“The Little Girl”
John Michael Montgomery
Written by Harley Allen
Radio & Records
#1 (4 weeks)
October 13 – November 3, 2000
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
October 28 – November 11, 2000
It’s hard to believe, but only a few days after covering the song that I named the worst single of the decade, the song ranked second on that list has now arrived.
As with “Yes!” I can also say I ranked “The Little Girl” incorrectly when I said it was the second worst single of the 2000s.
It should’ve topped the list. What a cloying, manipulative, and intellectually bankrupt exercise this is, literally rewriting an implausible viral email thread that’s been debunked by Snopes into a maudlin country song performed with so much seriousness by John Michael Montgomery that it’s stripped of even his modest strengths as an interpretive vocalist.
The idea that a young girl who watched her father kill his mother and then himself would identify Jesus from her Sunday School wall as the man who protected her that night kinda overlooks the fact that He could’ve done Mom a solid and protected her, too. And the beyond implicit suggestion that this girl was in danger because her parents were nonbelievers is pretty damn insidious, given the rampant rates of abuse in both Southern Baptist churches and foster homes. The little girl would be statistically safer at a drag queen brunch than surrounded by true believers.
I want to find some redeeming quality here, some sort of naivety that would make this record’s existence at least have value for those who need a pat on their head that their faith is good and those who don’t follow it are bad.
But then I just think about what it was like for Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer to hear this on the radio for nine months and I can’t even give it a D.
“The Little Girl” gets an F.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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Even in 2000, when I was all of 13, I was already aware of Snopes and I recall them first publishing an article about this song. They had a whole section debunking over-the-top manipulative motivational schlock that got forward via e-mail just like this. Nowadays it usually gets posted on Facebook instead, but the sentiment is the same.
There was this whole motivational/inspirational bent to a lot of songs at the turn of the millennium. I call it “Chicken Soup for the Soul Country”. Some of it I found anywhere from inoffensive to actually good. But this one was always the nadir of that trend to me, both then and now. I hated it not just because of its origins, but also because of the holes I could see in the story. (Of course, the one that bears repeating — Jesus wasn’t a white dude. Again, even at age 13, I knew that.) This was hands-down my least favorite single of 2000.
The sad part is, I’ve known too many people in my life who’ve spent great portions of their lives consuming media like this and ONLY like this, because it’s what they think Christianity is. It’s the same people who have never seen any movie other than those made by PureFlix. And I find it disgusting.
I know I evoked it last time I brought this song up, but I’ll quote my favorite Weird Al song: “No, I don’t want a bowl of Chicken Soup for the Soul / Stop forwarding that crap to me.”
Amen. I agree with all of this. What a terrible song! Reminds me of the new Blake Shelton song, “Let Him in Anyway.” It makes my soul deeply cringe.
I just looked up “Let Him In Anyway” and it has, to me, the same “trying to browbeat God” energy that got under my skin when Sherrié Austin’s “Streets of Heaven” did it.
What I hate about it is that the singer acts like just because he accepted Jesus into his life, it’s a foregone conclusion that he will make it to heaven, but since his friend didn’t before he died, he’s begging God to let him in anyway. I know a lot of religions believe that, but it’s something that has never sat right with me.
“You talk about salvation like a birthright” is the line from Katie Pruitt I thought of immediately.
*Immediately* thought of that line. But I also think about that line at least a few times a week…
We’re definitely having an interesting contrast of impressions with the last two reviews. I wasn’t surprised this song got lampooned on here and perhaps as an agnostic, I should be lampooning it too, but I find the storytelling and the tonal shift from spectacular darkness to salvation interesting in a landscape littered with one-dimensional feel-good anthems. And John Michael Montgomery’s vocals seem like they’re a good fit for the material but I suppose I’d have to hear another vocalist’s take for a sufficient contrast.
