Babies can be a source of inspiration, something to bring families together, or something to bring a smile to your face. Often all three.
As we’ve all technically been there, and many more of us having been responsible for one, it’s no surprise there’s plenty of music about these bundles of joy. Here are the best country songs about babies ever.
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“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
Song Year: 1978
Actors don’t want their kids to become actors, and musicians don’t want their kids to become musicians. After all, both know how hard either life can be.
The same logic defines one of the most famous duets of all time, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson urge people to steer their kids away from the nomadic and difficult cowboy life in this one time Grammy winner.
“Babies Making Babies” by Miranda Lambert
Song Year: 2014
Miranda Lambert has proven herself to be an exquisite storyteller. Good poetry aims to say as much as possible with as few words as possible, and Lambert makes quick work of the mission in “Babies Making Babies.” She refers to two teenagers in love and a five-minute timespan. She never mentions any intimate act, but we know what’s happening.
These two young kids have a young kid of their own, and Lambert weaves the tale of them making the best of their situation and carving out a happy life for themselves.
“Two Pink Lines” by Eric Church
Song Year: 2006
Sometimes, a song about a baby is a song about the absence of a baby, and that’s what Eric Church sings about in “Two Pink Lines.” Based on a real pregnancy scare Church experienced as a teenager, the song depicts a young couple waiting on the results of a pregnancy test.
If the test shows two pink lines, that means a baby is on the way, so as the two kids wait for the results, they’re praying hard for those two lines not to appear.
They don’t, the kids breathe a sigh of relief, and the young woman leaves.
“The Mother” by Brandi Carlile
Song Year: 2018
When singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile and her wife had their daughter, Carlile experienced the wonder of motherhood firsthand and wrote a touching song about it.
The song is as much a tribute to mothers as to her daughter, and Carlile’s lyrics do a terrific job of conveying the ups and downs of parenthood with snapshots of her family life— a child breaks things around the house and robs her parents of sleep, for instance. But the overarching theme is that even the tough parts of being a parent are pretty great.
“Knocked Up” by Angaleena Presley
Song Year: 2014
Angaleena Presley might be most widely known as being one-third of Pistol Annies, but before she worked in that group with Miranda Lambert, she was a singer-songwriter doing solo work. “Knocked Up” looks at what the future holds for a young, unmarried woman who finds herself unexpectedly expecting.
The song’s rollicking feel might be a nod to the reckless behavior that led the narrator through the decisions that led to her getting pregnant. It’s not a funny situation, but Presley’s tongue-in-cheek delivery is a lot of fun to listen to.
“He Gets That From Me” by Reba McEntire
Song Year: 2003
Reba McEntire has done a fine job of singing songs about people going through hard times. “He Gets That from Me” might be the most poignant one.
The narrator is a young mother recently widowed. Her son’s idiosyncrasies don’t exactly drive her crazy, but she seems to think the things about him that aren’t perfect must be the result of her genetic input.
The implication is that child’s father, no longer there to help raise him, is the one who gave the boy all his best qualities. The result is that the widow can’t look at the child without thinking about her lost husband.
“I Saw God Today” by George Strait
Song Year: 2008
George Strait scored his 43rd number-one hit with “I Saw God Today,” a song that might be a maudlin wallow if performed by someone else. But in Strait’s hands, it’s a nice piece of music that doesn’t push too hard into sentimentality to get its message to the listener.
It tells the story of a brand-new father who, before his daughter’s birth, felt like he saw evidence of a higher power in things of beauty like flowers and sunsets. When he looks through the nursery window at his newborn daughter, he understands who and what God is to him.
“What I Never Knew I Always Wanted” by Carrie Underwood
Song Year: 2015
In a particularly personal song, Carrie Underwood sings about how life’s unexpected turns can sometimes be the most rewarding. She sings about how she never thought much about getting married or having children, but now that she’s done both, she can’t imagine life without her husband and son.
“Anything Like Me” by Brad Paisley
Song Year: 2010
Brad Paisley co-wrote this number-one hit about a father-to-be worrying about his child. Many of us face parenthood wondering if we’re going to fall victim to the ultimate parental curse our moms pronounce: “I hope you have kids who are JUST LIKE YOU.” Paisley’s narrator realizes that if his son is like him, the boy might have trouble in life or get himself hurt.
The narrator lists poor decisions he made in his youth and realizes that his son will, most likely, do all that stuff, too. But since the narrator has made it through enough of life to father a child, maybe he turned out okay. Maybe the baby will, too.
“Baby Mine” by Alison Krauss
Song Year: 2007
Part lullaby, part parental reassurance, “Baby Mine” benefits from Alison Krauss’s vocal delivery which, in this case (as it often is) comes out light and airy, a tone a listener might incorrectly associate with weakness.
As the narrator sings to her baby, we discover that she has wise things to say to her child that aren’t necessarily what the kid would want to hear but are still true. For one, she says that maybe the kid isn’t perfect or the greatest person who ever lived, but that doesn’t matter since the child is dearly loved.
“Never Grow Up” by Taylor Swift
Song Year: 2010
Anyone who’s held their own newborn child, basked in the unadulterated love and adoration of toddler, or heard one of those ridiculously naive and innocent proclamations of how the world should be that kindergarteners make can identify: “Never Grow Up” is a sentiment every parent thinks at least once during the child’s formative years.
“There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney
Song Year: 2003
Many country songs do cool things with phrases, and “There Goes My Life” is a fine example. The first time we hear the phrase, a teenager has learned he’s going to be a father. His life seems over and his grand plans are out the window.
By the song’s end, he’s married the mother of the child, raised the daughter, and watched her head out into the world as an adult. The title phrase then refers to the daughter herself— she’s his entire life by that point, and watching her set off on her own is a bittersweet thing.
“One’s On the Way” by Loretta Lynn
Song Year: 1971
“One’s On the Way” is less about babies than about the day-to-day life of a mother, but you can’t have motherhood without kids, right? And this song is notable because it was written by children’s author Shel Silverstein.
Loretta Lynn aptly portrays the hectic life a stay-at-home mom lives. While movie stars live glamorous lives and get to take The Pill, the middle-American mom has kids to raise.
“What Will Baby Be” by Dolly Parton
Song Year: 1993
Another terrific country songwriter, Dolly Parton can weave a story in a three-minute song as well as anybody. And true to what so many country songs depend on, “What Will Baby Be” puts a new spin on an age-old question.
Most people wonder what their baby will be— boy or girl— and that question gets answered. But Parton wonders what the child will grow up to be since it has seen its parents fight from the beginning, hasn’t been taught about faith, and hasn’t learned important life lessons that adept parents teach.
“Lullaby” by The Chicks
Song Year: 2006
They were still called The Dixie Chicks when they recorded “Lullaby,” but the name change does nothing to dull the power of maternal love on full display in the song. A mother lies in bed with her sleeping child and silently asks the child: if the mother loves the child until the end of time, will that be long enough for the child’s comfort and peace of mind? It’s very sweet.
Top Country Songs About Babies, Final Thoughts
Babies are sweet. Country music can elicit genuine emotion surprisingly easily. Put those things together, and you get some surprisingly effective country songs about babies. There are many more out there, but these represent several different subgenres and takes on the subject matter.
