As soon as I saw this week’s theme – the parent/child relationship – two possibilities sprang to my mind. However, as I featured John Lennon only a couple of weeks ago, ‘Mother’ was out. Plus it’s not exactly life-affirming (although obviously always worth a listen).
So it had to be this. Brent Mydland was the keyboardist of the Grateful Dead throughout the 1980s; this song was dedicated to his daughter, Jessica.
I’m not ashamed to say that on the night before my daughter’s wedding I sat and held her hand while we listened to this together. Just so she knew.
In a forest of dreams.
It’s a dark old wood
And it’s damp with dew.
Hoot owl hoots
For a moment it seems
Something big and cold
Got a hold of you.
Just when everything gets scary,
Daddy’s come ’round for his darlin’ again.
Hold my hand with your little fingers.
Daddy’s loving arms gonna gather you in.
Ain’t no way the bogeyman can get you,
You can close your eyes, the world is gonna let you,
Your daddy’s here and never will forget you,
I will take you home.
I will take you home.
Gonna carry you back home
In my arms.
I will take you home.
Long is the road
We must travel on down.
Short are the legs
That will struggle behind.
I wish i knew for sure
Just where we’re bound,
What we will be doin’
And what we’re gonna find.
Wherever we go, there will be birds to cheer you
Flowers to color in the fields around.
Wherever we go, I’ll be right here near you
You can’t get lost when you’re always found.
Ain’t no fog that’s thick enough to hide you
Your daddy’s gonna be right here beside you
If your fears should start to get inside you.
I will take you home.
I will take you home.
Gonna carry you back home
In my arms.
I will take you home.
the only deadhead in the hameau 
So far this week has been pretty good for new finds! This is another one. What a great song – and I love the personal connection you have to it – and thanks for the background on it from the songwriter’s perspective.
I agree with Louise! I hadn’t heard this song before, but it is beautiful. Thanks for sharing it and your connection to it. ❤