Whatever toxicity that has emerged from Christian fundamentalism over the decades–and the list is really long–it doesn’t feel intellectually honest to shoehorn culpability for those sins into these lyrics. While I cringe at the opening passage of “two nonbelievers lost in this world”, selling the revelation at the end of the song requires that disclaimer in the beginning, and not in a way I consider offensive. I’ve also struggled with the term “manipulative” as a disqualification for a narrative twist, particularly since those who level it are often inconsistent. Far as I can tell, the only distinction is that a “twist” occurs when one likes the surprise ending while a “manipulation” occurs when one doesn’t like the surprise ending.
Does it bother me that the idea for this song was lifted from a chain mail? Maybe a little. I’ve never looked in to how closely the lyrics match to the alleged source material. But given that the last several #1s in this feature have included the recycling of concepts as trite as “I love the way you love me”, “she said yes”, and “that’s the way it is”–along with yet another Alan Jackson remake of somebody else’s hit–I have a hard time taking points away for lack of originality for this.
So…I like this quite a bit, and I suspect I’m not the only one who isn’t wearing a crucifix around his neck who feels that way.
Grade: A
I forgot to mention that when John Michael Montgomery showed up at my county fair in 2015, this song was omitted from his set list. Unfortunately, the same was true for “No Man’s Land”, one of my favorites of his. This was perhaps a tacit admission that he doesn’t think the song has aged well. I’m betting there’s plenty of fans displeased at its exclusion though.
Was highly anticipating this retrospective review for this song, and was not disappointed, considering I was expecting a change of heart of you naming this single the worst of this retrospective decade. Funny enough I recall seeing the exact same copypasta of this exact subject a few weeks ago and immediately thought of this song, probably not a good sign.
Only single positive aspect I can give about this song is that I enjoy the instrumentation of it, I just wish that the instrumentation was in service of a less pandering song.
As a Christian, I understand what the song is going for, but it also doesn’t sit right with me. Feels too preachy and condescending toward the parents, as the problem lies in the behavior, which is not unique to religious or non-religious people. The instrumentation is plaintive and pretty enough that it doesn’t spark a repulsive reaction, but I also am not a fan of this one.
Interestingly, as a nonbeliever, I never found it condescending. I always considered the “nonbelievers” lyric to be a MacGuffin laying the groundwork for the final revelation rather than a judgment on the parents’ faith itself. Admittedly, there was probably a better way for the songwriter(s) to articulate this than they did, but I never thought the story came from a place of malice directed at non-Christians.
With all due respect to the opinions of Kevin and others here, I’m with MarkMinnesota on this one, though I can see how parts of the song can make others uncomfortable.
I was never aware of the backstory of how the song came to be until years after it came out, and I often maybe tend to see some things in a too simple minded or naive way due to my autistic brain (I also typically avoid sensitive topics like religion and politics), but this is a song I loved when it came out, and it’s one I still very much enjoy today. The first few times hearing it, it was pretty clear that this was a very different kind of song than what JMM typically sang, and the DJ would usually point out such before they played the song, as well. Not only did I love the song’s beautiful melody and traditional leaning instrumentation, but the song’s story always really touched me, as well. Even today, I always feel terrible for the girl who had a kind of life that no kid should ever have to experience and then happy when she is taken in by new parents who give her “kisses and hugs every day.” And the twist ending when she says that she recognizes Jesus as the one who helped her through such a traumatic time in her life always gives me chills and also leaves me with mixed emotions because I still feel bad that she had to go through all of that at such a young age. That roller coaster of emotions it puts me on (and still gets me teary eyed at times), along with the song’s pretty melody with some nice mandolin and steel playing throughout, JMM’s tender and sensitive performance, and lovely harmony vocals by Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski make this one I still like hearing today. I also love the low tuned electric guitar throughout and the synthesizer part before the second verse that reflects the darkness of the song’s first half.
The song always takes me back to the beginning of my freshman year in high school, as well. Specifically, it reminds me of the late summer of 2000 when my parents and I went to the high school for a tour that all the freshman students took shortly before the year started. After the tour was over that night, my mom had the spontaneous idea of us going back to Pennsylvania right then and there and staying overnight since it was the last weekend before the school year started. It was the first and one of the very few times we drove up there during the nighttime. I especially remember hearing “The Little Girl” on the radio as we drove through the Maryland interstates with the tall office buildings on each side of the roads lit up. The song’s dark feel and atmosphere was a perfect fit at the moment, and the contemporary synthesizer in between the verses matched the pretty sight of the office buildings at night. Besides listening to the radio, at that time, I had also recently gotten Darryl Worley’s debut album, Hard Rain Don’t Last, which I was really loving, and it also sounded great as I listened to it during our night trip. In addition, I was revisiting one of my old cassette tapes that I had recorded from the radio in early 1991 that included songs such as “Nobody’s Home” by Clint Black, “Hold Me” by K.T. Oslin, and “Givers And Takers” by Schuyler, Knobloch & Bickhardt, all songs that I were rediscovering and loving at the time, and they also sounded wonderful while driving at night with tall buildings all around. When we got to Pennsylvania, we ended up staying at the Hampton Inn at Frazer, which was another one of our regular hotels by then.
My dad always enjoyed this song, as well, and it was one we’d always like hearing whenever it came on when we were in the car together, with him usually singing along. I also had it going through my head one time when we jogged around the track during P.E. class on a cloudy day during my freshman year.
Brand New Me is also one of my favorite JMM albums from the late 90s/early 2000 era. Other cuts I really enjoy are “That’s Not Her Picture,” “Bus To Birmingham,” “Even Then” (which should’ve been a bigger hit as a single in 2001 (imho), “Brand New Me,” “Real Love,” and “I Love It All.” I also love the Garth Fundis produced Home To You album from 1999, which includes a lot of my favorites, especially the title cut. I always thought Montgomery did a good job of blending his neo-traditional style with the more contemporary, slicker and smoother sounds of late 90s and early 2000s country during this time.
I think the “F” is a bit churlish – a “D+” would be closer to the mark. Interestingly enough, the song was covered by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver back around 2017. IMHO the song works much better as a bluegrass number than as a country weeper
I feel like the most and least critical person sometimes, cuz sometimes i love what everyoen hates, and vice versa or songs that people call reprehensible shit I just shrug. This is that song, I can see WHY you’d hate it to death, but it’s just really middle of the red dirt road where I’m standing, Id give it like, a C. It’s bible belt fantasy shit, but Damn it sometimes people need something bhappy, just probably not as cliche as this. Producuton is nice, i like that little guitar riff that works as the hook.
I’m not in foster care, and im not a baptist, I grew up going to churc though (episcopal). Also I would not feel safe at a drag queen brunch, but that’s just cuz the whole drag look unnerves me. I’m pouring my heart out because its 4 AM and I cant sleep. Easter and I wanna and dont wanna go to church. It’s a song. I dont hate but a acant few songs, what I dont like I toss aside.
Maybe the public hated it as much as KJC did, since the follwing singles flopped and so did those from his next album. JMM’s only other Country Top 10 after this was 2004’s Letters From Home, also a mid level pop hit reaching #24 on the Hot 100.
I still think it’s odd how much of a non-entity JMM was, at least to me, between “Sold” and this song. He kept hitting Top 5, and even had a few #1’s on R&R, but everything he put out in that time span left no impact. I heard “I Miss You a Little” on radio back in like 2010 and genuinely thought it was new because I had no memory of it. I also find it weird that he had three albums in a row where the lead single ran into a brick wall at #15. What was up with that? (I will say, this stretch had some of his best work. “I Miss You a Little” and “Friends” in particular are among my favorite singles of his.)
Was he just marketed less? Coasting off the early-career success? Not as interested in making new material? Did his team lack the ability to seek out singles that had the staying power of “I Swear” or “Sold”? Given he hasn’t had an album out since 2008 and spent the last almost 20 years strictly as a touring artist, I would say he simply preferred to tour instead of make albums.
