"My Father's Gun" - Elton John
When people talk about Elton John, the conversation usually turns to either (1) pop tunes like "Tiny Dancer" or "Crocodile Rock," (2) his stirring rewrite of "Candle In The Wind" for Princess Diana's funeral, or (3) his work for Disney with The Lion King. Those are all worthy subjects, but, unfortunately, that means that John's 1971 country album Tumbleweed Connection gets lost in the shuffle. That's a real shame, because it contains gems like "My Father's Gun."
"My Father's Gun" discusses the most important gift a father can bestow: his legacy. The song is sung from the point of view of a young man who's just lost his father, a Confederate soldier. At the funeral, the young man is given the gift of his father's gun. To the boy, the gun symbolizes everything his father stood for: Southern pride and a fighting spirit. The gun and what it represents prompts the boy to put on his own Confederate uniform and go on fighting, making sure his dad's death was worth something. In that way, the father continues to touch his son's life.
"My Father's Gun" discusses the most important gift a father can bestow: his legacy. The song is sung from the point of view of a young man who's just lost his father, a Confederate soldier. At the funeral, the young man is given the gift of his father's gun. To the boy, the gun symbolizes everything his father stood for: Southern pride and a fighting spirit. The gun and what it represents prompts the boy to put on his own Confederate uniform and go on fighting, making sure his dad's death was worth something. In that way, the father continues to touch his son's life.
"A Boy Named Sue" - Johnny Cash
"A Boy Named Sue" is a song that you probably all know, so I won't write about its conception or its recording. It's probably my favorite song about fathers, and, in the next paragraph, I'd like to tell you why!
Absent fathers can leave as much of an impact on their children's lives than dads who are always there. Can that impact ever be positive, though? "A Boy Named Sue" is a song that argues, "Yes, it can!" Before the title character's dad leaves his mom, he bestows his son with one gift: the name Sue. The name becomes the bane of Sue's existence; it's a GIRL'S NAME, AFTER ALL! However, the constant torment helps Sue learn to defend himself and become self-reliant. However, Sue still hates the name, and when he finally meets his father one night, he lets dear old dad know. However, after a chat, Sue comes away with "a different point of view." Maybe ol' dad wasn't so bad after all!
"Papa Was A Rolling Stone" - The Temptations
Unfortunately, unlike Sue and his dad, a lot of children never reconcile with their absent fathers. Generally, all most children from such families know about their dads are nasty stories from family members and townsfolk and moms who cry themselves to sleep. It's not a way of life I would wish on anyone. In a way, however, even those kind of broken relationships can have a positive impact on a child in the long run. In its own subtle way, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" is talking about just that.
It's the third of September, and an unnamed absent father has just died. Over the next couple days, the children in the family begin to ask their mom questions about their dad. They've heard hearsay about their dad: that he was a con man, a thief, a lazy bum, and a bigamist. All their mother will tell her tender children is:
"Papa was a rolling stone,
wherever he lay his hat was his home,
and when he died,
all he left us was alone."
The answer doesn't directly answer the children's questions, but the answer is implicit: all the accusations are true. The children are disappointed, but they also know that what their father did wasn't right. Again, it isn't explicitly stated, but the song implies that the children come away determined not to live as their father did. And that, in its way, is a legacy all its own.
"Walk Like A Man" - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Okay, enough about bad fathers. Let's talk about some good ones!
When I think about all the wonderful things my father has done for me, the thing that stands out most brightly is the advice my father has given. From how to pack a backpack for a camping trip to how to change a tire to how to treat people with respect, my dad has shaped so much of who I am. However, my dad has always given me the greatest advice about romance. My pop has always been quite the ladies' man (having had his first kiss - with Callie Cheadle - when he was eight years old) and he's been invaluable to me as I navigate my way through the dating world. One of the finest pieces of advice he's given me on the matter is the very one the father imparts in "Walk Like A Man!"
In "Walk Like A Man," the singer has just had his heart broken by his flaky girlfriend; she's been "telling dirty lies to [his] friends" and making his life miserable. The singer wants to try to make things work, but his father knows better. He gives the PERFECT advice to his son. It's the same advice my dad gave to me and the same advice I've given to others since! And it all comes from dear ol' dad!
"Color Him Father" - The Winstons
I want to end this list with a tribute to stepdads, guardians, foster fathers, and all other non-biological dads. Stepparents tend to get a bad rap in pop culture: what with Cinderella and all, steps are often seen as cruel, merciless, evil beings. What I love about The Winstons' "Color Him Father" is the fact that the stepfather in the tune is just as wonderful as the biological dad.
A young father is killed in the Vietnam War. Initially, the mother doesn't think she'll ever be able to love again, but, eventually, she marries another man. As it turns out, she chose an EXCELLENT man. The stepfather immediately takes the children under his wings, treating them with the love, care, and respect that he would have given his own children. The children come to love their stepfather immediately.
As much as I love the parts from the kids' point of view, I'm particularly moved by the parts that talk about the mom. The love that the mother has for her new husband is palpable; it's obvious that she loves him not only for what she's done for her children, but for making her life happy again. It's implied that her nights of crying are over! It's for that reason that this part of the lyric always makes me tear up:
My mother loves him, and I can tell
by the way she looks at him
when he holds my little sister Nell;
I heard her say just the other day
that if it hadn't been for him,
she couldn't have found her way
That, friends, is what being a father is all about.
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