Behind the song
How it was written
The story of “Daddy’s Here” started the morning after the very first concert of our tour.
Our seven-year-old daughter, Journee, crawled into bed with us and said, “Daddy, can I ask you a question?”
“Absolutely, sweetie. What is it?”
She looked at John and asked, “Are you gonna see me when I’m big?”
John asked her why she was wondering that, and without missing a beat she said, “Because you’re already old.” 😂
He told her, “Sweetie, I’m gonna do my best. But if I’m not here, I’ll be with Jesus. You don’t need to worry.”
I thought the conversation was so sweet—and so Journee—that I shared the little story on my Instagram Stories that day. Our friend and songwriter Kelly Walls happened to see it and immediately replied, “That’s a song!”
We were traveling through Nashville the next day, so John suggested they get together and see if they could flesh it out. Kelly’s husband, Troy Walls, joined the writing session as well, and John pulled our oldest son, Baylee, into the room too. The four of them took that little conversation between a daddy and his daughter and turned it into “Daddy’s Here.”
We loved the song, but there was still one big question: Would Journee actually sing it?
When we got back to the Airbnb, John played it for her, and she immediately started singing it back to him. We were blown away.
The next day, the two of them sat on the bed and filmed a simple video singing the song together. Nothing produced or planned—just a daddy, his little girl, and a song born out of a real conversation.
That little video went nuclear viral.
Then the next video went viral. And the next. Millions of people began watching and sharing, and the comments came flooding in with stories of fathers, daughters, loss, love, and faith. We knew we had stumbled onto something incredibly special.
Because in some way, everyone has a daddy story. And all of us know what it is to love someone we’re afraid of losing.
But we never wanted “Daddy’s Here” to leave people in that fear. We wanted it to point them toward the hope of Jesus. Because Jesus didn’t just come to conquer death—He came to free us from the fear of death.
A daddy can promise to love his little girl for every day God gives him, but there is only One who can promise to never leave her.
And that’s really the heart behind “Daddy’s Here”:
Until He calls me home, let’s just trust in Jesus.
Lyrics
Sing it with us
The full lyric sheet for "Daddy's Here" lives with the official release. Read along with the lyric video, or find the printed lyrics inside the Holy Beautiful Wildfire booklet.
The chorus turns on one line the whole room ends up shouting by the second pass — a father calling out that he's back, and a child who never stopped waiting.
From the comments
What People Are Saying
“I've listened to this song several times a day for two weeks. It helps heal my soul.”
“Just casually crying in the middle of the day. ❤️”
“I'm not crying... you're crying!”
“This song hits really hard. I wish that I had a dad like this. ❤️”
“Bro, why you have to make me cry on a random Wednesday night? You've got me over here boohooing.”
“Not religious at all... but this made me tear up. Keep that love going.”
“This is beautiful... We lost both of our parents, but because of our faith we have hope, peace, and the promise that God never leaves us. Thank you for this song.”
“When my father passed away, this reminded me that Jesus is with us through our grief. Thank you for creating something that brings hope.”
Thousands more like these on Instagram.
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