie's Song" is a song to her in which Eminem expresses delight that he's been awarded custody of his daughter after her mother tried to prevent him seeing her.
  • "My Dad's Gone Crazy" is a variation where Hailie cheers on Slim Shady as he closes out the album with the foulest and most horrible shock comedy he can spit.
  • "Mockingbird" recounts the hard times Marshall had looking after her and his promise to always be with her.
  • "When I'm Gone" is about Eminem abandoning fame in order to dedicate more time to his daughters.
  • "Castle" is an Age-Progression Song in which Marshall writes letters to his daughter throughout her childhood, following the first half of his career from a struggling rapper to a superstar to a depressed, fat drug addict.
• "Spaceship" by Andy Grammer is about his unborn child and how excited he is to be a father.
• "Tina" was written for Frank Sinatra about his youngest child.
• "You've Got A Home" by Fanny.
• Heartland's "I Loved Her First."
  But I loved her first
  I held her first
  And a place in my heart
  Will always be hers
• "Mordred's Lullaby" by Heather Dale is a tragic and dysfunctional version.
• HoneyWorks has "Mama", a song that expresses a mother's unconditional love for her daughter.
• "Welcome Little Girl" by Eurobeat act HRG United.
• INXS had keyboardist Andrew Farriss write "Beautiful Girl" and "Baby Don't Cry" about his daughter.
• "Glory" by Jay-Z, to the point of recording his daughter's first sounds after she was born, including them in the song, and crediting her as "featuring B.I.C." (for Blue Ivy Carter).
• "For Bobbie," written by John Denver, was retitled "For Baby" when Mary Travers heard it as something she could sing to her daughter.
  I'll walk in the rain by your side,
  I'll cling to the warmth of your hand.
  I'll do anything to keep you satisfied,
  I'll love you more than anybody can.
  • Denver's Christmas song "A Baby Just Like You" was partly written for his son Zachary and partly commissioned by Frank Sinatra for his granddaughter Angela.
• "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon, about his son Sean.
• "You Ruined Everything" by Jonathan Coulton. It's a lot sweeter than the title would have you believe.
  You ruined everything... in the nicest way.
  • Also by Jonathan Coulton is "When you go", written from a parent's perspective that has to say goodbye to a now grown up child (going away to college, getting married, or going into the military as per Word of God).
• Johnny Mercer wrote "Mandy Is Two" to celebrate his daughter's reaching her second year. One year later, he updated it as "Mandy Is Three."
• "To Zion" by Lauryn Hill is about her first child, Zion.
• "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack is a mother addressing her daughter.
• "I'm Already There" by Lonestar. A man who's on the road calls up his family and tells his children that he's with them in spirit if not in fact.
• "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton is this to her then-infant daughter Maya Rudolph. She even chants "Maya" during the last chorus.
• Paul Williams' "You and Me Against the World," as made famous by Helen Reddy.
  Remember when the circus came to town
  And you were frightened by the clown,
  Wasn't it nice to be around someone that you knew,
  Someone who was big and strong and looking out for
  
