Father's Day
This short song is about a divorced dad who doesn't see his son as often as he would like; it is largely a true story, based on a good friend of mine. The apostrophe before the s in Father's signifies the fact that it is about one father, and is nothing to do with the commercial Fathers' Day for all dads.
She said: “Bring him home on time tonight, it’s a school day tomorrow
And he gets so uptight, every time he spends some time with you”
She’d cut you out of his life if she only could,
But the law won’t allow it, ‘cos a Daddy should
See his child every now and then on Father’s Day.
Chorus 1
On Father’s Day take your son to the zoo
There’s 100 men doing what you do
Playing part-time dad to a child they hardly know
Wishing they could take more time to watch them grow.
-2-
On your desk at work in a picture frame
Smiles a boy you hope won’t forget your name
It’s the only thought that gets you through the day.
You wanted freedom, but you don’t feel free
You recall when the frame held a picture of three
Sometimes you wish things still could be that way
– Middle 8 –
But you’ve made your choices
You can’t complain
When he’s older you promise that you’ll explain
Why you had to leave, and hope he’ll understand
How life doesn’t always work out as it’s planned.
Chorus 2
It’s Father’s Day for a part-time Dad
When you drive him home it always seems so sad
When the front door slams it breaks the spell of Father’s Day
And you wonder will it always hurt this way?
Love the bit about the picture frame. This is a lovely song, and I love the almost spoken delivery.
Many thank, Kris, I appreciate your kind words. To be honest, the almost spoken delivery is because I’m not much of a singer!
This is well written song and is both positive and sad. I believe this is something many kids and dads/mums go through when relationships break down.
Hi Jayne, Thanks for commenting. Sadly, so many relationships go wrong – for whatever reason – and the children get caught in the cross-fire. Although my song is dealing with the negative aspects, I am pleased to say my friend got remarried, and so did his first wife, and the children seem very well-balanced individuals. Merry Christmas, Jayne.
Love the heartfelt lyric particularly Phil. Well done and a vote from me.
Hope you had a good Christmas. Thanks for liking the song – I am pleased (and surprised) by the positive reactions. Thanks for the vote – I loved your song, too – it’s amazing, so will be getting my vote, for sure. Cheers.
So good, such a well written and real lyric, and a reflective take on ‘freedom’. Loved it!
Lovely Phil, tough subject well written, pulled it all together in the middle 8. Get this to Paul Kelly now!
Hi Kyle and Tracy. Sorry to lump you both together with my reply, but I haven’t worked out how to respond to more than more message at a time – the system doesn’t seem to like it.. or more likely it is my ineptitude. Kyle: many thanks for the positive comments, I really appreciate it. I am going to show my ignorance here, but I had never heard of Paul Kelly. However, if he is a miserable sod like me then I will definitely check him out.Any tracks in particular that you could recommend, please? Tracy: you were very kind about this song on the Facebook page, so many thanks for taking the time to comment again on this site. Happy new year guys.
Heartbreaking and youve captured so well what is true for so many. Lovely chords and tune capture the emotion too.
Liking this Phil. Lots of people will relate to this. Really like the semi spoken vibe you’ve got going on there
Really like this Phil, gets my vote!
Thanks Andy, Rebecca and Huw for your kind words. I feel blessed to get so many positive comments from all you guys, who write such great songs. I’d like to pick up on Huw’s point about the ‘semi spoken vibe’: it is a very confessional song so I did what came naturally. However, I don’t have a strong voice, so might persevere with this style. It never did Lou Reed any harm!!! Thanks for the observation, Huw Thanks again, guys.
So well-constructed and sensitively sung, Phil. It never becomes maudlin, which could have happened very easily.
My mind went to friends & family members who made choices, or were affected by the choices others made, and the scars they carry, some well into their old age.
This song poignantly captures the pain that so many non-custodial fathers feel. Well written
Thanks Suzanne and Richard for your kind words. I’m really knocked-out by the positive comments to this song, particularly as I am not a father, but I know my friend, on whom I based the song,(and who had a high-powered job that took up so much of his time) did feel the pain that you mention, Richard. I am interested to by your comment, Suzanne, about ‘choices’. Although the song is about being free, I never made the conection between freedom and choice, which are so closely related. Thanks again, guys.