If the father figures in your life are insistent on not needing any Father’s Day gifts this year, why not present him with a carefully curated playlist of Father’s Day songs? From memory-evoking ballads to those jams you used to sing together in the car, the best tracks can express just how much your dad, stepdad, grandfather, uncle, or mentor means to you.
And there is absolutely no wrong way to handpick the best songs for the day. It’s all about what speaks to you—and Dad, of course. Every genre can be represented in these songs about dads, whether that’s transcendental chart-toppers like The Beatles, emphatic anthems of love from Stevie Wonder, or the Motown sound of Jackson 5. Everything from folklore storytelling to earworm pop songs to R&B dance tracks have all been the soundtrack to father-daughter bonding moments.
Over the aux or on vinyl, here are the best Father’s Day songs to jam to with the father figure in your life.
“Daddy’s Little Girl” by Michael Bublé (2002)
There’s no greater feeling than being heralded as the apple of your father’s eye. In this early-aughts rendition of the classic, first recorded by Steve Conway in 1950, Michael Bublé’s heavenly lilt is the most pleasant way to revel in your father’s love. —Mia Uzzell, editorial intern
“Aja” by Steely Dan (1977)
Dads—including my own—love to wax poetic about how Aja is the band’s best album, and on Father’s Day, you have to give it to them. —Samantha Reed, senior trending news & entertainment editor
“Song for Dad” by Keith Urban (2002)
The perfect reminder that the best—and most cringiest—part of growing up is realizing you’re turning exactly into your father. —M.U.