  You and me against the world,
  Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world
  And for all the times we've cried I always felt that
  God was on our side.
• Madonna's 1998 album Ray of Light includes the song "Little Star," written about her daughter, Lourdes.
• The Mills Brothers' "Daddy's Little Girl".
• Mötley Crüe had "Brandon", where Tommy Lee wrote about his firstborn. In his autobiography, he remembers how it always got a negative reception played live, commenting "I wasn’t writing a love ballad, I was writing a song about the most amazing thing that’s ever happened in my life. I was writing a song about my son. What, are the dudes in Mötley never supposed to write songs about anything but drugs, chicks, and played-out rock-and-roll bullshit until we die? Guess so. Thanks superfans, that’s tight! You guys really love us."
• Olivia Newton-John released an album full of lullabies and other Parental Love Songs, Warm and Tender, in 1990. The track list includes standards such as "The Way You Look Tonight," "Over the Rainbow" and "When You Wish Upon a Star" as well several lullabies and a cover of Dionne Warwick's hit "Reach Out for Me," which was released as a single.
• Aside from the aforementioned "You'll Be in My Heart", Phil Collins has written a couple of these for his own children.
  • From But Seriously, there's "Father to Son", about a father offering advice (mostly dealing with women) to his son; Collins' son Simon was growing up around this time.
  • Later, Testify features the song "Come With Me", in which the father promises to make the world that much brighter for his children. Collins first came up with the song as a lullaby not long after his daughter Lily was born, and later completed the song and put it on the album after his son Nicholas was born.
• "In My Arms" by Plumb is a promise of protection and love for her son.
• "Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky)" by Radiohead mixes this with a little Protest Song.
• Rod Stewart's "Forever Young", which he wrote for his children after realizing that touring was causing him to miss out on their lives.
• Sade
  • "Babyfather" is about the joys of parenthood, and especially the devotion of fathers.
    Oh child don't you know
    Your daddy love come with a lifetime guarantee
  • There's also "The Sweetest Gift", clearly dedicated to Sade Adu's child.
• Sandra Boynton's "Snuggle Puppy", going by the illustrations, is one of these sung from a dog to his puppy.
  Oh, snuggle puppy of mine
  Everything about you is especially fine
  I love what you are; I love what you do
  Fuzzy little snuggle puppy, I love you!
• "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" by The Smiths is by a father promising to protect his innocent son.
• Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely?" is the singer's thoughts upon knowing he has a newborn daughter. Being blind, Stevie is unable to actually see is daughter, but he just knows she's beautiful anyway. The album version includes audio of his then-infant daughter being born and, later, of him playing with her in the bathtub.
• "A Woman's Song" by The Style Council - Paul Weller's band after The Jam - is about a mother comforting her baby, after having almost everything taken away from her and only sees consolation in said baby and his/her future.
• "Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift.
• "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw
• "Just the Two of Us" by Will Smith is about his relationship with his son Trey (from his first marriage).
• Ben Folds has two, one for each of his twins: "Still Fighting It" for his son Noah, and "Gracie" for his daughter of the same name.
• P!nk's "Run" reads as one of these, sung from the perspective of a mother telling her child that, if they feel like there's nowhere else for them to turn, they can always come back to her.
  "Take the best of what I've got
  You know no matter what
  Before you walk away
  You know you can
  Run
  Run
  Run
  Back to my arms
  Back to my arms!"
  • Her song "Fucking Perfect" isn't directed at her child specifically, so much as little girls in general, though the music video ends with the singer singing it to her daughter, hoping that she'll have an easier childhood than she did.
• The instrumental piece "Ballade pour Adeline" by Richard Clayderman was originally composed by Paul de Senneville for his daughter.
• Athlete's "Wires" is a particularly poignant Parental Love Song about the lead singer's child struggling for life (the child was born prematurely and had other medical problems) and the realisation that the child his now happy and healthy.
• "Dear Daughter," by Halestorm, mother to daughter. Unlike other songs on this list, it was inspired by a conversation Lzzy Hale had with her own mother, rather than being an ode to her child.
• "Show Me" by The Pretenders is supposedly about the birth of Chrissie Hynde's first child, although some have suggested it's actually about baby ''Jesus, as the baby in the song definitely is described with some Messianic Archetype traits.
• "You Gotta Be.." by Des'ree seems like a Pep-Talk Song, and advice given from a mother to child (most likely her daughter.)
• "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride is sung from the perspective of a mother finding strength in her daughter's admiration of her.
• The second half of Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun" covers this trope as Tim tells his "jet-lagged infant daughter" that once his family gathers for Christmas, she will be "passed around the room like a puppy in a primary school", before reminding her that, no matter what happens, her family are the people who will love and support her.
• The first verse of Alec Benjamin's "If We Have Each Other" is about a young, pregnant woman reassuring her unborn baby that even if life is hard, as long as they have each other, everything will be okay.
  The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad
  If we got each other, and that's all we have
  I will be your mother, and I'll hold your hand
  You should know I'll be there for you
  When the world's not perfect, when the world's not kind
  If we have each other, then we'll both be fine
  I will be your mother, and I'll hold your hand
  You should know I'll be there for you
• My Chemical Romance's lead singer, Gerard Way, wrote The Light Behind Your Eyes for his newborn daughter.
• Rico Nasty's "Chicken Nugget" is a Surprisingly Gentle Song about her son Cameron, and overcoming the struggles being a teen single mother for him.
  Remember when your head was the size of my palm?
  Remember when I heard your heartbeat for once?
  How could I love something I've never known?

