Top 5 Father's Day Alternative Rock Songs

Songs about dads come in many different forms. Depending on the relationship between the artist and his father, some tunes are emotional and affectionate, while others are bitter and cathartic. But there are also songs that use the father-son dynamic to examine larger issues, such as mortality or war. No matter the sentiment, these 5 tracks touch the heart while articulating the complicated bond between a father and a son.

1. "Alive"- Pearl Jam

The song that is arguably Pearl Jam’s most famous is also one of the most complicated father-son tracks in rock history. In “Alive,” the main character discovers that his dad really isn’t his dad – he finds this out from his mom, who is starting to have sexual feelings for him because he looks so much like his old man. Thus begins a battle between anger, confusion and disgust within the main character as he tries to sort out questions of self-identity while mourning a dead father he didn’t know he had.

2. "Daddy's Gone" - Glasvegas

A sad, angry tale sung from the perspective of an abandoned son to his distant father, “Daddy’s Gone” certainly isn’t a cheery Father’s Day tale. Glasvegas frontman James Allan seems to be talking to a ghost, remembering happy childhood moments that quickly gave way to feelings of betrayal when his dad left him behind. His only hope for revenge is to swear that he’ll grow up to be a better person than his old man ever was.

3. "Had A Dad" - Jane's Addiction

This is a furiously rocking song about a father who’s abandoned his family. (“Had a dad/Big and strong/Turned around/Found my daddy gone,” Perry Farrell sings in the opening verse.) Interesting Tidbit: Eric Avery, the band’s bassist, was inspired to write the lyrics after learning that the man he thought was his dad wasn’t his biological father.

4. "Rooster" - Alice In Chains

This Alice in Chains antiwar song came from a personal place – guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote it for his father who served in Vietnam. Sung by Layne Staley, “Rooster” is a first-person account of a soldier’s experience as he wanders the jungle trying to stay alive, wondering about his wife and child at home. Though a love letter of sorts to his dad, Cantrell’s song also confronts the difficulty of serving faithfully in a war that you don’t believe in.

5. "On And On And On" - Wilco

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy wrote this song for his father after the death of Tweedy’s mom. Rather than being a song about his relationship with his dad, this Sky Blue Sky track tries to offer comfort to his grieving father, suggesting that the pain will eventually subside and that the three of them will always be together, even if death separates them.