Photo by Andrew Small
Lauren Daigle has been busy with her drive-in concerts, much like other artists who helped bring this 1930’s concept into our COVID-19 lifestyle. This American Music, Billboard Music, Grammy, and GMA Dove winner released three albums, including:
- How Can It Be (2015)
- Behold: A Christmas Collection (2016)
- Look Up Child (2018)
Check out my other 11 Lauren Daigle reviews or Christmas song, Light of the World.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
Daigle feels like a stranger in her home, perhaps unrecognizable by “You”. She’s run off from “You” for worldly pursuits only to discover that she cannot do life without “You”. She decides to stay, her heart belonging to “You”.
Who is “You”? Christians will be quick to cite God because of Daigle’s professed faith; However, the lyrics do not make this clear. It could easily be Daigle’s boyfriend or husband that she left and returned. Aside from capitalization, there are no attributes or acts that implicitly show “You” as God.
Score: 4/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
I subtracted two points for Daigle’s ambiguity and assumed “You” is God. Under this assumption, this song is Biblical.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
I’ve been a winding road, oh, I know You know
Sometimes a stranger in my home
Keep going back and forth through the open door
Daigle acknowledges her struggle with sin (Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 6:12-17, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). She doesn’t feel like herself, as if God knows a foreign individual and not the real “her”. Her identity is not in lawbreaking.
I’m still learning to be still
That is, to be still and know He is God (Psalm 46:10).
[Chorus 1]
This girl ain’t going anywhere
That is, Daigle will not abandon her relationship with God. She will persevere until the end (Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:13, Mark 13:13, and 1 John 2:19).
This girl ain’t going anywhere
Repeats line 1.
I can promise You this, now I know for sure
Daigle promises and expresses certainty in her perseverance.
This girl ain’t going anywhere
Repeats line 1.
[Verse 2]
I’ve run for miles and lost sight of where You are
Daigle was once lost in darkness, dead in sin, and away from a relationship with God (Proverbs 21:16, Luke 15:11-24, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1-2, Colossians 2:13, and 1 Timothy 5:6).
But You have seen me all along
We run from God, but He knows where we are because God is omniscient (1 Kings 8:39, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 44:21, Psalm 139:4, Psalm 147:4-5, Isaiah 40:28, Matthew 10:30, John 16:30, John 21:17, Acts 1:24, Hebrews 4:13, and 1 John 3:20).
Maybe I’m the last to know when I’ve gone too far
All sin leads to eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23), so any movement away from God is “going too far”. Daigle came to grips with her lawbreaking.
And yet I’m always by Your side
This is so because Daigle is an adopted child of God (John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3). She may have fallen, but God is with her (Psalms 37:24).
[Bridge 1]
Oh, I know
I searched the world to find my heart is Yours
Daigle was a prodigal that feasted upon the world, realizing that life with God is better (Luke 15:11-24). She was dead in sin, but is now alive in Christ (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).
Oh, my heart is Yours
Essentially repeats the last part of line 2.
I searched the world to find my heart is Yours
Repeats line 2.
Oh, my heart is Yours
Repeats line 3.
[Chorus 2]
This girl ain’t going anywhere
This girl ain’t going anywhere
This girl ain’t going anywhere
This girl ain’t going anywhere
Repeats Chorus 1, line 1.
[Bridge 2]
I searched the world to find my heart is Yours
Repeats Bridge 1, line 2.
Yes, my heart is Yours, ohh, oh-oh-oh
Essentially repeats Bridge 1, line 3, combined with a call to Casper the friendly ghost.
I searched the world to find what I’m looking for
This confirms my commentary on Bridge 1, line 2.
I want nothing more
Oh, my heart is Yours
Daigle’s desires to be God’s child. See commentary on Verse 2, line 4.
Score: 8/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Those outside the camp of Christ will walk away with a good message about restored relationships without much clarity that Daigle sings about God. Though some may interpret it as such, there is plenty of room for a boyfriend/husband view.
Score: 3/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Though Daigle glorifies God in her message when we assume “You” as “God”, His identity is not clearly shown throughout her song.
Score: 5/10
Closing Comments
Lauren Daigle’s This Girl is ambiguous. If we assume it refers to God, her lyrics agree with the Bible and contains a decent message about Daigle’s running and returning to God, bringing Him glory. However, we can easily interpret this as boyfriend/husband language, snatching some of His glory away. Daigle is not clear about the subject of “You”.
For these reasons, I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.
Final Score: 5.5/10
Artist Info
Track: This Girl (listen to the song)
Artist: Lauren Daigle
Album: Look Up Child
Genre: Pop
Release Year: 2018
Duration: 4:33
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2018 Centricity Music Publishing (ASCAP) CentricSongs (SESAC) See You At The Pub (SESAC) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Fellow Ships Music (SESAC) So Essential Tunes (SESAC) Flychild Publishing (SESAC) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
08/16/2021 – Clarified in section 2 that I assumed “You” is God.
03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.
Comments
Steve Witwicki
Overall, I certainly agree with this and most of your other assessments. In my opinion, however, it’s important to make a distinction between “songs used for corporate worship” (those led by the worship team encouraging corporate participation) and songs used IN corporate worship (those “presented” by the worship team for congregational reflection). As a worship leader myself, I will sometimes employ songs like this as an illustration and also provide some spoken context around it. Not all songs played on popular CCM radio are designed for corporate involvement or expression. However, because of their familiarity, I believe we can make good use of them IN worship to help worshipers connect with the stories in manty of these songs. In fact, there are times, when properly set up, I will even insert a secular piece (with the blessing of my pastor, of course) if it fits the theme or lesson of the day.
As for pieces to be used FOR corporate worship, where we expect the congregation to engage and sing along, we have used the following four tests to measure its appropriateness:
1. It should tell the truth about God.
Study the lyrics and be sure that the words agree on a scriptural basis with what we believe. Be sure that the theology expressed does not contradict what we, as Lutherans, believe. Be aware of areas or theological concepts that the pastors want us to avoid—rapture imagery is one that immediately comes to mind.
2. It should tell the truth about us.
This one can sometimes be difficult to discern—does this song contain sentiments that are true of all worshipers, all the time? Usually here we’re talking about what might be considered “personal” worship songs—expressions to God in prayer that communicate our personal needs, promises or desires. Many times these can be somewhat sappy and may border on the “Jesus is my boyfriend” category. These songs may be great to listen to in the car or in one’s own time with God, but are not appropriate for the gathered body. Corporate worship songs express timeless sentiments about Christ or Christians that are readily agreed upon by the body and are not subject to emotional whims.
3. It should be singable.
For the most part, Worship Leaders will always make sure that they and their team are able to “pull off” a new tune. No one would consider intentionally attempting to learn or present a piece that they are musically incapable of interpreting. If the song is not intended to be sung by the congregation, that’s all that’s necessary—can my instrumentalists do it justice? Can my singers learn the melody and rhythms? Do we have the “chops” to present it vocally? But when we want to use a song for congregational use, we need to consider far more. The key of the piece needs to be in a range that is singable for the majority of the congregation. In general, that’s about an octave—from middle C to the C above. There can, however, be exceptions to this and it should not be considered a hard-and-fast rule. Passages where the melody reaches a D or even an E above middle C may be acceptable as long as the tune doesn’t stay up in that range or contain long notes held out. Heavily syncopated rhythms or difficult rests can also present a problem for congregational singing as will odd melodic intervals.
4. It should be memorable.
Can the song be easily retained by the congregation? Is the song “wordy” or does it contain difficult chord progressions and key changes? Most folks in our congregations are not professional musicians or singers. They generally react positively to catchy melodies and well-written lyrics. Ideally, a really good tune will “stay in their heads” long after they leave church. Part of what makes a piece memorable includes whether or not the song sounds like what the congregation knows or listens to during the rest of the week on mass media. Style, instrumentation, form and harmonies can all be components of making a song memorable.
Obviously, some of this language has been adapted for our denomination and even our congregation. However, I applaud your detailed approach toward assessing a song’s value—it is helpful to me, in particular, in weighing it against our number one principle: does it tell the truth about God? No doubt when it rubs against the teachings of scripture, then it’s destined for the scrap heap for use as a congregational tune.
Thanks for all your research and I look forward to many more!
Vince Wright
Steve,
Thank you for your comments and compliments! I agree with your distinction and applaud your criteria to filter songs.
-Vince Wright
Kelly Hickman
👍
Michael
In my opinion, this song glorifies women who sing along with it (2 Timothy 3:6). I don’t think it is written to include men in it’s audience. The manner in which the main line is repeated makes the song all about the one singing it. It is possible to have a mental picture of yourself seeking God, while still keeping yourself at the center of that picture. I would argue that this song encourages this unbiblical picture in the mind. The use of the third person in reference to the one singing along (“this girl”) is a subtle way of picturing other people watching your actions constantly, and this way of picturing yourself as the center of everyone’s attention isn’t good. Finally, instead of just rating the lyrics, why not also consider why the title of the song was selected? Based on the title, I wonder who people expect to glorify when they sing it?
Kelly Hickman
👍