Theatre

• Carrie (the musical version) has, as you might expect, a fairly twisted version. A few of them, in fact.
• Cesare - Il Creatore che ha distrutto has Rodrigo Borgia singing one to his illegitimate son Cesare in a flashback to when Cesare was seven years old, when Rodrigo first brought him to Rome to train him to inherit whatever Rodrigo could get for him.
  Everything I hold,
  I'll bestow on you, Cesare
  Out of all of my children,
  You're my favorite, Cesare,
  You're the greatest gift God has given me,
  My little emperor, Cesare,
  • It really makes you remember that, while he wasn't a good person, his crimes weren't that different from those of all the other Renaissance popes, and the real reasons for the Historical Villain Upgrade that tends to attach to him were that he was foreign, and he loved his illegitimate children too much. Here, for once, he gets a more positive portrayal.
• Cross Road — Niccolo Paganini's mother sings "Casa Nostalgia" to him when he was sick as a baby, and it seems to have saved his life. The song recurs as a leitmotif throughout the musical.
• "Father to Son" from the musical Falsettos. Divorced father singing to his son, giving him the advice to go his own way, and he'll be proud.
• In the short-lived 101 Dalmatians the Musical, one of the puppies asks her mother Missus if she's pretty, and Missus sings "My Sweet Child" in response, a song about how she loves her.
• "Mushnik and Son" from Little Shop of Horrors is Mushnik's "proposal" to adopt Seymour as his son.
• Kiss of the Spider Woman - Molina's mother sings "You Could Never Shame Me" to Molina about how she is still proud of him even though he went to jail.
• "My Child Will Forgive Me" from Parade is about a mother trying to cope with her guilt after her daughter is murdered.
• "This Time Tomorrow" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Aunt Polly, watching her sleeping nephew, muses on time and growing older and promises him that
  One thing is certain
  No matter what you do
  This time tomorrow
  I will still be loving you.
• From Sweeney Todd, the reprise of "Johanna". Played with, however, in that Todd muses affectionately on Johanna, but ultimately shows no desire to get back to her. He realizes he would be disappointed if she isn't a Generation Xerox of her mother, but if she is one, then it would hurt him too much to see her (or alternately, he's concerned that he might develop unfatherly feelings for her), so he decides that he prefers just to dream of her.
  And though I'll think of you I guess, until the day I die,
  I think I miss you less and less as every day goes by.
• In Les Misérables, Fantine sings lovingly to a hallucination of Cosette during her dying song "Come to Me," while in "In My Life," Valjean sings briefly of how he wishes he could end Cosette's loneliness and make her fully happy.
• In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "If Your Mother Were Here" is sung by Charlie's parents when he falls into a blue funk over the Golden Ticket search. Each parent thinks the other could do a better job of cheering him up, and both wish they could give the boy the life he deserves because he's such a light in their lives. In the process, the song also affirms their love for each other.
• "I'd Give My Life For You" from Miss Saigon. It's sung by a single mother to her toddler son, about how she loves him more than anything and would gladly give her life for him. She keeps her word at the end of the play.
• "The I Love You Song" from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a particularly depressing one, since Olive's parents aren't actually there, and she's only imagining what she wishes they would tell her.
• "Min astrakan"/"Summer Rose" from Kristina from Duvemåla, sung by Kristina to her newborn son Danjel. The main theme of the song is actually about her love for Sweden, a country he will never see, and how she will tell him all about it but it's ripe with love and affection from mother to newborn.
• "Dear Theodosia" from Hamilton has Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton gushing over their respective children, Theodosia Burr and Philip Hamilton, and promising to build a wonderful nation for them to grow up in.
• "I Can't Wait" from Bright Star sung by teenage parents Alice and Jimmy Ray to their unborn child, as they promise to stand by their child and each other forever. This doesn't exactly go as planned.
• Dear Evan Hansen has the song "So Big/So Small," in which Heidi explains to Evan how his father left them when he was young and how no matter how bad things get, she will always love and be there for her son from here on out.
  • A cut song, "In The Bedroom Down The Hall", is a duet between Heidi and Cynthia, in which they both sing of how they're willing to do anything for their sons.
• The Lightning Thief, the adaptation of the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, has "Strong".
• The musical adaptation of Ever After has one combined with a Villain Song in "After All", where Rodmilla sings about the love a mother has for her child. It's not as heartwarming in context, because of the hypocrisy of Rodmilla musing about the "unbreakable bond" between mother and child, while cruelly mistreating her younger daughter Jacqueline and her stepdaughter Danielle. Even when she speaks of Marguerite, her favorite daughter, she's mainly speaking about her hopes that Marguerite will marry the prince and become the queen of France. Not because she wants her daughter to be happy, but because marrying into royalty will make Rodmilla wealthy again.
  What would a mother not do for her child?
  What lengths would a mother not go?
  There’s a bond that exists between mother and child
  Ah, but then again...how would you know?
• Romeo et Juliette: De La Haine a l'Amour has Lord Capulet sing about his fatherly love for Juliet after betrothing her to Paris in "Avoir une Fille" ("To Have a Daughter"). The Nurse also has one before she takes Juliet to marry Romeo in "Et Voilà qu'Elle Aime" ("And Now She Loves").
• "He's My Boy" from Everybody's Talking About Jamie is sung by Jamie's mother, about how she will never stop loving her son.
• & Juliet has Angelique, Juliet's nurse, assure her that no matter what she thinks Juliet is "Fuckin' Perfect" in her eyes.
• Another subversion is “Raincoat of Love” from Fun Home It’s a cheerful number In the Style of The Partridge Family, but it’s also a fantasy Alison uses to cope with her severely Big, Screwed-Up Family.
• Black Friday has "What Tim Wants", where Tom laments the loss of his wife, his inability to be there for his son, Tim, and the growing divide between the two. In it's reprise, he realises his grief for Jane is what's pushing him and his son apart, and that Tim never wanted a Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll- all he wanted was his dad to be there for him.
  I don't say it enough
  I'm scared you blame me for mom, scared you blame me for your luck
  But there's no end, there's no end
  There's no end to how much I love...
• Children of Eden has "Father's Day" in which Father aka. God, while watching Adam and Eve sleep, muses on how much He loves His children.
• A Strange Loop: "Periodically" begins as a heartfelt musical voicemail to Usher from his mother on his 26th birthday about how she's the one who loves him most. However, it derails into her preaching at him for being gay and imploring him to change his ways so he doesn't go to hell, though she never stops claiming she loves him and insists she's just saying this for his own good.

Video Games

• Cherie's version of Let's Go On from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.
• Rakuen has two parents that sing their regarding child a lullaby: Tony and Mom.
  Mom: Close your eyes, I am here and everything will be alright. I am right here by your side as we go walking through the night

Web Animation

• "You Can't Get Things to Change" from Episode One of Of Weasels And Chickens, although Aurelia is singing a very pessimistic message to her son.

Web Original

• Unsurprisingly the subject of the non-interactive movie/game Do You Remember My Lullaby? (the titular lullaby can be heard here). Warning: bring tissues.
• Helluva Boss has "You Will Be Okay", which features demon prince Stolas taking his young daughter, Octavia, to a dying star and comforting her with the knowledge that, no matter what, she'll be alright, even if he can't be there for her.
  And when Creation goes to die
  You can find me in the sky
  Upon the last day
  And you will be okay
  

Western Animation

• In the first Darkwing Duck episode, "Darkly Dawns the Duck", Darkwing takes in a young girl called Gosalyn to prevent her from being snatched by the crime boss who killed her grandfather. She tells him about a lullaby her grandfather always used to sing her, "Little Girl Blue." Darkwing sings it, foreshadowing the father/daughter relationship that they're going to share for the rest of the series.
• The DuckTales (2017) episode "Whatever Happened to Della Duck" reveals that Huey, Dewey, and Louie's Missing Mom Della had written a lullaby for them that she used to sing to them before they hatched. For bonus points, the melody is the famous "Moon Theme" from the original show's NES game.
• The Dinosaur Train episode "The Good Mom" ends with Mrs. Pteranodon signing a lullaby to her kids about how no matter what happens, she'll always be their mom.
• In the Hercules: The Animated Series episode "Hercules and the Visit from Zeus", Zach (Zeus in disguise) begins singing a lullaby to calm down the puppy Cerberus. When the two have successfully gotten him to sleep, Hercules interjects in surprise that his human mother Alcmene used to sing him that lullaby. Zeus answers that he always listened.
• Infinity Train has Tuba's song that she sings to Hazel. Hazel says that Tuba sang it to her own children. After Tuba dies, Hazel sings it in memoriam.

