Contemporary Christian super band Casting Crowns has released Just Another Birthday, off Come to the Well, its new CD just out late last year. Co-written by lead vocalist and group leader Mark Hall with established country songwriter Tom Douglas (who wrote #1 hits “Grown Men Don’t Cry” and “Southern Voice” for country superstar Tim McGraw), Just Another Birthday doesn’t feature Hall on lead vocal; instead, we hear keyboardist Megan Garrett take the lead, and she does absolutely beautifully. Garrett’s crystal-clear alto puts in the perfect amount of emotion into the song, and she infuses Just Another Birthday, a song intended to inspire fathers to take a more active role in their families, as well as to encourage children who grew up without the presence of their earthly father, with a warm sensitivity and grace that lends to the the song’s authenticity.
The accompanying video of Just Another Birthday shows the girl getting pregnant out of wedlock, but also how God’s grace and her faith help her to ultimately overcome the difficulties that would otherwise overwhelm someone whose faith wasn’t rooted in something more permanent and reliable other than God. I don’t feel the video glamorizes single parenthood, which is what some people have commented on; rather, I think it merely goes to show that God is a father to the fatherless, and He will work things out, even for those who never had the presence of an earthly dad who would speak life to them.
Currently #27 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart this week, Just Another Birthday should make the Top 10. The fact that Hall isn’t the lead singer on it might make it a little more difficult, which is why I’m honestly hoping Christian AC programmers will open their minds a little bit to a non-Hall-led Casting Crowns song, so that more people could hear the encouraging, healing, beautiful message of Just Another Birthday.
JUST ANOTHER BIRTHDAY Lyrics
Casting Crowns
Sixteen finds me
Blowing out candles and making wishes
And all around me
Is everyone but the one I’m wishing for
And he sent me flowers
And gift-wrapped excuses
From a daddy whose daughter
Wants to see him again
And I know, I know
It’s just another birthday
But I guess I thought
This would be the one
When he would call me, see me
Hold me and free me
But it’s just another birthday
And I’ll be fine
I’ll be fine
Nineteen finds me
And I’m wild-eyed and wide open
I gave myself away to love
But backseat promises fade like a mist
I’m screaming at the midnight air
Everyone hears me but I don’t care
My heart’s clenched just like a fist
‘Cause, people, I didn’t ask for any of this
And I’m not fine
I’m not fine
In the company of strangers
In a cold and sterile room
All alone with a child inside me
And I don’t know what to do
Jesus, can You hear me
Come and heal my brokenness
Put the pieces back together
And be a Father to the fatherless
Twenty-one finds me
Blowing out candles and making wishes
And all around me
My barefoot princess twirls and sings
It’s so amazing
Looking back at all God’s brought us through
You are my happy birthday
And you were born to break the chains
Now I know, I know
It’s not just another birthday
‘Cause I’m here, she’s here
And look how far we’ve come
Since you’ve called me, saw me
Held me and freed me
Thank you, Lord, for another birthday
And we’ll be fine
We’ll be fine