3 Classic Rock Songs About Parents

It can be hard to write songs about parenthood. It’s easy to be too mushy, too overly sentimental. Or it can be cliche or even too specific that it’s not relatable for others. But when the feat is achieved, when the work is done right, it hits you right in your heart and you wonder if there could really be anything better out there.

Here below, we wanted to dive into three such offerings. Three classic rock songs that highlight parenthood and do it in such a way that it both resonates and sticks in your mind. A trio of tracks that hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs about parenthood.

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“My Father’s Eyes” by Eric Clapton from Pilgrim (1998)

Written later in guitarist Eric Clapton’s career, perhaps as he was getting more reflective about his own life, this song earned the artist a a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and was inspired by the reality that Clapton never met his dad. It’s about the absence of parenthood, in some ways. Clapton, who also wrote one of the saddest songs ever about the death of his 4-year-old son (“Tears in Heaven”), tried to imagine in the song what it was like to meet his dad. In it, he sings,

Sailing down behind the sun
Waiting for my prince to come
Praying for the healing rain
To restore my soul again

Just a toerag on the run
How did I get here?
What have I done?
When will all my hopes arise?
How will I know him?
When I look in my father’s eyes

“Teach Your Children” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from Déjà Vu (1969)

This song was inspired by a 1962 photograph of a child with a mean face holding a toy weapon. That image inspired songwriter Graham Nash to pen this track to parents reminding them and obligating them to do a good job—perhaps a better job—so that their children don’t become angry, embittered, and ready to pick up arms. War is not the answer but perhaps it is what many land on to fill a void or feel a feeling that’s otherwise absent without love at home. On the track, the group sings,

You, who are on the road
Must have a code you try to live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a goodbye

Teach your children well
Their father’s hell did slowly go by
Feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by

“My Father’s House” by Bruce Springsteen from Nebraska (1982)

This song from iconic dad rocker Bruce Springsteen is a warning. It’s about the idea of connection and staying in contact with your family before it’s too late. In it, the singer wakes from a dream about his dad, which compels him to go visit the old man. But when he gets to the house, the singer realizes his father is no longer there. Left with no way to get back in touch, the singer is forced to accept the idea of true absence. It’s a shame when real relationships get to this stage and in this melancholy track, Bruce warns to try not to let it happen to you. He sings,

My father’s house shines hard and bright
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling so cold and alone
Shining ‘cross this dark highway
Where our sins lie unatoned

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