Alyssa Lies

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“Alyssa Lies”

Single by Jason Michael Carroll
from the album Waitin' in the Country

Released

December 2006

Format

CD single, download

Recorded

2006

Genre

country music

Length

4:19

Label

Arista Nashville

Writer(s)

Jason Michael Carroll

Jason Michael Carroll singles chronology

"Alyssa Lies" (2006)

"Livin' Our Love Song" (2007)

"Alyssa Lies" is a song recorded by country music artist Jason Michael Carroll. Released in late 2006, the song was the lead-off single to Carroll's album Waitin' in the Country.

1 Background
2 Song narrative
3 Response
4 Chart performance
5 Sources

[edit] Background

Carroll took three years to write Alyssa Lies; the song was so emotionally painful to write that he got migraines while writing. It seemed to Carroll that no matter what he wrote, he would never be satisfied with it. When he realized that he would not be able to make the song perfect, he tried the best he could to make it realistic and sufficiently emotional. After three years, he felt it was as heartfelt as he could make it, and recorded the song.

[edit] Song narrative

The song is sung from the perspective of a man whose daughter has met a girl named Alyssa at school. The daughter knows that Alyssa is a victim of child abuse,^[1] but that she lies about her injuries to her teachers and classmates, so as not to implicate Alyssa's father who abused her. The daughter explains all of this to the narrator, and asks why Alyssa lies about her situation ("My little girl asked me why Alyssa lies").

Eventually, the narrator decides to report the suspected abuse at the school after hearing his daughter pray for Alyssa's safety one night. He turns out to be too late; Alyssa has apparently died from her injuries before he contacts the school ("She doesn't lie in the classroom ... Alyssa lies with Jesus"). The singer bemoans the failings of teachers and others who could have reported the abuse, and tells how he had to tearfully explain to his daughter why Alyssa wasn't at school.