On the way home from running errands today, I heard a very powerful song on the radio, and I had to share it.



The song is Alyssa Lies by Jason Michael Carroll. I’ll put the lyrics at the end of this blog, but here is a little background. A little girl makes a friend on the playground, and the friend’s name is Alyssa. The friend goes home and tells her dad about Alyssa. She says that Alyssa lies, and tries to hide the bruises. Dad hears his daughter playing and is going to intervene, but before he can, Alyssa dies.

I went to Jason Michael Carroll’s website and read a little bit of the “history” of the song.

Carroll began writing Lies after reading a friend's poem on the same subject, then seeing a TV news story about a custody dispute that ended with the deaths of a father and daughter.

"It took me a week and a half to write the first verse and chorus," says the 28-year-old father of four. "After that, I struggled to the point of migraines before finally finishing it a year and a half later."

Carroll says, "The amazing thing is the stories I get from the song — on my e-mail, on MySpace, people telling me," Carroll says. "I had a woman walk up to me at a show we did, and she whispered in my ear, 'Jason, I am an Alyssa.' "

Carroll says even he is not immune to the song's emotional tug. "Even though I wrote it, I can't disconnect from it," he says. "I find that I hug my kids a little longer."

Here are the lyrics:

My little girl met a new friend
Just the other day
On the playground at school
Between the tires and the swings
But she came home with tear filled eyes
And she said to me "Daddy, Alyssa Lies"

Well I just brushed it off at first
Cause I didn't know how much my little girl had been hurt
Or the things she had seen
I wasn't ready when I said you can tell me
And she said

Chorus
Alyssa Lies
To the classroom
Alyssa lies
Everyday at school
Alyssa lies
To the teachers
As she tries to cover every bruise

My little girl laid her head down
That night to go to sleep
As I stepped out the room I heard her say
A prayer so soft and sweet
God bless my mom and my dad
And my new friend Alyssa
I know she needs you bad

Chorus

I had the worst night of sleep in years
As I tried to think of a way to calm her fears
I knew just what it was I had to do
But when we got to school on Monday I heard the news

My little girl asked me why everybody looked so sad
The lump in my throat grew bigger
With every question that she asked
Until I felt the tears run down my face
And I told her that Alyssa wouldn't be at school today

She doesn't lie
In the classroom
She doesn't lie
Anymore at school
Alyssa lies
With Jesus
Because there's nothing anyone would do

Tears filled my eyes
When my little girl asked me why
Alyssa lied
Daddy tell me why
Alyssa lies