Child to Parent

Anime & Manga

• Blood-C has Saya Kisaragi with random mundane songs, who often sings about her much she loves her father. Considering she's voiced by Nana Mizuki... well, see below.

Live-Action TV

• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has a rather unusual one called "Maybe She's Not Such A Heinous Bitch After All", where Rebecca sings about her newly-repaired relationship with her mother Naomi while temporarily under her care following her breakdown. It's unusual in the case that it's not outright loving or sentimental, but rather simply comparing their past and present dynamics, which she calls "a huge step up".
• On Glee, Kurt turns "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" into one of these for his father, who is in the hospital after a heart attack.
• Julie and the Phantoms: Luke wrote "Unsaid Emily" for his parents (more specifically his mother, whose name is referenced in the title) about his regret at running away to join his band, and how he wishes he could make amends and say he still loves them, despite everything.

Music

• "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd is the singer's reminiscence about his mother giving loving advice to him when he was a boy.
  All that I want for you my son, is to be satisfied.
• "Rock and Roll Lullaby" is B.J. Thomas's account of a man looking back on being raised by a teen mom.
• "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift is a daughter reminiscing about the good times she spent with her mother and how thankful she is for those great moments. The video, which is made up of Taylor's home videos makes it clear the song is dedicated to her mom.
  And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm taking this chance to say
  That I had the best day with you today
• "Headlights" by Eminem is an apology to his mother for all that he said about her.
• Nana Mizuki has "Shin'ai" and "Yume no Tsuzuki" as Grief Songs for her late father.
• St. Vincent's song for her mother, "I Prefer Your Love".
• "The Perfect Fan" by Backstreet Boys.
• "A Song for Mama" by Boyz II Men
• "Daddy's Hands" by Holly Dunn
• "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood
• "Mother Like Mine" by The Band Perry
• "Dance with my Father" by Luther Vandross
• "Love, Your Baby Girl" by Sugarland
• "Mama" by Spice Girls
• "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel was written for his mother.
• "Promise to Try" from Madonna's Like a Prayer.
• "Hey Mama" by Kanye West.
• "Because You Loved Me" by Céline Dion was written as a tribute to songwriter Diane Warren's father, although it can double as a romantic love song as well.
• "Silver Thunderbird" by Marc Cohn is an ode to the singer's father. The silver Thunderbird in the title is the car that his father used to drive.
• "Father" by Cat Stevens, in which he expresses a desire to have known his father when he was a younger man.
• A more tragic example is "The Living Years" by Mike + the Mechanics; the song is more of an "I wish my father and I could have put aside our differences while he was still alive" kind of song (it's especially sad considering that songwriters B. A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford had both had strained relationships with their then-recently-deceased fathers, and singer Paul Carrack had lost his own father as a child).
  • Two other tragic examples, this time from a daughter to a mother, are "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" by The Shangri-La's and "I'm Livin' in Shame" by The Supremes, both about young women who regretted the way they treated their mothers (the former ran away after her mother forbade her to see her boyfriend; the latter was embarrassed by her mother's rough mannerisms and disowned her once she grew up) now that said mothers are deceased.
• "Father, Son" by Peter Gabriel, about a son who didn't have the best relationship with his father growing up, but still misses him (inspired by Gabriel's troubled relationship with his own father, but the two did reconcile before the latter's passing).
• "Julia" from The Beatles' The White Album, and John Lennon's solo effort "Mother" (from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band), both written for his late mother.
• "Daddy Lessons" by Beyoncé, in which she reminisces about how her father taught her to be strong and independent.
• "Philomena" by Thin Lizzy is singer Phil Lynott's tribute to his mother.
• "He Wasn't There" by Lily Allen is about a girl glad she didn't give up on her dad when he was a screw up as they have a great relationship now.
• "Not All Heroes Wear Capes" by Owl City was written as a gift to Adam Young's father, talking about how much he loves him and how he's a hero in Adam's eyes.
• Synthwave diva NINA has "'80s Girl", dedicated to her young single mother who bore and raised her in Berlin during the twilight years of the Cold War.
• LANY's "if this is the last time" has the singer promising to spend every moment with his loving parents like it's the last time he'll be able to do so.
• "Mama" from BTS' Wings.
  "Hey mama
  Now you can lean on me I'll always be by your side
  Hey mama
  Because you gave selflessly to me
  Because you were my support
  Hey mama
  Now you can believe in your son, you can smile"
  (English translation)
• "I Loved Being My Mother's Son" by Purple Mountains is a heartbreakingly simplistic Grief Song about Berman's mother.
• "Of Course I Still Love You" by Dylan Brady is a sadder example, being about Brady's relationship with his estranged father and wishing that they could be as close as they were when he was a child again.

