Girl America

When I first buy a CD (or for everyone else out there-update my ipod) I listen to it over, and over, and over again. It's like beating a dead horse. But I can't help it. I obsess, learn every lyric, then I move on. Well Mat Kearney's "Bullet" was my 2005 obsession. And now, it's back! (It's also great pulling out an album you haven't listened to in 5 years to find you still know EVERY word:) He's an incredible song writer/musician/singer. We were members of the same church in Nashville. But I'm not going to lie and say we hung out or anything...because we didn't:) If you haven't heard any of the songs off of Bullet- go buy it! His new album "City of Black & White" is also available in stores now!
An oldie, but a goodie-

#4 "Girl America" is my favorite on this album. The lyrics are powerful and moving, and hold a strong message. One I'm passionate about.


"Girl America"
by: Mat Kearney

My girl America is just a youth in this world

Her smile is more precious than the sparkle of pearls

And though her age reads she's just a young girl

The age behind her eyes show the pain that she's swirled

Through the hand that's been dealt though it's quiet as kept

The weight that she felt last night when she slept

And as she crept into the dreams of the things of her past

Seems to have grown so fast, way beyond her own class

Though they're right there with her, her brothers and her sisters

A natural born leader even when her peers dis her

My girl, she's at a crossroads, people praying for her

Some are preying on her magazine ads, sex, drama

Smoking marijuana, longin' for a father to call her, 'daughter'

She's part of a generation longing for reconciliation

And this future that they're facing and this poison that they're tasting

My girl, I know this love you're chasing

[chorus]

My girl America's crying when she's lying on her bed at night

I can see that she's screaming when she's dreaming for her freedom

My girl America's dying while she's trying just to stop this fight

Don't stop believing, my girl America

Boys with hungry eyes have been beating her door

Telling her that's what she's for, trying to rob at her core

Then leave calling her a whore, but still she knows there's more

I know she knows there's more because there is a voice she can't ignore

'Cause it was founded in the foundations, from the day of her creation

In God we trust engraved on the treasures of her nation

And the void that the boys can't fill

With the tipping of the bottle or the popping of the pill

But still most of her friends don't care as they glare

Ready to drown down the funnel as they frown down the tunnel

They stumble and they tumble breaking down into rubble

My girl America, stop can't you see

It's not the circumstances that determine who you're gonna be

But how you deal with these problems and pains that come your way

It's for you that I pray with hope for a brighter day

And so I say, your deliverance is coming

[chorus]

Faith like a child from your first birth

You left it in the dirt on your worst hurt

And I see each tear and every scar

The hands that have held you where you are

And I can see we've strayed so far

A king born under that morning star

As a crown of thorns was placed to erase

Each tear that's touched your face

And his palms and sides were pierced with spears

He hung in love just to draw you near

My girl, out of this whole world

Can't you see this is where we started?