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LISTEN: Alan Jackson’s New Song About His Daughter’s Wedding Day Will Have You in Tears

We waited, and Alan Jackson delivered. He recently dropped “You’ll Always Be My Baby” as a beautiful tribute to his daughters. In the song, the father of three gives us a nostalgic glimpse into his life as a father who watched his daughter get married. 

With a twangy guitar, midtempo melody, and tear-jerking lyrics, we’ve got a feeling the song will make for a perfect father-daughter dance at everyone’s wedding. 

Throughout the song, Jackson reflects on watching his daughters grow up, from her “first steps, first words” to her first broken heart, and he’s been there for her through it all. In the last verse, make sure you have your tissues ready as he vows he’ll be there for whatever comes next, too.

“You’re a woman on your own 
All in love and nearly gone 
But you’ll always be my baby
No matter where you are 
You’ll always be my baby 
Forever in my heart”

Upcoming Album Acts as Homage to Alan Jackson’s Family

The 62-year-old features “You’ll Always Be My Baby” on his forthcoming new album, Where Have You Gone. The album, which has been six years in the making, acts primarily as a tribute to his daughters, Mattie, Dani, and Alexandra.  

“The first I wrote for Mattie’s wedding, the summer of 2017,” Jackson said in a press release. “But it was so hard to do, I told ’em, ‘I wrote this for all of you. I’m not writing another!’ The second just came out one day.”

For Jackson, he’s a family man through and through— which is evident in the new record. In addition to this daughters, it also includes a song inspired by his late mother. The singer wrote “Where Her Heart Has Always Been” for his mother’s funeral, and it features an old recording of her reading a passage from the Bible. Yep, get ready to cry some more. 

“This is Alan’s story, but it’s also the story of country music. This music love letter was written about the most universal experiences in life,” UMG Nashville President Cindy Mabe said in a press release. “Almost exclusively with Alan’s own pen, and it’s once again a reminder of what a one-of-a-kind creator he truly is.”

“When I write, I visualize back home and growing up,” Alan Jackson told American Songwriter. “Real country songs are life and love and heartache, drinking and Mama and having a good time,” he continues. “But it’s the sounds of the instruments, too. The steel and acoustic guitar, the fiddle—those things have a sound and a tone…and getting that right, the way those things make you feel, that’s country, too.”

Where Have You Gone is due out on May 14. His last album was 2015’s Angels & Alcohol.