Funeral songs and hymns for a dad
A dad’s funeral can fill a church with people who knew him from work, the cricket club, or the touchline, and many of them haven’t sung a hymn since school. This guide sorts the hymns and songs for a father by the kind of man he was and where each piece sits in the service. For a short list, see the songs for a dad in our funeral songs guide.
What is a good funeral song for a dad? The hymns that suit a father best are the ones a full church can sing loud: Jerusalem; I Vow to Thee, My Country; Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer; and Abide with Me. Among songs, My Way, Father and Son, The Living Years, and Danny Boy each suit a different kind of dad. A choir leads the hymns and can sing the songs in four-part arrangements.
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, sung by our chorus of twelve. Hear more recordings.
Twelve singers give a large congregation a firm line to follow. In Frederick William Faber’s hymn above, sung to the tune Coverdale, the choir sings the melody over three lower parts, enough to carry a packed church when half the people in it are unsure of the words.
Hymns the whole church can sing loud
Choose at least one hymn with a strong tune and a steady beat. Once the choir sings the first line with confidence, the people at the back who were mouthing the words start to sing.
Jerusalem
Hubert Parry set William Blake’s poem in 1916. It suits a father who loved England, cricket, or the Last Night of the Proms, and most of the room will know the first verse. Our guide to Jerusalem covers its history.
I Vow to Thee, My Country
Cecil Spring Rice’s words to Holst’s tune Thaxted, from Jupiter in The Planets. The first verse speaks of service, the second of a heavenly country, so it holds the soldier and the faith in one hymn. The tune covers a wide range, and a choir carries the congregation through the high phrase in the middle.
Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer
William Williams wrote it in Welsh, and John Hughes wrote the tune, Cwm Rhondda, in 1907. Rugby crowds call it Bread of Heaven. The tenors and basses echo the last line of each verse, and the men in the congregation find that part and sing it.
Abide with Me and How Great Thou Art
Henry Francis Lyte’s Abide with Me (1847), to William Henry Monk’s tune Eventide, is slower and sits well as the last hymn before the commendation; see our Abide with Me guide. How Great Thou Art, Carl Boberg’s Swedish hymn of 1885 in Stuart K. Hine’s English version, returns to its chorus after each verse, so a choir can hold back early and let the last chorus land at full strength.
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
The quiet one: John Greenleaf Whittier’s words to Parry’s tune Repton. Put it after the tributes, when the room needs to settle. A choir can sing the last verse without the organ. Our guide to popular funeral hymns has more on each of these.
For a father who served
Eternal Father, Strong to Save is the Navy hymn. William Whiting wrote the words in 1860, and John Bacchus Dykes composed the tune, Melita, in 1861. By the 1890s it was in wide use in the Royal Navy, and the Royal Marines, the RAF, and the Army have adapted it with verses of their own. Send us the verses his old comrades use, and the choir will learn them.
I Vow to Thee, My Country suits any of the services. Nimrod, from Elgar’s Enigma Variations and played at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, works on the organ as the coffin enters or leaves.
For a football or rugby fan
Abide with Me has been sung before the FA Cup Final since 1927 and the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final since 1929. You’ll Never Walk Alone, from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, belongs to Liverpool and Celtic fans: print the words, if the venue’s copyright licence covers it, and the congregation will sing the tune over the choir’s harmony.
For Welsh rugby there are Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer and Calon Lân. Scotland has used Roy Williamson’s Flower of Scotland as its pre-match anthem at rugby internationals since 1990. Munster, Connacht, and Ireland supporters sing The Fields of Athenry, Pete St John’s ballad of 1979 about a young man deported to Australia for stealing grain in the Famine.
Welsh, Irish, and Scottish fathers
Calon Lân sets Daniel James’s words of the 1890s to a tune by John Hughes (not the composer of Cwm Rhondda), and Welsh fans sing it before rugby Tests. Myfanwy, Joseph Parry’s song of 1875, was written in four parts for male voices; a mixed choir sings it in an arrangement. Choose it for a father who sang in a male voice choir or grew up hearing one.
Danny Boy pairs Frederic Weatherly’s words with the Londonderry Air, a match he made in 1913. A choir can sing it in four parts, or one voice can take the melody while the others hum underneath. The Parting Glass, a Scottish farewell song whose words go back to a seventeenth-century broadside, and sung in Ireland too, closes a night among friends. Sung unaccompanied as the coffin leaves, it lets the friends who shared those evenings with him say goodbye.
