Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Jamie Grace has released Fighter as the third single off her latest release, Ready to Fly. After Christian radio’s somewhat lackluster response to Do Life Big, Grace digs into her songwriting bag of tricks and comes up with this inspiring track that showcases the strength that can be found within each of us to lift ourselves up off the floor and our situations. By highlighting the green grass of a father working hard for his family, a single mother struggling to raise her kids by herself, and a child with cancer, Grace hopes to encourage everyone to look deep within themselves and find the strength to get through.
Certainly one of the strongest tracks off Ready to Fly, Fighter is indeed inspiring, and charming in its simplicity. I don’t take to task the fact that Fighter‘s choice of topic isn’t anything particularly new, despite the fact that Matthew West and Mark Schultz have written songs along this line with greater skill and execution. However, one thing we need to take into consideration is that Grace is a teenager with Tourette Syndrome (she’s a fighter!). Giving her credit for her heart to encourage and her skill to come up with this song, despite assistance from tobyMac, Cary Barlowe, and Christopher Stevens, is only natural, because it is deserved.
My only other beef with Fighter, which is minor, is how God isn’t explicitly in the song. The only part I feel that alludes to Him is how each person “gets down on his/her knees and finds the courage to believe.” The source that gives the aforementioned courage and strength could be anyone, regardless of faith, and ultimately, possibly even ourselves, a dangerous possibility in this new age era of self-help and self-strength, and I think a mention of Jesus directly anywhere in there, given that Grace is a Christian singer, may have been even more powerful. But that’s just my nit-picky little opinion. It’s still a good song.
FIGHTER Lyrics
Jamie Grace
Seven bucks an hour
bills stacked on the counter
Got a baby on the way, don’t have to feed
His pride is gettin’ torn down
His confidence is worn out
This ain’t the way he dreamed that it would be
But he won’t ever ask why
‘Cause he’s made up his mind
He’s a fighter, got that fire
When they thought he’d fade away
Throws a fist up, as he gets up
Feelin’ stronger everyday
When he gets down on his knees, he finds
the courage to believe
He’s a fighter, he’s a fighter
who inspires me
She’s got no time for makeup
‘Cause she’s got three boys to wake up
Never thought she’d have to raise them on her own
And some days she feels like cryin’
But she’s holdin’ on, survivin’
on the love that makes their little house
a home
And she sees it in their eyes
All the reasons why, yeah
She’s a fighter, got that fire
when you thought she’d fade away
Throws a fist up, as she gets up
Feelin’ stronger everyday
When she gets down on her knees,
she finds the courage to believe
She’s a fighter, she’s a fighter
Who inspires me, oohooo
She inspires me, yeah
She’s been here before
And she’s only eight years old
But she knows the name of every nurse she sees
And though she don’t like the chemo
She waits it out, never losin’ hope that
someday soon she’ll be cancer-free
She’s a fighter, got that fire
when they thought she’d fade away
Throws a fist up, keeps her head up
Feelin’ stronger everyday
When she gets down on her knees,
she finds the courage to believe
She’s a fighter, she’s a fighter
who inspires, yeah
He’s a fighter, he’s a fighter
who inspires me
He inspires me
You’re my inspiration, my inspiration, yeah
You’re my inspiration, my inspiration, yeah
You are my inspiration, my inspiration, yeah
You’re my inspiration, my inspiration, yeah