Jon Bellion discovered a luxury that few global pop stars ever find: time.
In the middle of the most lucrative and highest-performing years of his career, Bellion pressed pause.
Instead of choosing to further his solo career, Bellion pivoted to committing time to his family and raising three boys with his wife. He also founded a record label and cowrote/produced tracks for a list of artists that resembles a modern musical Mt. Rushmore (Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Lizzo and Katy Perry, to name a few).
Returning with Father Figure six years later, Bellion explores the role of fatherhood in his own life by tracing the highs and lows of his family’s history. With young boys to raise now, Bellion’s lyrics reflect a renewed sense of responsibility in the dual roles of husband and father.
Bellion has often been lauded for his human and painfully honest lyrics on previous albums. Yet, Father Figure pairs his raw meditations on love and sacrifice with ruminations about how our parents ultimately shape the most foundational parts about us.
Whether Bellion is a father figure worthy of imitation will likely vary from listener to listener. In Bellion’s opinion, to be brutally honest about parenting, you need to talk about everything—even if it means relying on profanity to express your feelings
“A present father is worth way more than a perfect dad,” Bellion sings on the album’s closing track, “My Boy.” And on “Father Figure,” he tries his best to follow in his father’s footsteps: “I am no saint, I am no saint, it’s true/But I’ll be OK if I’m half the man as you … I’ll follow after you.”
A smattering of religious imagery appears throughout the album, which is common in Bellion’s previous work. “My Boy” also features lines such as, “I feel ashamed for my lack of faith when You walked the ocean/Eve bit the apple, my faith is weak, and my trust is broken.” We also hear, “Lord it’s tough to hold my son/I need to keep him safe, tell me which direction the world is goin’.”
These are poignant reflections about the relationship between faith and unbelief. When set against the backdrop of protecting your children from the impurity of the world, it’s a message any parent could agree with.
“Wash” sees Bellion comparing his wife’s support and strength throughout parenting to the sustained force of a roaring river and waterfall even when things feel chaotic. He sings, “You fit me, fit me right/I lay your grace on me/Hallelu-, you amaze me/When she walks away/That’s my baby.”
Enlisting Luke Combs on “Why,” Bellion ponders what might happen when his son finally enters the world. The fear and anxiety of becoming a father push him to realize the power and responsibility of fatherhood: “And then once I know you, I might fall in love/And once I’m in love, then my heart is wide open.”
“Rich and Broke” and “Modern Times” (feat. Jon Batiste) discuss the emptiness of pursuing money compared to the lasting love of family. “Horoscope” borrows astrological imagery, as we’ll see, but it nevertheless describes a husband and wife with a deep intuitive connection to each other: “We don’t need a telephone, ‘cause we’re telepathic.” He also says, albeit very profanely, that family is always more important than work if he’s needed at home.
On “Italia Breeze,” Bellion makes multiple positive references to Moses and the Exodus story, as well as Jesus. “Well, I learned from Moses a kingdom can be brought to ashes.” And he seems to reject the way of the Pharoah while identifying with God’s people: “So I’ll pack up the Pharaoh talk and keep my eyes on the Passover sparrow.” Later he says of himself, “Child of God, I am the Alpha and Omega’s draft.” He also suggests that showy religious jewelry doesn’t mean anything if someone doesn’t have genuine spiritual depth: “A Jesus piece won’t bring you peace in times of sorrow/But you won’t hear it ’cause your spirit side is very hollow.”
Elsewhere “Italia Breeze,” we hear more about how Bellion is proud of his family’s Italian-immigrant heritage, a core component of which was their willingness to work hard: “My grandfather said, ‘We made it from a dollar in a rowboat.’” And though the song namechecks some famous Mafia gangsters (“I who came from Ginos and Gambinis and Jerry Gallos”), it seems Bellion’s father rejected Godfather stereotypes and embraced genuine faith instead: “Cold-stone killers, we’re showing up to Mass/Thank God my father took up the Christian path.”
Even though portions of Bellion’s parenting journey are admirable, at times he gets carried away and mistakes his tendency for profanity as beneficial honesty.
Opening track “Horoscope” (feat. Pharell Williams) reveals the strain that parenting puts on Bellion and his wife. He claims, “If you need me now/I’ll come thrash the room, I’ll black out for you,” which don’t seem like helpful ways to be present for your spouse. Bellion’s strategy for holding it together amid parenting struggles is to forgo conflict resolution and instead to “read you like a horoscope.” We also hear an f-word.
Even though “Why” (feat. Luke Combs) begins in a place of wanting to love your son more than anything in the world, it quickly devolves into a troubling reflection on whether parenting is worth all the supposed trouble. Bellion sings, “So why love anything, anything at all?/ … Stressed and strung out about things that could happen/And I could move mountains with the worry I’ve done.”
On “Get it Right,” Bellion persuades his wife that he’ll make up for his mistakes, including what seems to be an explosive temper: “I never meant to hit the wall, make you cry.” He also says, somewhat cryptically, “Marriage is impossible/You are the mess I made.” He claims they’ll focus on “the good s—” and “get it right this time.”
When discussing the pitfalls of money on “Rich and Broke,” Bellion casually drops a few f-bombs, as he does on multiple songs throughout the album. In reflecting on his own father’s shortcomings on “Father Figure,” Bellion slips in a few uses of the s-word. A few songs include profanities such as “b–ch” and “d–n.”
Even as a new father, it didn’t take long for Jon Bellion to realize that parenting leads you to ask difficult questions: What if my children break my heart? What if I hurt them with my words? What if they hurt me? How do I handle trauma in our family’s history? Who’s going to help me?
While it’s unusual for an artist of Bellion’s stature to devote 14 songs to the topic of parenting almost exclusively, it’s clear that becoming a father has weighed heavily on him.
Bellion desperately wants to help his children face present and future adversity in their lives. But he also feels the need to resolve his own problems. There’s a blunt-force reality in what Bellion’s after, and it’s not so distant from the central aim of our mission at Focus on the Family.
Yet it’s unfortunate that Bellion ultimately ends up with few lasting solutions. The loneliness and anxiety of parenting lead him towards vulgar reflections and, at times, taking unhelpful advice from his family and the world.
For any parent who shares similar concerns or questions like Bellion, Father Figure at least can put a name to some of those parenting emotions. But the album unfortunately falls short in helping resolve those problems or encouraging spouses to remain aligned in make-or-break moments.
Jackson Greer is a High School English Teacher in the suburbs of Texas. He lives in Coppell, Texas with his wife, Clara. They love debating whether or not to get another cat and reading poetry together. Also, he is a former employee of Focus on the Family’s Parenting Department.
