I wrote this song last year to process some personal feelings. It feels even more relevant now, amid the ongoing heartbreak of current events—especially those involving people who claim to be on the side of righteousness.
I haven’t yet shared very much on this blog about my journey of leaving the fundamentalist religion in which I grew up, mostly because I have other things on my mind these days. But that story does deeply shape my perspectives.
This song is an honest snapshot of what I feel now towards the family members and other acquaintances in my life who are still suffering, unknowingly, under the oppression of their religion.
“If They Only Knew” lyrics
The people I come from,
their lore and belief,
the world I once savored--
I now see with grief.
They don’t understand me
and didn’t back then,
though I didn’t either:
they said my feelings were sin.
They think I’m a lost soul,
but oh…
If they only knew
life could be so much more.
They claim to have peace,
but their life is like war—
always defending
an old torture tale.
And now, when I look back,
that life was like jail.
I’m free now
to be me now
with joy now--
if they only knew.
Of course I don’t blame them
for what they don’t know.
This indoctrination
forbids them to grow.
And I’ll always love them,
but I’m sad for their pain
and the pain of the others
being hurt in God’s name.
I want a world where minds are free
and kindness is too…
(chorus)
