Happy Monday, y’all.
Today for the Song of the Week, we have a new one from Jenna Paulette called “The Girl I Was.”
The title track to her just-released studio album, the song was a co-write by Jenna along with Jessie Jo Dillon, Will Bundy and Jeb Gipson.
Jenna says it became the theme for the record, after she had a vision last year of herself as a little girl and all the times she felt at home, so to speak, as a child:
“The picture of me that I believe God dropped into my head on the day we wrote ‘The Girl I Was’ in late April last year was taken when I was about eight, helping Granddaddy sell my uncle Hick’s cattle.
It’s the first time I ever felt like ‘myself.’ Every time I looked at this picture growing up it was a reminder to me of all the things I love about myself. My freckles in the summer sun. Drinking a hot orange can of Gatorade on a truck-bed or fence.
Being covered in dirt while tending cattle. Dust in the air and the feeling of being capable—surrounded by FAMILY with the world at my fingertips. I am proud to say, the ‘Girl I Was’ is now the woman I am.”
The song itself finds her reflecting on her growth as a woman, and being thankful that she’s finding her footing as an adult and getting back to being who she is at her core and doing the things she loves.
Ultimately, that’s a universal message no matter who you are or where you come from, and I love the simple production and honesty in the lyrics that tell the story so candidly.
The whole album is definitely worth checking out, too, but this is a great place to start:
The Girl I Was Track Listing (songwriters in parentheses):
1. Home on The Range – Intro
2. Fiddle and a Violin (Ashley McBryde, Ryan Tyndell, Jeremy Spillman)
3. Anywhere the Wind Blows (Jenna Paulette, Rhett Akins, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
4. Slow Drawl (Jenna Paulette, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
5. One Two-Step Away (Jenna Paulette, Rhett Akins, Brice Long)
6. You Ain’t No Cowboy (Jenna Paulette, Rhett Akins, Will Bundy)
7. Country in the Girl (Jenna Paulette, Smith Ahnquist, Jeb Gipson)
8. Bless Her Heart (Jenna Paulette, Heather Morgan, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
9. Pretty Ugly (Jenna Paulette, Parker Welling, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
10. Sun Keeps Comin’ Back Up (Jenna Paulette, Jordan Reynolds, Jordan Minton, Mark Trussell)
11. Truck Boy (Jenna Paulette, Jessie Jo Dillon, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
12. We Know How to Friday Night (Jenna Paulette, Casey Beathard, Bobby Pinson)
13. The Girl I Was (Jenna Paulette, Jessie Jo Dillon, Will Bundy, Jeb Gipson)
14. Make the World a Small Town (Jenna Paulette, Dustin Christensen)
15. Stop and Smell the Horses (Jenna Paulette, Jamie Davis)
16. Home on the Range – Outro
