Daddy’s on the sofa turning up another
Bottle to unleash when I get home
I pretend he doesn’t hit me
Momma just pretends that she don’t know
I used to think of talking, talking to my preacher
He says I should just forgive and forget
Now my baby brother just sits and recollects the same regret

And I just wanna leave
Oh, God, please help me now
I wanna leave

As if that’s not enough, we’re the new family around here
Guess that’s all the reason some kids need
‘Cause they all call me names and
Say I should just take it on the chin
If I’m overreacting, then why is it so cold here
Why is it so cold here in this hell
Why would my friend Suzie tell me I should just go kill myself

Oh, I wanna get out of here
Oh, God, help me now
I really wanna believe

But I just wanna believe
Oh, God, please hear me now
I wanna believe
I just need to know that you’re really out there
Tell me, are you really out there
‘Cause I believe


(Michael W. Smith, Tommy Sims) © 2010 Word Music, LLC (ASCAP) / SmittyFly Music (ASCAP) All rights on behalf of itself and SmittyFly Music administered by Word Music, LLC / This Is Your Time Music LLC (adm. by The Loving Company) (ASCAP)

Behind the Song:
“I’ve had several of my friends confess about them being abused before, which I think was part of the inspiration, but I think that the biggest inspiration for the song, which broke my heart, was that girl that moved here from Ireland, and she got brutally ridiculed and bullied and bullied and bullied every day. One day she said, ‘I just can’t take it,’ went home and hung herself. I remember going to the house. The kids had a bunch of people over and I was in a funk, and I kept thinking about all of it. I took the guitar and walked out back and in five minutes wrote ‘Leave’ on the guitar. Then I pulled Tommy Sims in. I said, ‘Go down to the depths and give me something.’ I played him the song on guitar. I already had the chorus, ‘I just wanna leave,’ and he was going ‘Yeah.’ He calls me Smithsonian. I call him ‘Cous.’ I said let me just throw a little thing down for you, I’ll give you a little template. So he’s on the couch behind me, I’m not even on the computer 20 minutes. And he says, ‘What do you think about this?’ He already had the lyric. In 20 minutes.” - Michael W. Smith