Top 10 Songs Artists Wrote for Their Children

Joni Mitchell

One of the standouts on Joni Mitchell’s self-reflexive masterpiece “Blue” is a gentle ballad about a newborn. The contemplation on the baby's future cryptically implies that she's being given away. The always haunting classic took on greater meaning in 1993, when a former roommate publicly revealed that Mitchell had a daughter when she was a struggling artist. She was forced to give up Kelly Dale Anderson for adoption in 1966. This revelation led to “Little Green” being reevaluated as one of Mitchell's most personal and courageous lyrics. And its devastating backstory also found a happy ending. In 1997, Kilauren Gibb tracked down her biological mother, and the two have kept in touch ever since.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel’s first tribute to his daughter was “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’”, though the jaunty tune was really about the boat named after her. With “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)”, he shared true paternal tenderness. The song originated as a prelude to a suite, before Joel added lyrics about comforting a child asking difficult questions. His musings on legacy still get pretty deep to be for a seven-year-old. All of this made for a deeply emotional piece that echoed the love ballads of Joel's youth. It thus feels reflective of a new phase in his maturity as a master lyricist. Alexa Ray Joel is now a singer-songwriter herself, whose musical legacy goes back to her father's universally soothing “Lullabye”.

Jay-Z & Beyoncé

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have long been one of pop’s top power couples. In 2012, they became one of the top families. Just two days after the birth of Blue Ivy Carter, Jay-Z expressed his joy with the heartfelt hip-hop anthem “Glory”. His newborn daughter is credited as a featured artist, whose voice is heard on the track. This soon earned her a Guinness World Record as the youngest person ever to appear on the Billboard charts. The following year, she was sampled on the title track of Beyoncé’s album “Blue”. The moving love song complements Jay-Z’s to humble the pop culture titans as proud parents. And it was only the beginning of Blue’s glorious music career.

David Bowie

If the album “Hunky Dory” was mostly David Bowie dealing with his neuroses, one track finds beauty in it. “Kooks” is named for an eccentric couple asking their child to stay in their love story. The folk-pop style was influenced by Neil Young, but Bowie is directly speaking to his and Angie Barnett’s son Duncan Jones. Bowie premiered “Kooks” at a BBC session just four days after becoming a father. The song certainly won over fans as a playful, vulnerable celebration of outsiders and the agency of their offspring. Its legacy was further boosted by Jones growing up to be a talented sci-fi filmmaker. He clearly got his cosmic artistry from his self-described “kooky” dad.

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s 1977 tour was cut short by unthinkable news: singer Robert Plant had lost his five-year-old son Karac to illness. He and John Paul Jones would later articulate this grief with “All My Love”. The synthesizer-driven power ballad was one of the few Zeppelin songs not written by the hard blues rock-oriented Jimmy Page. Some say this stylistic shift, as well as creative and personal conflicts behind the track, symbolized the beginning of the end for the band. But “All My Love” stands out on its own for the dynamic composition and poetic lyrics. Plant’s expression of profound love and longing delivered one of Zeppelin’s most beloved masterpieces, to say nothing of a timeless tribute to Karac Pendragon Plant.

Adele

Adele’s album “25” is a challenging reflection on aging that naturally ends on a hopeful note. At least there’s one man in her life she has nothing but good things to sing about. “Sweetest Devotion” is a powerhouse anthem about Adele’s overwhelming love for her son. Faint sounds of three-year-old Angelo’s voice actually echo during the bookends of the song. In between is a cool crescendo into choruses that, as the lyric says, hit you like an explosion. Unfortunately, “Sweetest Devotion” wound up being one of the lesser-known tracks on the commercial and critically successful “25”. At least it’s a favorite among fans, a refreshingly uplifting testament to both Adele’s emotive talent and the power of motherhood.

Bob Dylan

Known as the voice of his generation, Bob Dylan highlighted his ‘70s catalog with a prayer for the next generation. “Forever Young” originated as a lullaby for his and Sara Lownds’s four children. Leave it to the leader of modern folk to find a masterpiece in a wholesome diddy about growing up to be hopeful and decent to others. “Forever Young” would resonate through the ages as a classic song and a popular, empowering phrase. Rod Stewart’s 1988 hit of the same name particularly stands above its tribute to both Dylan and Stewart's own kids. But no matter how many covers or homages reflect the fact, Dylan’s tribute to his family will forever endure in parents everywhere.

Stevie Wonder

The second of half of “Songs in the Key of Life” opens with the sound of life itself. Stevie Wonder wrote the swooning, sweeping love ballad “Isn’t She Lovely” to honor the birth of Aisha Morris. Okay, she wasn’t the newborn whose actual first cries were recorded for the song’s intro. But samples of Wonder with his toddler daughter perfectly complement the serene interludes. Wonder insisted that such moments remain on the ready-made hit, making it too long to release as a single. That didn’t stop “Isn’t She Lovely” from becoming a huge staple of popular music. It’s a musically and emotionally infectious classic, but no-one can fully understand the joy it represents in Wonder and for Aisha.

John Lennon / Yoko Ono

John Lennon and Yoko Ono separately lead the album “Double Fantasy”, but unite on the theme of their son Sean. Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” is the better-known track, a whimsical tune to reassure a distressed child. Ono echoes this theme more ethereally and just as hauntingly with “Beautiful Boys”. The love letter is also extended to her husband. Sadly, the lovely sentiments hold even more weight for the album being released less than a month before John’s death. Sean persevered through this tragedy to become a renowned musician himself, but admits to now feeling infantilized by “Beautiful Boy”. For fans, though, his parents’ tributes remain the purest expression of parental love and the artists’ legacy.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Thom Yorke Delivers a Bittersweet Serenade on His Hopes for Noah’s Future

Carrie Underwood Declares Her Joy with Her Husband & Their Son Isiah

The Queen of Pop Celebrates Her Own Idol, Actually Featuring Lourdes on the Track

The Edgy Rapper Finds Happiness in Raising & Protecting His Daughter

The Fresh Prince Scored a Hit About Siring & Bonding with Jaden

Eric Clapton

The 1991 film “Rush” was Eric Clapton’s first project after the accidental death of four-year-old son Conor. The centerpiece of the soundtrack is framed by the movie as a melancholy love ballad. In fact, “Tears in Heaven” describes Clapton’s vision of reuniting with his son in the afterlife. “Rush” was a commercial disappointment, but its theme song won three Grammys and became one of Clapton’s biggest hits. It’s certainly one of his most beautiful. It also led to other cathartic tributes to Conor. In 2004, Clapton formally retired these songs from live performances to resolve his mourning. But “Tears in Heaven” leaves a lasting legacy as an especially heartbreaking, yet profoundly poignant, love letter from an artist to a child.