Theatre

• In Mame her nephew Patrick tries to cheer her up by pointing out that she's "My Best Girl."
• ''Finale has two:
  • "Adjust Your Thinking," Liam's song to his daughter Dani about how everything he does is to protect her
  • Krista's part of "Leaving You/Me," a song sung to her son Noah about how she wants the best for him.
• In Romeo et Juliette: De La Haine a l'Amour , Juliet expresses her conflict in the cut song "Pourquoi" ("Why"), expressing her love and devotion to her father after she heard him sing his Parent-to-Child love song, but still resenting him for betrothing her to Paris.
• The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals subverts this with "Not Your Seed", where Alice, inected by the alien hivemind, guilttrips Bill with his shortcomings as a father.

I'm not your girl anymore
I'm not that neonate that you drove here for
I'm not your girl anymore
I overtook her body with an infectious spore

• Inverted in Jasper in Deadland; in the song "The Killing", Jasper cites his parents as perfect examples of why Humans Are Bastards.
• From Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... And Beyond! (the stage musical version of Finding Nemo) the song "That's My Dad" is this for Nemo about Marlin.
• Dead Mom from Beetlejuice is about how much Lydia misses her mom.

Video Games

• Thank You from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

Western Animation

• Jem:
  • "A Father Should Be" is sung by Ba Nee about how she thinks her Disappeared Dad is.
  • The song "Family Is..." from the series finale comes up at Ba Nee's going away party after she was reunited with her previously-amnesiac father.
  • Lyrics/Video Mismatch changes certain songs into being about family. For example, the second video to "Take It Or Leave It" is about Riot's problems with his fathers disapproval of his life choices. The lyrics however are clearly about a woman. "Something Is Missing" was originally about Jerrica's earrings going missing while the second version is a Grief Song about how Kimber misses her father.
• In Phineas and Ferb, Candace tries to outdo her brothers in giving their mother the best birthday gift, only to find out they arranged for her to sing a song she had been working on as the party's grand finale. It's short, but incredibly sweet.
  Mom it's your birthday
  Thanks for all the care and love you give
  Not to mention the meals
  At times I get kinda nervous
  And forget to tell you how I feel
  • The song “Not So Bad a Dad” is sung by Vanessa after her dad Dr. Doofenshmirtz gives her a doll that she wanted since she was little.
• Musa from Winx Club has a more-or-less signature song, "Return to Me," which is all about how playing music keeps the memory of her late mother alive.
• The Loud House has "Our Amazing Mother" from the episode "Write and Wrong", sung by the Loud kids about their appreciation for their mother Rita. Their father Lynn Sr. was meant to join in the song too, but he shows up for the song too late.

Both

Film — Animation

• In A Goofy Movie, Goofy and Max sing the duet "Nobody Else But You", about how they still love each other even though they have trouble understanding each other.
• In Balto III: Wings of Change, Jenna sings the song "You Don't Have To Be A Hero" to her mate Balto. The song is about he needs to be there for his son Kodi.

Film — Live-Action

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has "You Too," mostly sung by Caractacus Potts to his children Jemima and Jeremy, but with a few lines sung to him by the children too.

Literature

• The verse in Love You Forever sung by the mother to her son. Inverted at the end when he sings it to her.
  I'll love you forever
  I'll like you for always
  As long as I'm living
  My baby/mommy you'll be

Music

• "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. A father sings about his daughter growing up, using the metaphor of Cinderella disappearing at midnight. Made much Harsher in Hindsight when the daughter he wrote the song for died tragically after accidentally being run over by an older sibling's car while still a young child. Not only did his daughter never experience those coming of age landmarks in the song, but the entire theme of "All too soon, the clock will strike midnight, and she'll be gone," takes on a much darker and sadder meaning.
• "Ready, Set, Don't Go", a duet between Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus.
• Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" subverts the trope - the father named his son "Sue" out of misplaced love, to toughen him up and give him lots of fighting experience.
• "Lose My Life With You" from !HERO: The Rock Opera, which is a duet with Hero and his mother both singing about the main character having to give up the family life he had to become the prophesied Messiah.
• Conway Twitty's "That's My Job" between the narrator and his father. The first two sections are about the singer's father reassuring him after the singer has a nightmare of his dad dying as a small child, followed by the father supporting the singer's dreams of go out west to start his music career despite the two fighting constantly during the singer's teenage years. The final section of the song is the singer eulogizing his late father.

Theatre

• "I Don't Need Anything But You" from Annie is a duet between her and Daddy Warbucks about how glad they both are that they've been reunited and the adoption has gone ahead.
  Together at last
  Together forever
  We're tying a knot
  They never can sever
  I don't need sunshine now
  To turn my skies to blue
  I don't need anything but you!
• Aspects of Love - George sings "The First Man You Remember" to his daughter, Jenny, and she sings it back to him. George initiates the song because Jenny is wearing her mother's dress.
• Beauty and the Beast contains "No Matter What", which starts with Maurice reassuring Belle after she expresses insecurity because of the townsfolk gossiping about her strangeness. It turns into a mutual love song between an outcast father and daughter who love each other regardless of anyone else's opinion.
• "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd is a particularly tragic example. Toby sings it to his adoptive mother Mrs. Lovett, who sings it back to him...right before telling Todd that He Knows Too Much and they'll have to kill him.
  Nothing's gonna harm you
  Not while I'm around
  Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir/Toby
  Not while I'm around.
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee features a song called, creatively enough, "The I Love You Song," reconciling Olive (who has abandonment issues) with her parents; her father works late and her mother is at an ashram in India.
• Billy Elliot has "The Letter" - literally a letter left to Billy by his dead mother, which is (heartbreakingly) sung aloud at one point. At the end of the musical, Billy writes a sort of farewell letter to the hallucination of his mother that's been following him around, using more-or-less the exact same words back at her.
  And please Billy/Mammy,
  Know that I will always be
  Proud to have known you.
  Proud that you were mine.
  Proud in everything.
• Everybody's Talking About Jamie has "My Man, Your Boy", initiated by Jamie to his mother, Margaret.

Web Animation

• RWBY: "Red Like Rose Part II" is a song between Ruby and her deceased mother Summer.

Western Animation

• Hazbin Hotel has "More than Anything", a duet between Charlie and Lucifer as they open up to each other about how much they care for each other and their desire to reconnect after years of drifting apart, as well as the latter affirming his belief in his daughter's dream.
  Both: Cause in the end, you are part of who I am.
  Lucifer: I'll support your dream, whatever lies in store.
  Charlie: And who could ask for more?
  Lucifer: More than anything,
  Charlie: More than anything,
  Lucifer: More than anything,
  Charlie: More than anything,
  Both: I'm grateful you're my father/daughter more than anything.
• I ♡ Arlo: Arlo and Ansel have "In the Blue", a heartfelt duet about the two sharing a father-son fishing trip and express how much they have to catch up on now that the two are back together.
• Steven Universe
  • One episode has a song called "Dear Old Dad", having Greg and Steven mainly reminiscing about how they used to do more things together as Greg stays in Steven's place to heal up his foot.
  • The Movie has a sibling-to-sibling variation, "No Matter What", a Call-and-Response Song that Steven sings to a memory-wiped Amethyst to help her remember everything they've done together.
  Steven: In the dark of the night...
  Amethyst: In the dark of the night...
  Steven: In the light of the day...
  Amethyst: In the light of the day...
  Steven: When you're rising to shine...
  Amethyst: When you're rising to shine...
  Steven: When you're hitting the hay...
  Amethyst: When you're hitting the hay...
  Steven: I'll be hanging around...
  Amethyst: I'll be hanging around...
  Steven: If you like it or not...
  Amethyst: If you like it or not...
  Both: I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what!

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