Paul Simon Speaks For All Devoted Dads in Father and Daughter

Father's Day is right around the corner, and it's a good time to think about some of the great songs out their dealing with father-child relationships. I can name a few right off the top of my head: Bob Carlisle's Butterfly Kisses, Mike and the Mechanics' The Living Years, Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle, Luther Vandross's Dance With My Father, Rod Stewart's Forever Young, Brad Paisley's He Didn't Have to Be... to say nothing of several of the songs on Michael Card's Sleep Sound in Jesus and Art Garfunkel's Songs From a Parent to a Child. It's to Art's former partner, Paul Simon, that I turn my attention here, with one of the most recent additions to the group: Father and Daughter. Now if the title alone doesn't just scream "Father's Day" - at least for all us gals - I don't know what does.

It was written for 2002's The Wild Thornberries Movie, which I've never seen; though I tend to be a bit suspicious of a cartoon that looks so much like Rugrats, from the little snippets I've seen of the television show, I like the emphasis on conservation and on geeky Animal Whisperer Eliza's relationship with her eccentric, enthusiastic dad, and from what I gather, this is what the song celebrates in the context of the film. I presume that it's also autobiographical, as Paul's daughter Lucia was about six at the time it was written. While the movie itself didn't seem like the sort likely to win any awards, Simon picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Song, losing out to Eminem with Lose Yourself.

Father and Daughter is written as a love letter from a father to his little girl, so the lyrics are fairly simple, especially in the chorus, which includes the expansive statement "As long as one and one is two, / there could never be a father who loves his daughter more than I love you." Isn't that just the way most devoted dads feel? The mix of percussion and rambling guitar gives the film a slightly African flavor; it's easy to imagine the instrumentals as a cascading waterfall or a chorus of nocturnal creatures in the background. It feels like a bedtime song; Paul's tone is soft and comforting, and there are references to dreams, falling stars and monsters under the bed.

There is one line that strikes me as peculiar every time I hear it, and I wonder if it would make more sense if I saw the movie, or if it's some kind of inside reference meant as a nod to Lucia. "I'm gonna stand guard like a postcard of a Golden Retriever." My first thought was that Paul wrote the lyric that way just for the sake of a rhyme, which doesn't seem like his style, especially since that particular internal rhyme pattern is unique in the song. But if it were me, I think I would feel a lot better about having an actual Golden Retriever standing there; what good, precisely, is a postcard going to do? I guess it could be a comforting image, but it still seems a little odd. (Incidentally, that same year, James Taylor, who once recorded What a Wonderful World with Paul and Art, released the album October Road, which also includes a positive reference to a Golden Retriever. It was a good year for the Goldens!)

This isn't my favorite Father's Day song out there - that would be Dan Fogelberg's Leader of the Band, a tribute to a much-loved father from a son just beginning to understand his powerful influence on his life - but it's certainly a keeper. (I’m always keeping an ear out for songs along these lines, so if you have any favorites, I’d love to find a few more!) One of Paul Simon’s most tender tunes, Father and Daughter is a beautiful celebration of one of life’s most precious relationships. Eliza and Lucia are lucky girls. So am I.