Josh Kelley, ‘Naleigh Moon’ – Lyrics Uncovered

The lyrics to Josh Kelley's newest single, 'Naleigh Moon,' were crafted about a very significant part of the singer's life: his beautiful little daughter! Kelley and his wife, actress Katherine Heigl, adopted Naleigh Moon a couple of years after the two wed in 2007.

"We only had Naleigh for about a week," Kelley tells Taste of Country, referring to when the inspiration to write a song about his new little girl came to him. "I remember the first time that I got to hold her. Mama had her for like the first four hours when we got her, because that’s what mamas do. And then when I got the chance to hold her, she just melted into my arms. She sort of tucked herself in and kind of let me know that she accepted me as her new dad. I just remember that feeling, and I remember going, gosh … I really want to capture this moment for her to listen to some day so she knows how we feel about her and how we felt about her in that initial moment."

"So about a week later, Katie was filming the movie 'Life as We Know It,'" Kelley continues. "I was sitting in her trailer, and my buddy Clint was there. I said, 'Hey, I want to write this song called 'Naleigh Moon.' We just started writing."

"I know the kind of guy I am / A bit too much into myself, not much left for someone else / And I'm sure I've caused my share of pain / But all that changed when you first touched my face," they wrote in the opening lyrics to the song.

"It took probably about a full day to write that song," he says. "A lot of people spend about three hours [on a song], and if they’re not done, they move on, but I just know when we’re onto something. The song just felt so good. We wanted to keep proceeding and pushing forward."

"Halfway around my little world / You had no idea that you were my girl / You found my arms not a moment too soon / I couldn't see past me 'til I saw you / Sweet Naleigh Moon," they wrote in the song's touching chorus.

"When the song was done, I was just like, 'Good Lord … this song is really special!'" says Kelley, who says his little girl somewhat grasps the concept of the lyrical concept of the tune. "She’s 3 now, and she knows it’s her song, but she doesn’t totally understand exactly what’s going on [laughs]. It’s really, really cool … she a really smart little girl, so she kind of gets it."

Watch the Josh Kelley 'Naleigh Moon' Video