Russell Dickerson Sings of Redeeming Love in ‘God Gave Me a Girl’ [Listen]
For Russell Dickerson, "God Gave Me a Girl" isn't just any old love song. The sentimental track is his own story of the love that he almost lost.
Like many of the songs included on his self-titled album, "God Gave Me a Girl" is autobiographical.
"God gave me a girl / Girl gave me a kiss / Kiss gave me a feelin' that I still get / Every time I look in her eyes / I don't deserve her and I don't know why / She gave me her hand / I gave her a ring / Then as soon as I could / I gave her my last name / Now I'm gonna give her forever / I knew what I wanted but He knew better / God gave me a girl," Dickerson sings in the chorus.
This beautiful story of an engagement — which is displayed in the music video — takes on a whole new meaning with a little bit of context. For those who don't know, Dickerson and his wife Kailey broke up for a season. He tells that story in a song called "I Wonder," which precedes "God Gave Me a Girl" on the album's tracklist.
"I really do spend a lot of time in sequencing stuff like that," he tells PopCulture. "Then there's 'I Wonder,' which is about me and my wife breaking up, and then the next song right after is 'God Gave Me a Girl' and there was that snap aha moment of, 'What am I doing? I got to go back and get this girl.' That's just those little sequencing moments like that."
Knowing the backstory takes "God Gave Me a Girl" from a surface level, lovey-dovey track to one that's deep and filled with gratitude.
"God gave me a girl / At just the right time / And I'd give her the world / 'Cause she changed mine," he sings in the bridge.
Dickerson and wife Kailey married in April 2013. They welcomed a son named Remington on Sep. 10, 2020.
"God Gave Me a Girl" is Dickerson's latest single off his self-titled album, which arrived on Nov. 4. He'll continue his She Likes It Tour in 2023 with dates on the calendar through Feb. 25. The tour shares its name from another single from Russell Dickerson.