How to Make a Song for Your Husband

You want to make a song for your husband, and you are not sure where to start or whether he will squirm. The simplest way is to pick one angle, gather the small true details that belong only to him, and either write it yourself or hand those details to someone who can turn them into music. Most husbands are harder to surprise than they are to move, and a song about the real him does both. Our top pick is a Songbond song, because it sounds finished and all you bring is what you already know about him.

Play a Songbond song before you start

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

10 song ideas for your husband

1. A finished song about him from Songbond ($39.90). Share his name, the nickname only you use and three stories, and Songbond turns them into an original song within 24 hours. You can ask for changes until it feels right.
2. The song about the day you met. Where you were standing, what he was wearing, the first thing he said that made you laugh. Men often remember this day better than they let on.
3. A song about his hands. The things he builds, fixes, grills and carries. Plenty of men show love by doing, and a song that notices the work lands hard.
4. His song as a dad. Let the kids help with the details: what he says at bedtime, the car rides, the terrible jokes. Play it on Father's Day or his birthday.
5. The first-apartment song. The broken heater, the couch you carried up three flights, the takeout you ate on the floor. Starting-out stories make a husband nostalgic in the best way.
6. New words to his favorite band's song. Keep the tune he knows every word to, swap in your own lines, and sing it to him while he makes coffee. Free, and he will laugh before he tears up.
7. A song for the hard year you got through. A job loss, a move, a long stretch of worry. You do not need to spell out the details. A line like “we made it” says enough.
8. A song waiting in his truck. Put it on a small USB drive (about $10), plug it into his truck and leave a note on the wheel that says press play. The drive to work is where many men do their feeling.
9. A retirement song. If he is finishing a long career, a song about the early shifts, the commute and the people who counted on him marks the day better than another watch.
10. His song, kept on display. Frame the lyrics next to your wedding photo, or add the printed keepsake plaque of the song for his desk or workshop.

How to pick the right angle for him

Think about when he is most himself. Is it in the garage, at the grill, on the sideline of a kid's game, or on a long drive? Start the song there. One clear angle beats a song that tries to cover your whole marriage.

• If he is quiet and hard to read: the song about his hands, left waiting in the truck.
• If he is a big kid at heart: new words to his favorite band's song, sung badly and proudly.
• If he is a devoted dad: his dad song, with the kids supplying the stories.

How to give a song to a man who hates a fuss

Many husbands freeze when a gift makes them the center of attention, so skip the crowd. Play it for the first time when it is just the two of you, somewhere he cannot drift back to his phone: the car, the porch after the kids are in bed, a slow breakfast on a Sunday. Say one sentence first, something like “I wanted you to hear what I think of you,” then press play and look out the window, not at him. Give him room to feel it. You can play it for the family later, once he has decided he likes it.

Make his song this week

Create a song for your husband from your stories about him. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: an anniversary song for your husband and Father's Day song gift ideas.