‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ by Luke Combs - Lyrics & Meaning

Across his highly-anticipated fifth studio record, Fathers & Sons, one of country music's leading hitmakers, Luke Combs explores twelve different takes on fatherhood and the all-too-important relationship between kith and kin.

Wholly taken from his last few years of experience as a dad to his two sons, Tex and Beau, Combs explores a barrage of topics and perspectives pertaining to the ties between fathers and their sons, but none are as cutting as the album's final track, 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'

Depicting the story of a young boy in a broken home, he takes on the point of view as the young son who's only wish is for things to be normal between his parents, and feeling an immense amount of guilt that he's the reason things fell apart.

As the rest of the album before it, 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' finds a trusted trio of co-producers behind the soundboard: Combs, Chip Matthews & Jonathan Singleton, all of whom have been in the studio for many of Combs' previous releases.

Bookending the project, the song also sees a trio of tunesmiths wielding their pens for the heartbreaking offering, namely Combs, Adam James and Ray Fulcher.

As the whole album was recorded as one-take, live to tape songs, you can hear the charm of the acoustic and organic instrumentation at play on 'Take Me to the Ballgame' as Combs delivers the somber and unfortunately relatable prose against the sparse production.

"I caught a foul ball up in the bleachers and the shortstop autographed it
I keep it on the dresser with every day that passes
I've been throwing it to myself, I've got pretty good at catching
I just called to say I miss you and making sure you know that"

Taking on the perspective of a young boy, Combs looks back on some of his fondest memories of America's favorite sport. Catching a foul ball at the last game he went to with his old man, which one of the players signed, it's become on of his most treasured possessions.

Noting that he's mostly been playing catch with himself these days, the somberness of the lyrics begin to take shape as we learn that the boy is telling all of this to his dad on the phone, just calling to catch up and tell him he misses him.

"It's my birthday pretty soon
And all I want is for you to

Take me out to the ballgame
Pick me up at the house
What's this every other weekend thing even all about?
'Cause Mama said she loves you, and in some ways always will
I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy can't you still
Take me out to the ballgame?"

Making mention that his birthday is coming up, Combs sings that what he wants more than anything is for his dad to take him back out to the ball park and for things to be normal again.

We quickly understand that the parents in this situation have separated as Combs sings about only seeing his dad "ever other weekend." Struggling to process this new family dynamic, the child tells his dad that his mom often talks about how she still loves her ex-husband, laying on the heartbreak even further.

Despite everything being so different and all of the changes, the child once again asks if his father could just take him to another baseball game, a place where even if only for a few hours, things will feel as they should.

"I'd sure love to go again, seems like it's been so long
If we could get some tickets Friday night, me and you and maybe mom
'Cause I feel like it's my fault that you two ain't together
I'm so sorry I was bad, I promise I'll be better

'Cause I just wanna see you
And if you'll come back, you don't have to"

Back to the phone conversation, the boy already starts planning the night. Though it's been so long, he suggests they could go later that week and maybe, just maybe, they could invite mom out, too, so the whole family can be back together again.

Switching to a deeper thought, one that's often shared by children of broken homes, Combs admits that he feels like it's his fault that his parents aren't together anymore. Though we as listeners understand that that isn't true, you can feel the sincere anguish in Combs' voice as he apologizes for being "bad" and promising that he will "be better," all but begging his dad to come home and for things to go back to business as usual.

"We'd eat hot dogs in them same seats
And in the seventh inning, we'd sing

Take me out to the ballgame
Pick me up at the house
What's this every other weekend thing even all about?
'Cause Mama said she loves you, and in some ways always will
I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy can't you still
Take me out to the ballgame?
Take me out to the ballgame"

Once again making connections that if all three of them could just go to this one little game, things would be okay again, the boy explains that they could sit in the "same seats" and, come the seventh inning stretch, they could all sing the famous song that this tune takes its name from.

I caught a foul ball up in the bleachers and the shortstop autographed it
I keep it on the dresser with every day that passes
I've been throwing it to myself, I've got pretty good at catching
I just called to say I miss you and making sure you know that

It's my birthday pretty soon
And all I want is for you to

Take me out to the ballgame
Pick me up at the house
What's this every other weekend thing even all about?
'Cause Mama said she loves you, and in some ways always will
I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy can't you still
Take me out to the ballgame?

I'd sure love to go again, seems like it's been so long
If we could get some tickets Friday night, me and you and maybe mom
'Cause I feel like it's my fault that you two ain't together
I'm so sorry I was bad, I promise I'll be better

'Cause I just wanna see you
And if you'll come back, you don't have to

Take me out to the ballgame
Pick me up at the house
What's this every other weekend thing even all about?
'Cause Mama said she loves you, and in some ways always will
I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy can't you still
Take me out to the ballgame?

We'd eat hot dogs in them same seats
And in the seventh inning, we'd sing

Take me out to the ballgame
Pick me up at the house
What's this every other weekend thing even all about?
'Cause Mama said she loves you, and in some ways always will
I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy can't you still
Take me out to the ballgame?
Take me out to the ballgame

––

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