Day 494 - John Michael Montgomery - The Little Girl

494. John Michael Montgomery - The Little Girl
From the album Brand New Me
(Atlantic, 2000)

"I have been a fan of John Michael Montgomery's since his first album, "Life's A Dance" was released in 1993. Nine years and eight albums later he is like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going and going. And John Michael's music keeps getting better and better.
...
I cannot write this review without high praise for the writer of the song The Little Girl. For those of you who havent heard the story, It's about a child who was in a bad home situation. Her parents were into drugs and alcohol. One night, the father killed the mother. The little girl was taken into a foster home. ... Her parents were atheists and so they didn't go to church and she had no knowledge about God and Jesus. The first day the little girl was taken to Sunday school, the teacher found her staring up at a picture of Jesus on the cross. The teacher gently started to explain the story of Jesus to her. The little girl interrupted her. I know that man she said. He was with me the night my parents died and was holding me in his arms. It is said around Nashville that the story was passed up by many songwriters before Harley Allen read the story and the song came to be. John Michael has special help with vocals from Alison Krauss and Dan Tymenski. I have never heard a song that has affected me the way this one does." (source: CountryMusic.about.com)

The Little Girl reached #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart and #35 on the Hot 100 chart. Here is the original studio released music video for the song: