God Was On Your Shoulders

You were 21 years old on the day that I was born
A child in a child's arms in a snowstorm
Your father left you like his failed church
So you married young to a man who said he'd hold you in

You thought God was on his shoulders
God was on his shoulders
God was on his shoulders and he would do right

It took a month to find out he was mean
But he said that he would kill you if you ever tried to leave
So you had five children and stayed for 16 years
And we learned to hide ourselves when he was in the house

He thought God was on his shoulders
God was on his shoulders
God was on his shoulders and he could do no wrong

When you lost a child, it must have been like hell
You probably wished that you could leave yourself
But there were four more reasons to wake up every day
And you were silent like the suburbs in your pain

And God was on your shoulders
God was on your shoulders
God was on your shoulders and that's who you talked to

When you finally left my father, I thought that we were free
But then again, there was the devil inside of me
So I live without a mother rather than in the church
But if I had my way, I wouldn't have to choose

Oh, God
Oh, God