Singled Out: Nobody's Girl's Promised Land

Keavin Wiggins | 07-30-2021

Nobody's Girl, the Austin trio of accomplished solo singer/songwriters Rebecca Loebe, Grace Pettis and Bettysoo, released their self-titled album and to celebrate we asked Grace to tell us about the song "Promised Land." Here is the story:

At first listen, "Promised Land" might strike you as a sad song. The chorus is all about that "great divide" between those of us on the left and those of us on the right; Americans from different backgrounds and cultures, the feeling of living in a different country than our neighbors, of experiencing a different reality than those on the "other side." There's been a deepening rift over the past four years that's left some of us feeling like strangers in our own families, communities, and social circles. There's so much division, anger, and misunderstanding. The pandemic has only heightened that separation and distance between us.

There's a cognitive dissonance too. We come from a country that professed its love of independence and liberty and simultaneously sanctioned the chattel enslavement of generations of African and African-American human beings. A country that touted equality as an "unalienable right," "endowed by our Creator", and at the same time didn't allow people of color or women to vote. America has always been a place that waxes poetic on ideals it fails to live up to. From its inception. America dreams beyond itself.

But "Promised Land" is not really a sad song. It's all right there in the title. The three of us are believers and dreamers, in spite of the darkness we've all experienced and witnessed this past year and in recent years. At the heart of "Promised Land," right there in the middle of all the stark reality, is hope. This country can make some of us feel "small and not that free." We need to acknowledge hard truths in order to find a path forward together, as one nation. Maybe that sounds cliché. Maybe it sounds naive. But for our part, we truly believe that "this could still be the promised land."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here