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June 19, 2022 8:16 am  #1


Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

I can think of a dozen songs a radio station doing a countdown might play for Mother's Day - "Mama" by B.J. Thomas, a tune with a similar name by Connie Francis, even Mother Mary from the Beatles' "Let It Be". There are a lot more. Even "I'm Living In Shame" By the Supremes paints mom in a better light than her daughter. 

But when it comes to fathers, it's harder to play a positive Top 10. Outside of "My Dad" by Paul Petersen and "Color Him Father" from the Winstons, I'm hard pressed to think of a song about dad in which he's not portrayed as an outright scoundrel - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" by the Temptations is among the first that come to mind. Daddy also left in O.C. Smith's "Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp." And on and on it goes. 

Any other dad-positive songs you can think of from the oldies category? I'm hard pressed to come up with any more. Either way, Happy Father's Day to the oldies-loving dads out there. You deserve better in the music world!

 

June 19, 2022 1:17 pm  #2


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

The Men in My Little Girl's Life
Daddy Sang Bass - Johnny Cash
My Heart Belongs To Daddy - Marilyn Monroe
Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast - Wayne Newton
Daddy's Home - Shep and The Limelites
My Daddy Knows Best - Marvelettes
Oh! My Papa - Eddie Fisher
Papa Loves Mambo - Perry Como

Last edited by Taz (June 19, 2022 2:41 pm)

 

June 19, 2022 2:56 pm  #3


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

aflem wrote:

I'm hard pressed to think of a song about dad in which he's not portrayed as an outright scoundrel -

Reminds me of an epitaph I once read on a little wooden headstone in a gift shop
 
Mama loved papa
Papa loved women
Mama caught papa
With two in swimmin’
Here lies papa
 

 

June 19, 2022 4:02 pm  #4


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

aflem wrote:

Happy Father’s Day to those lucky enough to still have their fathers or are one. This seems an auspicious time to bring up something I’ve always wondered about: there are a ton of songs about wonderful mothers. But there just aren’t that many positive ones about dear old dad. I’ve always been curious about why that is.
 
The only oldies I can think of that present a nice image of the pater familias are:
 
-My Dad by Paul Petersen
-Color Him Father by The Winstons and maybe
-Patches by Clarence Carter
 
Other than that, dads are often portrayed as either scoundrels or distant if they’re mentioned in song at all. Consider:
 
-Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations
-Cat’s In The Cradle by Harry Chapin
-Daddy Could Swear, I Declare by Gladys Knight & The Pips
-The Living Years by Mike & The Mechanics  

And then there are those where dad is leaving for some reason.
 
-You Better Sit Down Kids by Cher (in which he leaves as he gets ready to divorce mom)
-Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast, Wayne Newton (See above)
-Don’t Cry Daddy from Elvis Presley (And again)
-Father & Son by Cat Stevens (in which the kid can’t wait to get away from his old man.)
-Someday Never Comes by CCR (He leaves the kid behind at the start of the song)
-Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp by O.C. Smith (Dad takes off with another woman)
 
Sad that fathers have been so neglected or denigrated in the music we grew up with. I only wish mine was still here. He definitely was one of the great ones. 

 
I thought I remembered posting Mike Douglas’ "The Man in My Little Girl's Life" in a thread before.
 
https://oldies.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=559

 

June 20, 2022 8:46 am  #5


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

Former CHUM announcer Roger Ashby featured songs about fathers on his oldies show yesterday. A couple that he played that haven't been mentioned:
Daddy's Little Girl - Al Martino
Father Knows Best - The Radiants

 

June 20, 2022 8:58 am  #6


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

Don't Cry Daddy by Elvis was mentioned. Here's another one by The King: "My Boy." It's the story of a dad who was going to leave his wife and son, but decides at the end of the song that he'll live with their differences in order to "stay here and watch you grow."  

     Thread Starter
 

June 20, 2022 9:09 am  #7


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

And although Don't Cry Daddy is a sad song about a father who's on his own, I've always felt that it portrays the father positively in that his sons are still with him and that the older one is trying to comfort him. The lyrics don't make it clear as to what has happened, but given how sad the father is (along with the children still being with him) I've felt that they would be consistent with the mother having died or having left them. 

 

June 20, 2022 9:55 am  #8


Re: Why Are There So Few Positive Father's Day Oldies?

aflem wrote:

Don't Cry Daddy by Elvis was mentioned. Here's another one by The King: "My Boy." It's the story of a dad who was going to leave his wife and son, but decides at the end of the song that he'll live with their differences in order to "stay here and watch you grow."  

Just thought of another song about a father that has lyrics mentioning "my boy" and watching him grow: Watching Scotty Grow by Bobby Goldsboro. 
 

 

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