Songs That Sing My Life

If you know me at all, you know I love music. I've always loved music. In every stage and season of life I take on different interests, different hobbies, focus on different causes, but music has always been the one constant all throughout my life. 

There's something about a good song with meaningful lyrics that can make you feel like you're not alone. Someone else thinks like you do, feels like you do. 

When I became a Christ-follower, music took on a whole new meaning. It became a new way to worship my Creator and share Him with others. Notes and lyrics became infinitely more meaningful when they became prayers and love songs to my Savior. It makes my heart beat faster just thinking about it!

So in this post, I wanted to try something different...

When I'm singing for the Savior, I focus very hard on the words that are coming out my mouth. I once heard a preacher tell a gymnasium full of people that if they did not mean the words that they were singing then they were essentially lying, so they should just not sing at all. Something about that stuck with me...big time. I think about that statement everyday, and I don't want to be a liar. 

This is my little experiment. A transparent look into what the lyrics of a song mean to me. 

One of my very favorite songs out there and one that has spoken to me in so many ways is "The Real Me" by Natalie Grant. This one is found on her Awakening album, and tugs my heart in so many directions every time I hear it.

Here goes the experiment! The words in italics are the song lyrics, and my commentary is in bold. I've also posted a YouTube video of Natalie performing this song live on this post. (Really hoping that it works!)  Let's see what happens, shall we? :) 

The Real Me
Artist: Natalie Grant
Album: Awakening


Foolish heart looks like we're here again
Same old game of plastic smile
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break 
(How many times have I tried so hard to hide how I'm really feeling? What's the worst that could happen if they knew how I really felt about what they just said or did? No doubt about it, it would make them and me completely uncomfortable. It's just not fair to keep this to myself while expecting them to change, but I just can't say it. Just can't risk it.)
How much will they take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know? 
(I'm just so tired. Sometimes I wonder if I have anything else left to give. Everyone just wants and wants and wants, and I just want to give up! If I gave up, what would that do to my witness? To my ministry? I can't give up, but how much longer can I keep this up?)
Chorus:
But you see the real me
(Thank you, Father.)
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
(It is such a relief to know that I can't hide from You.)
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
(Oh Father, explode in all that I am. Cover my imperfection with Your perfection. Give me the strength that I need to continue giving of myself. You know that I am no good on my own. Use the broken parts of me to help make others whole. When it seems that my purpose in this life is running out, re-purpose me. You will not discard me just because I am broken. It hurts, Lord. It hurts so much, but I know that I can be myself completely, and fall apart completely in Your hands. )
 
Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance.
(I'm tired of doing it my way/ their way. I want to do it Your way.)
Living a charade, always on parade
(This way of life is unforgiving. Exhausting.)
What a mess I've made of my existence
(What made me think that this was better? This is all my fault.)
But you love me even now
(Amazing.)
And still I see somehow
 
You see the real me
(What a relief! I can breathe!)
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
(It's all Yours, God.)
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me

Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When you look at me
(Your unconditional love brings me to tears.)
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into
A perfect tapestry
(You've given me blessings beyond number, and I have done nothing to deserve them. I praise You for taking someone so broken and small as myself, and transforming my life into something that has meaning. You give me meaning whether anyone else sees it or not. My worth is in You, and nothing else matters.)
I just wanna be me

(I just want to be what You want me to be.) 

You see the real me
(No one else on the planet may see value in the "real me," but that doesn't matter as long as I matter to You.)
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
(I don't have to hide anything from You...not like I could hide anything from You!)
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
And you love me just as I am
Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When you look at me

(Incredible.)