As you may know, my husband Ian (The Producer himself) and I run a weekly Karaoke night at a local pizza place. While I consider myself pretty knowledgeable in terms of music, karaoke keeps me humble by continually showing me what I don’t know. Cos let’s be real, I like what I like, and I pretty much ignore everything else, but karaoke doesn’t allow that—I have to play what is requested. And this has opened me up to all kinds of material I wouldn’t have heard otherwise, and that’s kinda awesome. It expands my harmonic horizons, you might say.
So part of what inspired this playlist is one of our newer karaoke regulars, a little girl named Addie (I don’t know how old she is exactly, but I want to say middle school aged) who can SING. And a song she does regularly is one I hadn’t heard before from Rachel Platten called Girls. Platten is mainly known for her iconic anthem Fight Song, and I can’t remember if I’ve heard any others of hers or not—I don’t spend much time with mainstream pop music. A little, but not much. Anyway, when I heard Girls, it got my attention, and I did a little research. She wrote this track for her daughters, and it is a beautiful message of empowerment. If you want to learn more about the story behind the song, check out this article from people.com. Anyway, it got me thinking, I know of several other songs artists had written for their kids—my husband and I have done that, ourselves—so what else is out there? So I did a little more digging and come up with a few more. This is not an extensive list, by any means, and because I’m snobby, I didn’t include any songs or artists I actively dislike. But I do believe any parent (or parent-to-be) can find something they can relate to here.
As is my newer practice, I’ll include both a Spotify playlist and one from YouTube Music. And as has always been my practice, I’ll give a little commentary on most or all of the songs and why I chose them. As you may have guessed, I named this Baby Mine after the song from Dumbo, which is admittedly kinda odd since I don’t even like that movie. (I love elephants, but not sad movies.) Oh well. Here are the lists:
NOTES
Filament and Crybaby, by Kristen Malcolm: Yes, my own songs are on the list. I’m super proud of both of these tracks! Filament was written by Ian when our daughter Betsy was two months old, and he later had me record vocals for it. Then one night in May of last year, he and I sat down together to write a song; Betsy was sick and I was completely worn out from taking care of her, and I poured my heart out into what became Crybaby. You can read the stories behind the songs in the following Substack posts:
Filament
Suffice it to say, being newly married with a new baby at age forty is a game changer. Of course any new baby is, but adding that other stuff too, as well as each of us already having a teenager, and oh yeah, throw in the Down Syndrome thing and multiple surgeries as well…sometimes I can’t believe how different my life is from what it was three years ag…
Crybaby
So it was a tossup whether I’d share this on my own Substack, the Upside Downs, or my husband Ian’s, The Producer. Pretty sure this is going to show up on both, so either way you’ll get to see it.
Anyway, Crybaby is not available on YouTube music, but since they do allow me to include videos from regular YouTube on the list, I included the lyric video from my channel.
One of Us and Mine to Love, by Dave Barnes: Both of these songs were written for Dave’s firstborn, Ben, for the album Stories to Tell. When this came out, my own firstborn, Miranda, was about three, and both songs immediately made me start bawling. I was kinda sad these songs weren’t around yet when she was in utero and newborn, and I say that because One of Us was written for Ben before he was born, whereas Mine to Love was for right after his birth. I like to share these songs with new and expectant parents. Anyway, the stupid part of all this is that when I had Betsy, my youngest, I completely forgot about these songs. I didn’t think of them again until she was almost a year old. Ugh, what a waste.
If you’ve never listened to Dave Barnes before, do it. You may have heard one of his songs without knowing it—Blake Shelton’s ballad God Gave Me You? Yeah, that’s a Dave original (and of course, I like the original version much better). Check him out!
Beautiful Boy, by John Lennon: Honestly one of the first songs that came to mind when I began this list. I don’t actually know the song very well—I remember first hearing about it from the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus. John Lennon wrote Beautiful Boy for Sean, the son he shared with Yoko Ono. Having settled down from the crazy Beatles life, he poured his heart and soul into parenting Sean, something he wasn’t able to do with his first son, Julian. This tune is a loving tribute to his beloved child.
With Arms Wide Open, by Creed: Again, this is of the first songs that came to mind when I started this list. I remember being in college and arguing with some friends about what this song was actually about, which to me seemed obvious—Scott Stapp wrote it after finding out he was going to be a father. But I had some classmates that swore it was about the death of a child, and that child being welcomed to Heaven by God. Yeah, they were wrong. Stapp wrote it (along with bandmate Mark Tremonti handling the music) when he found out his wife was carrying their first child, Jagger. Speaking of Mark Tremonti, he and his wife Victoria are well known Down Syndrome advocates, as they welcomed beautiful Trisomy baby Stella in March 2021. You can read an inspiring article about them here.