Loch Lomond, first printed in Edinburgh around 1840, has a chorus that one old reading takes as a dead soldier’s soul travelling home. Highland Cathedral is younger than it sounds: two German musicians, Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb, wrote it for the Highland bagpipe in 1982. An organist can play it as the coffin leaves.
Songs about fathers
My Way suits a father who did things on his own terms; our funeral songs guide covers it, and most families play Sinatra.
Father and Son. Cat Stevens released it on Tea for the Tillerman in 1970. He sings the father’s lines low and the son’s high: a father who wants his son to settle, a son who has to go. In a choral arrangement the basses take the father and the tenors the son. It suits a family where father and son argued and stayed close.
The Living Years. Mike Rutherford and B.A. Robertson wrote it, and Mike + the Mechanics released it in December 1988; it reached number two in the UK. A son regrets what he left unsaid to his father before he died, so think about how the room will hear it.
Dance with My Father. Luther Vandross wrote it with Richard Marx in 2003 about his own father, who died when Vandross was eight. It suits a daughter or son remembering a dad from childhood.
Fields of Gold. Sting’s song from Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993) follows a couple through a long life, so it suits a father who was married for decades or loved the countryside. A choir sings it well with piano.
Bring Him Home. Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer wrote it for Les Misérables, which opened in London in 1985. Jean Valjean, an old man, prays for the young Marius to come back safe. It suits a father who looked out for other people’s children too: a coach, a teacher, a scout leader. The melody sits high, and a choir arrangement shares it across four parts.
What a Wonderful World. Bob Thiele and George David Weiss wrote it, and Louis Armstrong’s record reached number one in the UK in 1968. A choir can sing it at the end of a celebration of life.
Where each piece goes in the service
- Before the service: soft organ music while people arrive and sit down. The choir waits until the service begins.
- Entry of the coffin: Nimrod or Highland Cathedral on the organ, or a recording.
- First hymn: the loudest you have, such as Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, or Jerusalem.
- After the tributes: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Danny Boy, Myfanwy, or Bring Him Home.
- Commendation: Abide with Me, or Eternal Father for a sailor.
- Leaving: The Parting Glass from the choir, Highland Cathedral on the organ, or Sinatra played through the speakers.
Play the record when the voice is the point: Sinatra’s My Way, Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, Vandross’s Dance with My Father. Have the hymns and folk songs sung live, so his friends have voices to join. A crematorium slot runs 30 to 40 minutes, enough for two hymns and one song; our crematorium music guide covers the timings.
How many singers for a big turnout
A Small Choir of four sings in four-part harmony and leads the hymns in a parish church: £1,150, or £1,400 with our organist. For a larger congregation, a choir of eight costs £2,000 and a chorus of twelve, the size you hear in the film above, £3,000. An organist or pianist added to any choir costs £250. These prices cover up to two hours in Greater London, with a rehearsal included and no VAT to add; outside London we add travel to the quote.
A soloist with an organist, £550, can sing Danny Boy or Bring Him Home, though one voice can’t lead a full church through the hymns as a choir can. See our funeral singers page, or memorial service songs for a later thanksgiving.
Frequently asked questions
What hymns are good for a dad’s funeral?
Choose hymns a full church can sing loud: Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer; Jerusalem; I Vow to Thee, My Country; How Great Thou Art; and Abide with Me. Add Dear Lord and Father of Mankind for a quieter moment after the tributes. A choir leads them, so the people who haven’t sung since school have a line to follow.
What is a good funeral song for a father from his son?
Father and Son by Cat Stevens (1970) sets an argument between a father and a son, and The Living Years by Mike + the Mechanics (1988) is a son’s regret at what he left unsaid. In a choral arrangement of Father and Son, the basses sing the father’s lines and the tenors the son’s.
How many singers do we need for a large funeral?
A Small Choir of four leads the hymns in a parish church for £1,150, or £1,400 with our organist. For a big turnout, a choir of eight costs £2,000 and a chorus of twelve £3,000. Prices cover up to two hours in Greater London, rehearsal included; see our pricing page.
When should the choir sing at a funeral?
The choir sings within the service: the hymns, a song or anthem after the tributes, the commendation, and a piece as the coffin leaves. While mourners arrive and take their seats, the organist plays quiet music on their own. The singers begin with the first hymn.
Talk to us about a choir for your dad’s funeral
Tell us the date, the venue, and the hymns or songs you have in mind, and we’ll suggest how many singers suit the size of the congregation.
Text us on WhatsApp for the fastest reply, or email office@londonchoralservice.com.