The Father’s Day Gift He’ll Never See Coming: A Personalised Song About Dad

Every year, Father’s Day seems to come with the same question: What do you buy for a dad who says he wants nothing?

You ask him what he wants. “Nothing.” You suggest something. “I don’t need that.” You ask again. “Honestly, don’t waste your money on me.” Very helpful, Dad.

And while there’s nothing wrong with another bottle of his favourite drink, something for the BBQ or a new pair of socks, sometimes you want to give him something that actually means something. Something he doesn’t already own. Something that couldn’t possibly belong to anybody else.

That’s where a personalised song comes in. At Verse Things First, we take your memories, stories, family jokes and the things you’ve always wanted Dad to know and turn them into an original song created especially for him. Last Father’s Day, two songs in particular reminded us exactly why these gifts can mean so much.

Stephen’s story: “That’s Our Dad”

Stephen’s song is one we still think about from last Father’s Day. His daughters gave us all these little pieces of him, and as we read through them, you could just tell what kind of dad he had been.

There were the practical things, like teaching his girls how to change a tyre and making sure they knew how to look after themselves. There were VBs around the fire, his big hugs, and all the ways he had always been there for them over the years. Nothing flashy. Just Dad being Dad.

And then, as his girls had grown up, they got to watch him become Pop too. That became “That’s Our Dad.”

What I loved most about Stephen’s story was how ordinary so many of the memories were. Because that’s usually where the really special stuff is.

At the time, learning to change a tyre probably just felt like Dad showing you how to do something. Sitting around the fire probably just felt like another night together. A hug was just a hug. But years later, those are the things you remember.

You realise he wasn’t only teaching you how to change a tyre. He was making sure you could stand on your own two feet. The nights around the fire weren’t really about the beer. They were about being together.

And those big Dad hugs become one of those things you’d know anywhere. When Stephen finally heard his song, we were lucky enough to see a video of his reaction. He cried. And I think that reaction says so much about why we love creating these songs.

He wasn’t just hearing his daughters tell him they loved him. He was hearing the moments they had held onto. The things he had taught them without probably ever realising how much they mattered. The memories that had stayed with them long after they had grown up. And now, the next part of his story was there too... being Pop.

There’s something really beautiful about being able to give someone their own life back like that. All those ordinary moments they probably never thought twice about, turned into something they can hear and keep. That’s why I think a personalised song works so well for Father’s Day. Because most dads will tell you they don’t need anything. But hearing exactly what they’ve meant to their family is a pretty special thing to give them.

Aisha’s story: celebrating the father her husband had become

Aisha’s song for Shuv came from a completely different place to Stephen’s, and I think that’s what made it so special. She wasn’t looking back on childhood memories of her own dad. She was telling the story of the man she loved, and the father she had watched him become.

As Aisha shared their story with us, it went right back to the beginning. Their early days in Claymore, late-night McDonald’s runs, the fun and messy parts of building a life together, and some much harder chapters they had made it through along the way.

Then their family grew. First through their foster daughters, and later with the arrival of their baby girl, Khadijah.

By the time Aisha came to us, she had watched Shuv become the kind of dad who worked long shifts for his family, still got up through the night, and somehow kept showing up for the people he loved even when he was exhausted.

And underneath all of those memories was one really simple thing she wanted him to hear: She was proud of the man he had become. That became the heart of his song.

We loved this one because it felt like such a beautiful reminder that Father’s Day isn’t only about children celebrating their dads. Sometimes it’s about looking at your husband and thinking, I see what you do for us. I see the long days. I see the sleepless nights. I see the things you carry quietly. I see the father you’ve become.

And sometimes those are the things we feel all the time but don’t necessarily stop and say out loud. Aisha’s song gave her a way to say all of it.

After she received Shuv’s finished song, she sent us the loveliest feedback:

“Outstanding service from beginning to end… The song is very catchy but heartfelt. Megan MADE IT HAPPEN.”

And we still love the words catchy but heartfelt, because that really is what we want these songs to feel like. They don’t need to be serious from beginning to end to mean something.

