Concrete Angel

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“Concrete Angel”

Single by Martina McBride
from the album Martina McBride: Greatest Hits

Released

Autumn 2002

Format

CD single

Recorded

2001

Genre

country pop

Length

4:12

Label

RCA Records

Writer(s)

Rob Crosby, Stephanie Bentley

Producer

Martina McBride, Paul Worley

Martina McBride singles chronology

"Where Would You Be"
(2002)

"Concrete Angel"
(2002)

"This One's for the Girls"
(2003)

"Concrete Angel" is a song performed by Martina McBride and co-produced by McBride and Paul Worley. Composed by Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bentley, the song was released in 2002, featured on McBride's 2001 Greatest Hits album. The song went on to reach #5 on the country music charts.

The main theme of the song is child abuse. The song tells a story about a little girl (named Angela Carter in the music video) who's trying to deal with abuse from her alcoholic mother. Some people, including the girl's teacher, seem to notice signs of abuse, but just try to ignore it. Ultimately, the little girl is killed when her mother beats her to death in a drunken rage.

Spanish singer Marta Sánchez covered the song as "Cómo Un Ángel" in her album Soy Yo, released in 2002. Canadian Idol winner Melissa O'Neil covered the song on the album High Notes.

[edit] Music video

In the video, Angela Carter is a young girl with an abusive mother who is befriended by a little boy (played by Luke Benward). Whenever this boy comes to her house one night, the girl smiles and forgets all her troubles. At the end of the video, it shows that many people love her, even when she thinks she is all alone. It turns out that all along, the boy was already an "angel" befriending her just before her own death, and there to greet her at her own. He then hugs her, and they run to meet another group of children, seeming to imply they all died of child abuse, just like the girl. Noting from the lyrics "And she flies to a place where she's loved".

When the video was originally released, it featured the phone number for the child abuse hotline and encouraged viewers to call if they suspected abuse from anywhere. Most copies now show a logo of a child abuse hot line to call.