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
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 was all 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, hers brothers and her sisters
A natural born leader even when her peers diss her
My girl, she's at a crossroads, people praying for her
Some are preying on her magazine ads, sex, drama, smoking marijuana
Longing 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 that 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's she's for, trying to rob her 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's a voice she can't ignore
Cause it was founded in the foundations, from the day of her creation
In God we trust engraved in the treasures of her nation
And the void the boys can't fill
With the tippin' of the bottle or the poppin' of the pill
But still most of her friends don't care as they glare
Ready to drown 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
So I say, your deliverance is comin'

[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
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

[Chorus: x2]

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
Where we started, where we started, my girl America

Writer : KEARNEY, MATHEW/MARVIN, ROBERT L.
Copyright : Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing