Luke Combs shared a snippet of a heartfelt ballad he wrote about raising his two young sons. The award-winning country artist recorded a rendition of “The Man He Sees in Me,” and as his Instagram followers began to listen to the recording on Wednesday morning (March 13), Combs wanted to know: “Is this heading in the right direction y’all?”
Combs shared a sneak peek of the unreleased song earlier this year. He was on “dad duty” while his wife, Nicole Combs, was on the treadmill when he performed an acoustic version of “The Man He Sees in Me.” Combs teamed up with songwriter Josh Phillips to bring the “dad song” to life. At that time, Combs shared the lyrics in the comments:
“He’s Spider-Man in Walmart boots/ And a camouflage hat/ With a baby blue Zebco/ That gets hung up every cast
“He thinks he’s learning fishing/ From the man that taught Bill Dance/ And I think as I untangle it and put it in his hands
“I hope he never finds out that I didn’t hang the moon/ And I’ve never scared a monster out the closet in his room/ One day between him leaving home and driving on my knee/ Maybe I’ll finally be, the man he sees in me”
That’s where the recording Combs posted on Wednesday morning stopped. The lyrics he shared earlier this year, however, continued: “He waves his blanket like a checkered flag/ Pulling off of the interstate/ With a happy meal cup held high/ Like I won the big race/ When we get inside, his mind is blown/ When I untie his shoes/ And he smiles and says, ‘Daddy, there ain’t nothing you can’t do’/ I hope he never finds out that I didn’t hang the moon/ And I never scared a monster out the closet in his room/ Someday between him leaving home and driving on my knee/ Maybe I’ll finally be/ The man he sees in me/ I know he’s gonna find out that I didn’t hang the moon/ There never was a monster in the closet of his room/ Someday when he’s driving home with his son on his knee/ I hope he’s trying to be the man he sees in me/ The man he sees in me.”
Combs and his wife welcomed their firstborn child, son Tex Lawrence Combs, on Fathers Day in June 2022. The North Carolina-born country star said at the time that he and his wife “are over the moon in love with this little guy.” Less than one year later, they announced that Baby No. 2 was on the way. Combs and Nicole welcomed Baby No. 2, another son named Beau Lee Combs, in August 2023. Nicole set a reel to Cory Asbury’s “These are the Days” to announce his arrival, telling her newborn son, “we couldn’t love you more.”
Combs is also nominated at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, alongside other heavy-hitters in the genre like Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll and others. See the full list of country artists nominated here. Fans across the country will be able to watch the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards live as the show will be airing live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday, April 1st from 8pm-10pm ET live/PT tape-delayed on FOX. The event will also be broadcast on iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app.