Welcome to my life
There's a lotta pain hidden behind these blue eyes
And there's a lotta rain covering up blue skies
Twenty-nine now, and it feels like my childhood just flew by
And I wish I could stop and press rewind
I grew up chained to a clock with no free time
I was a slave to the ticks and the stocks, but I believed somehow I'd be fine
And my little hands couldn't turn back the big hands on that clock when I was a kid
I grew up with a lotta pain, and I tried shoving it in a box and closing the lid
And it worked
Somehow it always got out and came back to haunt me
I grew up a loner, and my peers used to taunt me
Nobody understood me or cared to even listen
I grew up in a small town but never let small minds throw me off mission
People around me settled, but I was different because I was driven
And I remember those nights with mom at the table in the kitchen
I'd tell her I was gonna grow up to be great
I couldn't have been any older than eight
But I already despised the thought of living life with my foot on the brakes
I was born as an original, and I sneezed a lot at the church I grew up in because I was allergic to fakes
And I promised myself I would live life to the fullest and do whatever it takes
Just so I wouldn't be another victim of complacency when I hit my grave
So mom, I tried to live this life like I was swimming against the tide
Gossipers and ordinary people are no friends of mine
They just sway back and forth with the trends at the time
But I wanted to be more than a trend
I wouldn't let them break me, and I refused to bend
I wanted to be more than a footnote on their pages of history
I broke free from the cages they sent for me
You can't cage a lion
And as for the accusers and attackers, they're sad people with a history of lyin'
But I just keep on marchin' to the beat of God's drum
In a world of slow walkers, I was born to run
And I was born to live a life for God's glory
One day, some kid will pick up a book and read about my story
And when you do, I want you to know that you can be just like me
But in order to leave a legacy, you can't take time to sightsee
You have to flow to the rhythm of life like Blake Whiteley
And if you're like me, you were created to live like lightning
And they say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice
I guess that's why I'm leaving the town I grew up in with my wife
Because when the world is your canvas, you can't stop to paint just one place
And I'll look back someday on the mistakes I've made
And I'll thank God that the mistakes never defined me
And I'll tell the Devil to shove it whenever that punk tries to remind me
So many people obsessed with [droppin'?] my name, but they can't find me
And they tried to throw chains on me, but they can't bind me
I kept waking while they kept talking
And the obsessors in my past just kept stalking
But I guess that's what happens when you feed stray cats
Be careful who you let in your camp because they'll come for your back
And for those who said they'd always stay with me, come on, man, where are you at?
I let fakes in my circle, and I let creeps in my camp
You tried to knock me off, but you can't stop the champ
And you came so close to catchin' these hands
But I'm too busy shoutin' hope to the masses while God blesses these fans
My name is Clayton Michael Jennings
You thought I struck out, but I still have nine innings
And I'm back swingin' for the fences
I'm swingin' so hard this ball won't stop until it hits Memphis
I got God in this
And B's right when he calls it Godfidence
I never needed anyone to get me where I'm at
You better get used to me, 'cause I'm still up to bat