60 Mother-Son Dance Songs For Your Wedding

Show your mama just how much you appreciate her

Are you looking for mother-son dance songs for your wedding? If you are, we’re here to give you an extra special wedding commendation. Because it’s no secret that moms don’t traditionally get a lot of love at weddings. (Hey, patriarchy!) Dads walk daughters down the aisle. Dads get to give toasts. Dads get special dances. And moms… well, they get to help set up and clean up, as a thank you for their lifelong efforts.

But just because the wedding industry hasn’t built-in special recognition for your mama, it doesn’t mean you can’t give it anyway. Or really, if you have a good relationship with her, it certainly doesn’t mean that you SHOULDN’T shower your mom with some public love and respect.

One way to do that is with a special dance (you know, kind of like the one dads of daughters just get by default), to one of many excellent mother-son dance songs. All mothers totally qualify for a dance, whether their son or daughter is getting married. But since we’ve covered mama-daughter dances, today we thought we’d take a timeout to discuss mother-son wedding songs.

The cool thing is, because mother-son dance songs are not really a thing, you don’t have to wade through awful songs like “Butterfly Kisses” to find the good stuff. So today, instead of the standard my baby is all grown-up songs that you usually get with parent dances, we’ve plumbed our archives and racked our brains to come up with a big list of songs that serve as a gift to mom. A way to thank her for, well, all of it.

So if you’ve been thinking you maybe want to give your mom special recognition at your wedding, well, here’s one less thing standing in your way. (And obviously, we want to hear your picks for mother-son dance songs in the comments. Meet you there!)

50 Mother Son Dance Songs

  1. The Flaming Lips: “Do You Realize?”
  2. The Jackson 5: “I’ll Be There
  3. Scissor Sisters: “Take Your Mama
  4. Des’Ree: “You Gotta Be
  5. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole: “Over the Rainbow
  6. Rod Stewart: “Forever Young
  7. The Carpenters: “Rainbow Connection
  8. 10,000 Maniacs: “How You’ve Grown
  9. Madonna: “I’ll Remember
  10. Kanye West: “Hey Mama” 
  11. Jackie Wilson: “Higher and Higher
  12. Iron and Wine: “Upward Over the Mountain” 
  13. Mac Miller: “I’ll Be There” 
  14. Otis Redding: “Glory of Love” 
  15. Good Charlotte: “Thank You Mom” 
  16. Boyz II Men: “A Song for Mama
  17. James Taylor: “You’ve Got a Friend” 
  18. The Beatles: “In My Life” 
  19. Taylor Swift: “The Best Day
  20. The Intruders: “I’ll Always Love My Momma” 
  21. Bruce Springsteen: “If I Fall Behind” 
  22. Tom Petty: “Wildflowers” 
  23. Blake Shelton: “The Baby” 
  24. Crosby & Nash: “Carry Me” 
  25. The Temptations: “My Girl” 
  26. Carole King: “Child of Mine” 
  27. Bon Jovi: “Thank You for Loving Me
  28. Patti LaBelle: “You Are My Friend
  29. Whitney Houston: “My Love Is Your Love
  30. Boyz II Men: “The Color of Love
  31. Cyndi Lauper: “Time After Time
  32. Lee Ann Womack: “I Hope You Dance
  33. Beach Boys: “God Only Knows
  34. Rascal Flatts: “My Wish
  35. Otis Redding: “That’s How Strong My Love Is
  36. Phil Collins: “You’ll Be In My Heart
  37. Chicago: “Colour My World
  38. Queen: “Best Friend
  39. Paul Simon: “Loves Me Like a Rock
  40. Sophie B. Hawkins: “As I Lay Me Down
  41. Paul McCartney: “Maybe I’m Amazed
  42. The Byrds: “Turn, Turn, Turn
  43. Keith Urban: “God’s Been Good to Me
  44. Maria Carey: “Hero
  45. Atlantic Starr: “Always
  46. Louis Armstrong: “What a Wonderful World
  47. Manhattans: “Shining Star
  48. Joe Cocker: “Up Where We Belong
  49. Natalie Cole: “I Wish You Love
  50. Vanessa Williams: “Oh How the Years Go By
  51. The Band Perry: “Mother Like Mine
  52. Simon & Garfunkel: “Bridge Over Troubled Water
  53. Jack Johnson: “Home
  54. Van Morrison: “Days Like This
  55. Edwin McCain: “Letter To My Mother
  56. Bruce Springsteen: “The Wish
  57. John Lennon: “Beautiful Boy
  58. Fleetwood Mac: “Landslide
  59. Amos Lee: “Sweet Pea
  60. The Carpenters: “(They Long To Be) Close To You

Are you picking mother-son dance songs for your reception? If you’re already got married did you do a mother-son dance? What music did you pick? And how can we make dances with moms a standard feature at every wedding?

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