Don’t let the album name fool you. Blake Shelton’s For Recreational Use Only might sound like a good time, but the country superstar is making it clear that one track on the record carries a far heavier message — and tonight, he’s bringing it to one of country music’s biggest stages.

“Let Him in Anyway,” co-written with HARDY, centers on a narrator pleading the case for a best friend’s place in heaven. It’s the kind of song that stops you cold, and Shelton says that reaction is exactly the point.

“If you can hear this song and it doesn’t punch you in the gut and break your heart, you probably need to be examined in other ways,” Blake says of the song.

For Shelton, getting “Let Him in Anyway” in front of as many ears as possible has been the mission — and he credits the song’s power to the community that produced it.

“I just wanted this song to have a platform and a way to be heard,” he adds. “That’s what I love about our writers in Nashville and what I love about country music in general. Great songs come out of this town every day, and every now and then you’re lucky enough to get your hands on one. I think this is one of those songs.”

To build momentum ahead of tonight, Shelton released a live video of the song captured during his Las Vegas residency — giving fans an early look at what the performance feels like in the room.

That performance comes to television tonight when Shelton takes the CMA Fest stage as part of ABC’s primetime special, airing at 8 p.m. Eastern. It’s a set that promises to trade the tongue-in-cheek spirit of his album title for something far more soul-stirring.