That said, it makes this song’s success all the more aberrant in his career, as it clearly rode the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” trend of the time. He’d previously tried with “Nothing Catches Jesus by Surprise” off the last album, but that one was just an incoherent mess so it didn’t do anything.
I think his label was too small, so when he dropped from multiplatinum sales, there was nothing to sustain him on the award circuit or in the media.
Artists on Atlantic records and Giant records got the short end of the stick for the most part. Tracy Lawrence and Clay Walker are two more artists that come directly to mind. Big stars that got very little recognition because their labels were smaller.
Yeah, I remember being pretty disappointed when both Clay Walker and Tracy Lawrence started struggling at radio around 2001. That year both of them released very underrated albums in each of their careers with Walker’s Say No More and Lawrence’s self-titled release. Clay’s 2001 single, “If You Ever Feel Like Loving Me Again” should’ve been a much bigger hit, imho.
One challenge of analyzing any song is the strength and depth of the shared heritage being accessed, criticized,referenced, or celebrated. In the case of “The Little Girl” it is a shared religious tradition. We are immediatley asked to decide how, if at all, Jesus fits into our own traditions and worldview. We are forced to have a position and opinion about Jesus because Jesus has always shown up in song, politics, the visual arts, story, and spirituality across American history – throughout which there has never been a separation between church and popular culture.
No shit, I am actually reading Stephen Prothero’s “American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon.”
It’s a fun and compelling exploration of how Christianity has vacillated between various pillars of authority, from faith over works to the Bible over tradition, to experience over doctrine, to emotion or theology, to spirituality over religion.
We all tend to get ahead of ourselves on songs like this. We quickly show our hand regarding religion. We cannot contain our very personal and individual take on the subject. We get in the way of ourselves on our way to hearing the song. We really love to point fingers. In addition to the inherent risks associated with critical and interpretive musical analysis of a song like this, is the likelihood of declaring a Christology, whether intentional or not, high, low, or no, when Jesus Christ is a character in the story.
People tend not to be neutral on the person of Jesus Christ.
Songs like this expose us as listeners in ways something like “Aaron Tippin’s “Kiss This” does not.
This song is an emotional song that emphasizes personal experience and spirituality. Similarly, responses to “The Little Girl” tend to be equally emotional and personal. In both cases, people often tend to speak on behalf of other people and institutions, invoking proof and evidence from all corners and citing proof-texts to make their case. It gets messy.
When writing about “American Jesus”, “Newsday” writer Dan Carter wrote, “For believers, it’s testimony to Jesus’s everlasting power and glory. For skeptics, it’s proof positive there’s a sucker born every minute.”
Just like Lainey Wilson’s “Whiskey Colored Crayon,” another song described as indefensible, cloying, and manipulative, I am still left wrestling with what the song means for me. And I do think there is meaning to be found.
As not a huge fan of John Michael Montgomery, I like the sound and energy level of this single.
I will hand of the “talking stick” to the next commenter.
Hmm, I didn’t expect this one to create controversy. I hadn’t heard it in years and went back to listen to freshen my memory. I do understand that criticism, but I think it’s a bit harsh. I would give it a “B-” or maybe a “C+”. It’s just one point of view of religion and I don’t think its offensive. I actually get more of the common sense morality. First two parents were messed up and it created a horrible situation, and I can relate to that. The next parents were more stable and loving. You don’t have to buy into the last religious part. It’s just one’s view.
I can’t separate the religious element because the whole point of the song is that this child was not safe because she was with nonbelievers, but Jesus protected her until she could be with believers. If you don’t buy into this fundamentally ridiculous (first and) last religious part, the song doesn’t make any sense.
The only reason this song exists is because of a viral urban legend that pandered to a very small and specific strain of Christian fundamentalism that showed up in the songwriter’s inbox, who rewrote it into a song in fifteen minutes. He seems to have believed that that’s nonsense actually happened, and when he wasn’t able to find any evidence of that, his response was: “if it ain’t true, it ought to be.”