Cecilia And The Satellite, by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness: I remember hearing this song all the time when it was new in 2014, and I always thought it was sweet. Written for Andrew’s daughter Cecilia, the lyrics are affectionate without seeming corny at all. My favorite line: “For all the things my hands have held,
The best by far is you.” And embarassed as I am to admit this, I always heard the lyrics wrong, and didn’t know it at all until I was looking them up to write this. The song is called Cecilia and the Satellite, and that’s what I heard when I listened to it….but the lyrics actually say, “Don’t be afraid Cecilia, I’m the satellite, and you’re the sky.” So the song title is referring to his daughter and himself, and that makes much more sense. Nice little facepalm moment for me there.
Isn’t She Lovely, by Stevie Wonder: This is the opening track for Wonder’s 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life, written for his daughter Aisha. It’s such a happy, celebratory song with a catchy melody (gotta love that harmonica, too!) and lyrics that are so heartfelt and joyful, you just can’t dislike this one. You can’t.
Girls, by Rachel Platten: I’ve said a lot about this one already, so here is the music video, and it can speak for itself.
Sail To The Moon, by Radiohead: I’m a ‘90s girl at heart, that will never change, and Radiohead has been a band that’s meant a lot to me. Their album OK Computer is one of my favorite albums of all time, an absolute masterpiece from start to finish, with zero skips. Despite this, I kinda stopped listening to them (or rather just didn’t continue cos I just somehow missed out on their new stuff) after the Kid A album. Sail to the Moon was written by frontman Thom Yorke for his son, and can be found on 2003’s Hail to the Thief. The song is brief, but full of hope for his son’s future and who he’ll turn out to be, how he might one day change the world. I’ll even include the entire lyrics here (although depending on the site you use to look them up, the first line is either “I sailed the moon” or “I sucked the moon.” Personally, I think it sounds more like the latter). As usual, Yorke’s haunting voice brings an ethereal air to this lullabye tune. Probably not everyone will appreciate this one, but I love it.
I sucked the moon
I spoke too soon
And how much did it cost?
I was dropped from moonbeams
And sailed on shooting stars
Maybe you'll be president
But know right from wrong
Or in the flood
You'll build an ark
And sail us to the moon
Sail us to the moon
Sail us to the moon
Sail us to the moon
I Love You So Much, by DJ Khaled and Chance the Rapper: Found on DJ Khaled’s 2017 album Grateful, this cheerful bop of a tune guest stars Chance the Rapper, who is also a father, and is full of praise and affirmations for Khaled’s son Asahd. It’s hard not to smile as you listen as he tells him he’s “the greatest that ever did it,” “born blessed”, “a legend,” “my biggest blessing ever,” and so on. Besides these loving affirmations, you’ll also hear the ABCs and those silly teaching questions we ask our littles while changing their diaper, like “Where your eyes at, or where your nose at?” One of the online articles I looked at was called I Love DJ Khaled's 'I Love You So Much' So Much, and yeah, I get it.
I Can’t Wait to Meet You, by David Ryan Harris: This is one I didn’t know until I was looking for songs for the playlist. It is a beautiful song full of the glorious anticipation and wonderment of awaiting a baby boy. The imagery throughout the lyrics can be related to by any parent—the rocking chair in the corner, the new blue curtains, the blanket handmade by grandma, and imagining them in your arms as you sing them to sleep. This song is lovely, and I’m glad I found it.
Dusty, by Ed Sheeran: Ed is one of those artists that you can tell exactly what has been going on in their lives by listening to their albums (Dave Barnes is another great example of this), and through their music you can clearly see how major life events (such as becoming a parent) have shaped them as a person. Every parent can relate to the first line of Dusty: “I heard you callin', now my eyes are open,” and the rest of it speaks to me at an even deeper level. Sharing music with my children, especially songs that are important to me, feels like both a great privelege and a sacred duty.
Flick a finger
Start a discussion to pick a singer
This one, you'll love it, I had to bring her
Just let the speakers take you away
Songs that have helped to shape and guide me through every phase of my life, as well as culturally iconic tunes that everyone needs to know—they are a part of me, as my two girls are now, too. While I’ve never really listened to Dusty Springfield, I absolutely get the joy of sharing the music I love with the literal human embodiments of love in my life. Not to mention the pleasure of playing actual vinyl records on an actual record player—there’s nothing like it. I started my eldest (now 15) building her own record collection when she was maybe 10 or 11, and she’s really starting to get it now. This is a wonderful song, and I love it. “Yesterday was a long night, but I got a feeling that the future is so bright.”
So that’s my list. Can you think of other Parent to Child songs that you love? What songs make you think of your kiddos, and what music have you absolutely loved sharing with them? Let me know in the comments!
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