The best ones usually have a bit of everything in them — the big feelings, the funny memories, the little details nobody outside the family would understand. That’s what real families are like. And that’s what makes the song feel like him.

So… what do you actually put in a personalised Father’s Day song?

This is probably the question we get most often. People know they want to create something meaningful, but then they get to the part where they have to tell us about Dad and suddenly think: What am I supposed to write? The answer is: don’t try to write a song. That’s our job. You just need to tell us about him.

🔶 Start with the memories

Think back to the things you remember doing together.

It could be:

• Camping trips
• Family holidays
• Weekend sport
• Fishing
• Driving lessons
• Working in the shed
• Sitting around the fire
• Dad coaching your team
• School drop-offs
• Road trips
• Sunday breakfasts
• Something he taught you
• A childhood tradition you still remember

Stephen’s daughters gave us tyre changes and VBs around the fire. Those small details immediately made the song theirs.

🔶 Give us the funny stuff

Please do not feel like a Father’s Day song needs to make everyone cry from beginning to end. Some of our favourite details are the ridiculous ones.

Tell us about:

• Dad falling asleep on the lounge every night but insisting he was watching the movie.
• The phrase he says so often that the entire family can impersonate him.
• His obsession with mowing the lawn.
• The ancient shirt nobody is allowed to throw away.
• His terrible dancing.
• The BBQ nobody else is apparently qualified to operate.
• The hobby that has somehow taken over half the garage.
• His very specific coffee order.
• That story he has told 400 times.

Those details are gold. They are what transform a song from something that could be about a dad into something that could only ever be about your dad.

🔶 Tell us who he is

What qualities make Dad special? Maybe he is:

• Protective.
• Funny.
• Patient.
• Hard-working.
• Generous.
• Quietly dependable.
• The person everybody calls when something goes wrong.
• The person who would give you his last dollar without ever making a big deal about it.

Try to tell us not only what he is, but how you know.

→ Instead of: “Dad is always there for me.” Tell us: He has driven two hours to help me with a flat tyre without complaining.

→ Instead of: “He loves his family.” Tell us: He works ridiculously long shifts and still gets up with the baby during the night.

That was part of what made Aisha’s story about Shuv so powerful. Specific memories make the emotion real.

🔶 Tell us what you want him to know

This might be the most important part. What would you say to Dad if you had the perfect words?

Maybe:

• Thank you for everything you sacrificed for us.
• I understand now how much you did that I never noticed as a child.
• You taught me how to stand on my own two feet.
• My children are incredibly lucky to have you as their Pop.
• Watching you become a dad has made me love you in an entirely new way.

Or, like Aisha: I’m proud of the man you’ve become. Sometimes we know exactly what we feel. We just don’t always know how to say it. That is where we come in.

Why a personalised song makes such a special Father’s Day gift

A personalised song isn’t something Dad uses for six months and eventually puts in a drawer. It becomes part of the family story. He can listen to it again next Father’s Day. His kids can keep it. His grandchildren can hear it. Years from now, the memories inside it will still sound like him.

And there is another reason we think it works particularly well for dads. A lot of dads aren't necessarily used to having people stop and tell them what they mean to their family. We might thank them for fixing something. We might tell them we love them when we hang up the phone. But we don’t always sit down and say:

These are the things I remember. These are the things you taught me. This is the impact you've had on my life. This is who you are to us.

A personalised song does exactly that. Without making everyone sit through an incredibly awkward family speech over lunch. Which Dad will probably appreciate too.

What do you buy the dad who genuinely has everything?

Maybe the answer isn’t another thing. If you’re looking for a unique Father’s Day gift, a personalised Father’s Day gift in Australia, or something genuinely meaningful for a dad who is impossible to buy for, his own song might just be it.

Tell us the stories. Tell us the embarrassing bits. Tell us about the old family traditions, the Dad jokes, the things he taught you and the moments you didn’t realise were important until years later.

Tell us what you love about him. And we’ll turn it into a song that could only ever belong to your family. Because Dad might genuinely mean it when he says:

“I don’t want anything for Father’s Day.”

Luckily, a song about his life isn’t exactly something he can already have.

Create Dad’s personalised Father’s Day song with Verse Things First.