Never mind that the Jesus of scripture would’ve spent his time ministering to the biological parents in this scenario. We can’t let Christ get in the way of our Christianity, amirite?
I truly understand your point. I have always been able to separate meanings in songs. Being gay I was always able to find common ground in this genre when there were zero songs written for someone like me. I agree this song has some issues but I still appreciate going from an unloving situation to a loving one. I guess that is the part of the song that spoke to me the most.
I echo everything Tom P said here. Also, I’ve always had a strong, sensitive reaction when it comes to kids being mistreated and/or put in bad situations, and that’s always what always tends to get to my emotions in songs like this, regardless of how/why they are written.
I can see how a non-religious person would hate it, but as a lifelong Christian I’d give it a C-.
This lifelong Christian gave it an F. The assumptions that you’re making about both Christians and the “non-religious” in this comment are strikingly similar to the assumptions made by whoever made this up in the first place and started forwarding it via e-mail. As you do here, the songwriter also presents the only options as being Christian or being a nonbeliever/non-religious, as if no other faith exists.
I think you almost have to be a religious person to be hate this song. A non-religious person would dismiss it for the nonsense that it is and not give it a second thought. They’re not the intended audience for this. This is preaching to the choir of a church that wouldn’t exist in the first place if they hadn’t been so insistent on buying and selling humans as property.
I am, and if I was still teaching religion daily like I did back in my classroom days, and a student submitted this as a modern day parable, tons of revisions would be necessary to get them to a passing grade. Unless I just failed them outright for copying something from the Internet and presenting it as their own work!
I’m agnostic and still gave this song an “F”.
I love this comment thread, y’all. It’s been so encouraging to see so many long-time readers popping back up and so enlightening to read so much thoughtful discussion on the 70s and aughts features!
Because JMM is a local, his singles always got even more airplay around here than they did nationally. Which made this song inescapable at the time. And, unfortunately, I knew from the first time I heard it that it would be a massive #1 hit; it’s impossible to pander this nakedly and not have it pay off. My dad, who had as exquisite a high tenor singing voice as you’ll ever hear, was the main soloist for the vocal group that performed at the country church I grew up in, and a very sincere elderly church lady requested that he sing this. He did, and he hated the song so, so, so much, but “Mama Faus” cried, and she wasn’t the only one who did.
I was unmoved then and remain so today. I find songs that put children in this kind of peril to be the most base way of manipulating listeners’ emotions, and the way that faith is incorporated here never once felt true to me. This throws elbows with “The Christmas Shoes” and “God’s Will” for the title of my least-favorite country single– counting things that were actually hits and not, say, obvious trash like Buddy Jewell’s career-killing “This Ain’t Mexico” or Clint Black’s “Iraq and I Roll”– for how shameless it is. It doesn’t even bother to be a good composition because Allen knew it didn’t have to be. It doesn’t respect the form, and it doesn’t respect the audience; it views them as fools who don’t deserve a better song or a narrative that’s less preposterous. It’s an F all the way down.
Whoa to that Buddy Jewell song. I never had the pleasure until just now. It makes Brian Kelley’s “Make America Great Again” seem comparatively subtle and well-reasoned.
Cledus T. Judd also did a horribly racist song in 2005 called “Illegals”. For the longest time, I couldn’t find a single mention of it anywhere online other than the issue of Billboard in which it charted for a single week. He finally uploaded the song to YouTube himself and I was just blindsided by its awfulness.
Gross. Even worse than Buddy Jewell. Who woulda thought that Ray Stevens was actually the least closed-minded country parody auteur.
And even Ray himself still has “Workin’ for the Japanese”, which is hands down his worst song in my book.
My favorite story about Ray Stevens is from Dolly’s autobiography, where she recalls how he produced a lot of her early sides from Monument. He was, shall we say, “inspired” by her song “Everything is Beautiful in its Own Way.” They remain friends, but I’m glad she called him out on that in her book. Not many struggling new artists would ever get the opportunity to do so.