Telling your family is a party. Telling your husband is the moment. These 25 songs — the him-only chapter of our full guide to pregnancy announcement songs — are for the private version of the reveal: the couch, the car, the kitchen on an ordinary Tuesday, and him hearing the news before anyone else on earth.
- Quiet and intimate reveals
- Love songs that become your song
- Country picks for him
- Playful reveals
- Songs about becoming a dad
- Common questions
Quick picks
- Most tears, least warning: "There Goes My Life" — Kenny Chesney
- Softest possible reveal: "You'll Be in My Heart" — Phil Collins
- For the husband in a ball cap: "Anything Like Me" — Brad Paisley
- Funniest queue-up: "Baby" — Justin Bieber
- The one that says it outright: "You're Gonna Be A Daddy" — a custom announcement song with his name in it, $39.90, delivered in 24 to 48 hours
Listen: "You're Gonna Be A Daddy"
This is the one song on this list that was never on the radio, because it gets written after you fill out the questionnaire: his name, your news, the spare room he swears is a home gym. The reveal lands in the first chorus. You just press play and watch him catch up to it.
Quiet and intimate reveals
For the couch, the low lamp, and a husband who feels things quietly. These are tender, unhurried songs — play one, slide the test across the cushion, and let it finish.
- "Baby Mine" — from Dumbo. The 1941 Frank Churchill and Ned Washington lullaby, covered by Bette Midler and Alison Krauss. Play the Krauss version, hand him the test, say nothing.
- "You'll Be in My Heart" — Phil Collins. It began as a lullaby Collins wrote for his daughter Lily before it anchored Tarzan and won the 1999 Oscar for Best Original Song. A protector's song for a man about to become one.
- "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" — The Chicks. Radney Foster wrote it as a goodnight lullaby for his little boy, and The Chicks' version on Home turned it into a standard. All tiny bedtime details — a preview of his new night shift.
- "In My Arms" — Plumb. A 2007 lullaby she wrote for her newborn son, about keeping a small person safe from a big world. Devastating in the best way.
- "Sweetest Devotion" — Adele. The closer on 25, written about her son Angelo, whose voice opens and ends the track. This is what the love on the other side of your news sounds like.
- "Light" — Sleeping at Last. From the Atlas: Year One project, a whisper-quiet welcome song for a brand-new person. Built for a headphone reveal.
Love songs that become your song
These aren't baby songs. They're us songs — and the second he realizes why you're playing one, "us" starts meaning three.
- "First Day of My Life" — Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst's plainspoken falling-in-love song from 2005. Play it with the test in your pocket and the title does the work.
- "Better Together" — Jack Johnson. The easygoing opener of In Between Dreams, a porch-swing song about how everything improves in company. You're about to prove its thesis.
- "Lucky" — Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. The Grammy-winning duet about being in love with your best friend. Now lucky, plus one.
- "Make You Feel My Love" — Adele. Bob Dylan's vow, sung like a secret on 19. Every promise in it now covers two people.
- "Grow Old with Me" — Tom Odell. The piano-led opener of Long Way Down, a young song about a long future. You're just moving the timeline up.
- "You Are the Best Thing" — Ray LaMontagne. Horn-driven soul joy from Gossip in the Grain. Kitchen dance floor, test taped inside the cabinet he's about to open.
Country picks for him
No genre writes the moment a man becomes a dad better than country. If his radio has a preset, start here.
- "There Goes My Life" — Kenny Chesney. Written by Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher: a scared kid hears the news, and the phrase that starts as panic ends as the name of everything he loves. Seven weeks at number one, and the closest thing country has to an announcement ritual.
- "Anything Like Me" — Brad Paisley. Starts in the ultrasound room with the words "it's a boy," then fast-forwards through every skinned knee that follows. For the husband who's already worrying in advance, fondly.
- "My Little Girl" — Tim McGraw. The first single McGraw ever co-wrote, with Tom Douglas for the film Flicka — a dad talking straight to his daughter. Dangerous if you already know it's a girl.
- "I Saw God Today" — George Strait. A brand-new father wanders the hospital and suddenly sees the miracle in everything, ending at the nursery window. CMA Single of the Year in 2008.
- "Life Changes" — Thomas Rhett. His actual autobiography in one uptempo song — marrying his childhood best friend, adopting their first daughter, another baby on the way. The happy-chaos option.
- "Watching You" — Rodney Atkins. A little boy copying everything his dad does, cheeseburgers and bedtime prayers alike. A funny-sweet preview of his next decade.
