"Where Have You Gone" will be released May 14th

Alan Jackson is now weeks away from releasing his first album of new music in six years, Where Have You Gone, and the country star gave fans another new song ahead of time last Friday when he shared “Where Her Heart Has Always Been (Written For Mama’s Funeral With An Old Recording Of Her Reading The Bible).” Jackson’s mother, Ruth Musick Jackson, died in January 2017, and he wrote the song for her funeral service.

The song begins with a recording of Musick Jackson reading from the Bible before her son begins to sing over an acoustic guitar. “I could hear the roses sing / A bluebird softly flapped its wings / The sun seemed brighter than it’s ever been,” Jackson reflects in the chorus. “And now she’s dancing in the wind with her true love again / Where her heart has always been / Where her heart has always been.” A pedal steel and fiddle add layers to the song but keep the focus on Jackson’s voice as he remembers his late mom.

Where Have You Gone will be released May 14th.

Listen to a clip of “Where Her Heart Has Always Been” right here: