A few years ago I tried to round up non-creepy father-daughter dance songs, but I struck out with Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl,” which you guys were quick to point out contains the lyrics:
“Making love in the green grass,
Behind the stadium with you,
My brown-eyed girl.”
Yep, that’s pretty creep-tastic. Here are four more similarly awkward songs that I’d pass on:
“Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton
“So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,
I say, ‘My darling, you were wonderful tonight.’
Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight.”
Putting your boyfriend to bed after one too many whiskies? I can see how that might happen. But no girl should have to put her drunk father to bed.
“Sara Smiles” by Hall & Oates
“And when you feel you can't go on,
I'll come and hold you.
It's you, and me forever.”
It might seem sweet, at first listen, especially if your name happens to be Sara/h, but everything changes when you know that the song was reportedly written to cheer up a Sara whose sister was dying of cancer.
“Daughters” by John Mayer
“Girls become lovers who turn into mothers.”
It’s possible that I’m being oversensitive, but I don’t want to think about the lovers/mothers equation when it comes to my kids.
“Tiny Dancer” by Elton John
“But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
”
Bahhhhh! Ears bleeding!
Here’s the father-daughter dance picture I like to trot out for pretty much every father-daughter dance post. We danced to “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart. I just double-checked and it seems creep-free.
Now that we’ve crossed those off the list, here are six father-daughter dance songs with zero cringe-factor:
- “Sweet Pea” by Amos Lee
- “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder
- “Daughter” by Loudon Wainwright III
- “My Girl” by the Temptations
- “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys
- “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” by Billy Joel
Are there any songs that you find creepy for a father-daughter dance? Have you witnessed anything super-awkward?