Playful reveals
For the husband who will laugh first and cry second. The gag is the delivery mechanism; the tears come anyway.
- "(You're) Having My Baby" — Paul Anka with Odia Coates. The most on-the-nose number one of 1974. So kitschy it loops all the way back around to perfect.
- "Baby" — Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris. Queue it, act casual, and wait for "why are we listening to Bieber?" Answer with the test.
- "Isn't She Lovely" — Stevie Wonder. Opens with an actual newborn's cry — Wonder wrote it celebrating the birth of his daughter Aisha. Joy with the volume all the way up.
- "Ice Ice Baby" — Vanilla Ice. The first rap single ever to top the Hot 100, and the reason he'll be saying "stop, collaborate and listen" to your ultrasound. Lean into the last word.
Songs about becoming a dad
Once he knows, he'll need music for the drive to work. A taste of the canon below — the full twenty live in our guide to songs about becoming a dad.
- "With Arms Wide Open" — Creed. Scott Stapp started writing it the day he learned he'd be a father, and it went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Song. Half joy, half terror — which is to say, accurate.
- "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" — John Lennon. Written for his son Sean on Double Fantasy, all reassurance and wonder at a brand-new person.
- "A Father's First Spring" — The Avett Brothers. A father quietly undone, gratefully, by his daughter's arrival. For the man of few words.
The lyrics
The lyrics
You're Gonna Be A Daddy
Put down your phone.
No — this is better than the game.
You fix everything with duct tape,
you've been saving up your worst dad jokes,
you said that spare room's for a home gym —
funny story about that room.
You practice carrying the neighbor's kid
on your shoulders down the block.
I bought a little something at the store today —
it's got two pink lines.
You're gonna be a daddy!
Yeah — you heard the words right.
That gym's about to be a nursery,
we're painting clouds and stars at night.
Breathe, baby, breathe — you can cry, it's allowed.
You're gonna be a daddy now.
Start deciding on the big things —
team onesies, first-game seats.
You've got about two hundred days
to learn to braid and warm a bottle up.
Everything your dad did right
is about to get an encore.
One more thing before you call
the guys and lose your mind —
You're gonna be a daddy!
Yeah — you heard the words right.
That gym's about to be a nursery,
we're painting clouds and stars at night.
Breathe, baby, breathe — you can cry, it's allowed.
You're gonna be a daddy now.
The way you love me on my worst days —
somebody small is gonna get that too.
Lucky me. Lucky them.
Lucky, lucky you.
You're gonna be a daddy!
Yeah — you heard the words right.
There's a photo for your wallet coming,
due when the days turn bright.
Breathe, baby, breathe — happy tears allowed.
You're gonna be a daddy now.
Call your mom. Wait — sit down first.
Tell her Grandma's next.
Common questions
What song should I play to tell my husband I'm pregnant?
Match his temperament. "There Goes My Life" is the tearjerker, "First Day of My Life" lets your love song carry the news, and "Baby" by Justin Bieber works if he laughs before he cries. If you want zero ambiguity, a custom song like "You're Gonna Be A Daddy" says the actual words, with his name in them, so the song itself is the announcement.
How do I stage the reveal so the song does the telling?
Two moves work almost every time. Headphones: hand them over, say you want his opinion on a new song, and film his face. Or the car queue: slip the song into the playlist on an ordinary drive and keep your eyes on the road while he catches on. Either way, have the test or the ultrasound within reach for the second the chorus lands.
What are good songs about becoming a dad?
"With Arms Wide Open" by Creed and Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life" are the two pillars, with "Beautiful Boy" close behind. They make the perfect second track — the one he plays on repeat for a week after your reveal song has done its job.
How much does a custom pregnancy announcement song cost, and how fast does it arrive?
$39.90, delivered in 24 to 48 hours, with unlimited revisions. You fill out a short questionnaire — his name, your news, a few inside jokes — and we write and record an original song that breaks it to him. Start his song here.
Tell him with a song that knows his name
Any song on this list can hold the moment. Only one can say his name, his dad jokes, and the words "you're gonna be a daddy" out loud. Have his announcement song written for $39.90 — delivered in 24 to 48 hours and revised until it's exactly right. It becomes the keepsake afterward, too; there are more ideas in our pregnancy and new baby gifts collection.
From the same series: songs about becoming a dad, baby announcement songs, and new grandparents announcement songs.
