Luke Bryan Debuts Emotional New Song ‘Build Me a Daddy’

Luke Bryan has shared some more new music with fans, debuting the tear-jerking song “Build Me a Daddy” on Thursday night. The emotional song is narrated by a young boy who has lost his father and reflects on the memories they shared together while asking a toymaker to build him a new dad. “Could you build me a daddy? / Strong as Superman / Make him 10 feet tall with a Southern drawl and a crooked smile if you can,” the chorus reads. “I sure miss him / Maybe you could bring him back / If I walked him, it’d sure make mama happy / If you could build me a daddy.”

“There are people out there who are going to really, really relate to this song and it’s going to affect them in a beautiful way,” Bryan wrote on Instagram ahead of the song’s release, adding, “[Build Me A Daddy] tells the story of a boy and his dad in a beautiful and emotional way. I hope this song and this story touches you, in the same way, it touched me.” He also posted a short clip of the song on Twitter on Wednesday and wrote, “I’ve played this song for a lot of my hardcore buddies and it chokes them up. I think that’s the beauty of country music, to really make you feel emotional.” In a video on his Instagram Story, Bryan told fans that after he heard the song, he “knew” it had to be on his new album. “Certainly being a dad, it really touched me in a special way,” he said. “Country music is certainly about storytelling and this song does such a great job of telling the story.”

“Build Me a Daddy” was written by Jake Mitchell, Josh Thompson and Brett Tyler and will appear on Bryan’s upcoming album Born Here, Live Here, Die Here, which was originally scheduled to be released on April 24 and will now arrive on Aug. 7. Bryan has already released “Knockin’ Boots” as the first single from the album, followed by “What She Wants Tonight” and current single “One Margarita.”

The American Idol judge has also shared the album’s title track with fans. Bryan was scheduled to support the project on the road with the Proud to Be Right Here Tour, which was to begin on May 28. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tour was delayed until July, and while it has not officially been postponed or canceled, one of the trek’s stadium shows has been postponed until 2021 and the rest of the tour will almost certainly follow suit.