Written By: Ben Cosgrove

Back in 1995, the singer-songwriter and cartoonist Peter Blegvad released a song later made semi-famous when a cover version by Loudon Wainwright III was featured on the soundtrack for Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. The song, “Daughter,” is as sweet and true as any song ever written by a parent to a child, and manages to capture in relatively few words the intense, tender, exasperating and, through it all, loving relationships that dads and daughters enjoy — or, at times, simply endure.

(Wainwright, interestingly, enough, is the father of Rufus Wainwright and the son of a longtime LIFE magazine writer and editor, Loudon Wainwright, Jr.)

Here, in a special Father’s Day gallery, LIFE.com applauds that unique familial bond with photos of famous fathers and their daughters and, for a little variety, one famous daughter and her dad.

Blegvad’s lyrics to “Daughter,” meanwhile, are worth celebrating in their own right. See them below.

“Daughter”

© 1995 Peter Blegvad

Everything she sees
she says she wants.
And everything she says she wants
I see she gets.

That’s my daughter in the water,
everything she owns I bought her,
Everything she owns.
That’s my daughter in the water,
Everything she knows I taught her.
Everything she knows.

Everything I say
She takes to heart.
And everything she takes,
She takes apart.

That’s my daughter in the water,
Every time she fell I caught her,
Every time she fell.
That’s my daughter in the water
I lost every time I fought her.
Yeah, I lost every time.

Every time she blinks
she strikes somebody blind,
And everything she thinks
Blows her tiny mind.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone.

[MORE: See the LIFE gallery, “LIFE With Famous Moms.”]

John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942.

John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942

Eliot Elisofon The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942.

Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945.

Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946.

Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946

Ian Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949.

Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jackie and Rachel Robinson with their infant daughter, Sharon, Los Angeles, 1950.

Jackie and Rachel Robinson With Daughter Sharon, 1950

J.R. Eyerman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pablo Picasso and daughter Paloma, 1951.

Pablo Picasso and daughter, 1951

Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952.

Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952

George Skadding The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953.

Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie – and Lucille Ball with Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Richard Burton and daughter Kate, 1957.

Richard Burton and daughter, 1957

Gordon Parks The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958.

John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dean Martin with daughter Gina Caroline, 1958.

Dean Martin with daughter, 1958

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tony Curtis with daughter Jamie Lee, 1959

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John Glenn with daughter Lyn, 1959.

John Glenn with daughter, 1959

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Henry Fonda with daughter Jane, 1960.

Henry Fonda with daughter Jane, 1960

Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ann-Margret with her father Gustav Olsson, 1961.

Ann-Margaret with her father, 1961

Grey Villet The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Burt Lancaster with daughter Sighle (pronounced Sheila), 1961.

Burt Lancaster with daughter, 1961

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, 1961.

Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, whose name he famously worked into his drawings, 1961.

(c) Bob Gomel / Courtesy of Bob Gomel

Astronaut Scott Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962.

Malcolm Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962.

John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Steve McQueen kisses his daughter Terry goodnight in 1963.

Steve McQueen and Daughter, 1963

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963.

Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964.

Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and daughter Hayley, 1965.

Vikings QB Francis Tarkenton and daughter, 1965

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy (with Yul Brynner), 1965.

Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy, 1965

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charlie Chaplin and daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966.

Charlie Chaplin and daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charles M. Schulz and daughter Jill, 1967.

Charles Schulz and daughter, 1967

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paul Newman with daughter Clea and wife Joanne Woodward, 1968.

Paul Newman with daughter and wife Joanne Woodward, 1968

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969.

Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dustin Hoffman with his daughter Karina, 1969.

Dustin Hoffman and Daughter Karina, 1969

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969.

Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970.

Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970

Co Rentmeester The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Richard Nixon and daughter Patricia, 1971.

Richard Nixon and daughter Patricia, 1971

Walter Bennett The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and wife Hillary, 1993.

Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and wife Hillary, 1993

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

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