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Luke Combs was on “dad duty” when he played an acoustic rendition of an unreleased balled he wrote about fatherhood.
Combs and his wife, Nicole Combs, are parents to two young sons. Tex Lawrence Combs arrived first, on Father’s Day in June 2022. Baby No. 2, son Beau Lee Combs, was born on August 15, 2023. Combs, who had just returned from a hunting trip, was watching the kids while Nicole exercised on the treadmill when he recorded a video of an unreleased song, “The Man He Sees in Me.” Combs wrote this “dad song” with songwriter Josh Phillips. The “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old” hitmaker added 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/ Someday between him leaving home and driving on my knee/ Maybe I’ll finally be, the man he sees in me
“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’ latest full-length album is Gettin’ Old, an 18-track collection that released in March 2023. That album includes “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old,” “Hannah Ford Road,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Love You Anyway” and “Fast Car,” his award-winning cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1980s hit, and other highlights. Gettin’ Old is the follow-up to Growin’ Up, Combs’ 12-track record that made its debut in June 2022 with “Doin’ This,” “The Kind of Love We Make,” “Outrunning’ Your Memory” with Miranda Lambert, “Going, Going, Gone” and more. Listen to Combs’ unreleased song here: