Smith tells PEOPLE that he is still a little hesitant about how he will handle watching people hear the song in person
Nate Smith played absolutely no role in writing his new song "Dads Don't Die." But as soon as he heard it, the country music powerhouse knew he had to be the one to sing it.
He just wasn't sure he could.
"I bawled the first time I listened to it," Smith, 39, tells PEOPLE from his home just outside of Nashville about the emotional song that was initially pitched to fellow country music hitmaker Cole Swindell. "I just wanted to make sure that I would be the right person to deliver the message."
Written by Emily Weisband, Marc Beeson and Allen Shamblin, the touching yet powerful song tells multiple stories of redemption and love and forgiveness, but most of all it tells a story of hope that no one truly ever leaves us. It's no surprise then that, due to the emotional nature of the subject matter, Smith says he did have his apprehensions about serving as the voice of the song.
"I mean, I still have my dad," Smith says quietly. "We're best friends, but look, we had a rocky relationship growing up. And my dad would admit that too. It wasn't good. So, I had some forgiveness to work out."
That journey to accept that he was indeed the right person to ultimately deliver "Dads Don't Die" to the masses came through loud and clear when Smith says he first heard the moving lyric, 'There's gonna come a day you understand / that he was just a man / and you turned out all right.'
"That's the line that gets me," Smith explains. "Every time I hear it, it is so emotional. And I realize [my dad] was just a guy trying to figure it out ... just like me."
Indeed, in multiple teases of the song both on social media and live in concert, Smith says he is beginning to realize just how many people can see themselves within the lyrics. "Dads Don't Die" seems as though it could be destined to serve as yet another No. 1 for the California native that has already found himself at the top of the country music charts with songs such as "Whiskey on You" and "World on Fire."
"Whether you've lost your dad or whether you need to heal from your dad, the overarching theme of the song is legacy," says Smith of "Dads Don't Die." "It's the idea that our fathers lived through us and the things that they taught us live through us."
Still, Smith admits that he is still a little hesitant about how he will handle watching people hear "Dads Don't Die" in person. "That's going to be tough and I'm very sensitive to that," he says. "I just hope this song heals some people and it touches their hearts. I hope it's a good thing for people and they can feel closer to their dad."
It's enough to make Smith think about taking on the fatherly role himself someday. "I really want to be a father," he tells PEOPLE. "I don't want to overdo it with my kids someday, but I know I want to encourage them and build them up."
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