With soulful vocals, songwriting abilities worthy of stealing the crown from Taylor Swift in her “Fearless” days, and a maturity almost unheard of in young Hollywood, Grace VanderWaal has shed her “America’s Got Talent” title and emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
The 14-year-old “I Don’t Know My Name” singer recently dropped a cover of Johnny Nash’s 1972 hit song, “I Can See Clearly Now,” including new, original lyrics that inject VanderWaal’s unique flair into the classic track.
“it’s a reinterpretation of johnny nash’s song from the 70s ‘i can see clearly now’ and hope you all love it as much as i do!” wrote VanderWaal, taking to Twitter to promote the track along with its accompanying visual.
“All the roads I’ve been before / Same mistakes always got me shakin’ / And all the signs I once ignored / In my denial, I didn’t want to face them,” sings VanderWaal on the new single, hoping that these emotionally mature lines will stop people from comparing her teen-friendly discography to the viral disaster of Rebecca Black’s “Friday.”
“My new single ‘Clearly’ is about hope, and having the courage to face the world which can be pretty tough sometimes,” VanderWaal said. “My favorite lyric from the song is, ‘I accept all the things that I cannot change.’ As much as we try to change ourselves, we will always be the same person deep down. We should embrace what makes us different and love that about ourselves.”
