A Child Of Divorce Sings

Gerardo Campbell10/25/2011

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American pop-rock singer, songwriter, and Grammy award winner, Kelly Clarkson, was the historical first winner of American Idol in 2002. When Kelly was six years old, her parents divorced after 17 years of marriage.

As a result of the divorce, her brother went to live with her father, her sister went to live with an aunt, and Kelly remained with her mother. Later, Kelly’s mother, Jeanne married her second husband, Jimmy Taylor. When Kelly turned 19, her mom and stepdad also divorced. Kelly wrote the song, “Because of You” to describe the impact of her parent’s divorce.

“Because of You”

I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself
Cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did,
You fell so hard
I’ve learned the hard way
To never let it get that far

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid

I lose my way
And it’s not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that’s weakness in your eyes
I’m forced to fake
A smile, a laugh every day of my life
My heart can’t possibly break
When it wasn’t even whole to start with

I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry in the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get hurt
Because of you
I try my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don’t know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I’m ashamed of my life because it’s empty
Because of you
I am afraid