Concrete Angel

"Concrete Angel"
File:Martina McBride Concrete single.png
Single by Martina McBride
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side	"Where Would You Be"
Released	November 18, 2002
Format	CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Country pop
Length	4:12
Label	RCA Nashville
Writer(s)	Rob Crosby Stephanie Bentley
Producer(s)	Martina McBride Paul Worley
Martina McBride singles chronology
"Where Would You Be" (2002) "Concrete Angel" (2002) "This One's for the Girls" (2003)
Music video "Concrete Angel" at CMT.com

"Concrete Angel" is a song written by Stephanie Bentley and Rob Crosby, and recorded by American country music artist Martina McBride. It was released in November 2002 as the fourth and last single from McBride's Greatest Hits album. The song went on to reach #5 on the country music charts.

Content

"Concrete Angel" is a power ballad, centering on a main theme of child abuse and in a different context, bullying. The narrator tells a story about 7-year-old named Angela Carter. Near the end, her mother beats Angela to death. Some people, such as Angela's teacher, notice signs of abuse but attempt to ignore them.

Music video

The video was directed and produced by Deaton Flanigen. Angela Carter (Noel Wiggins), is the 7-year-old daughter of an abusive mother. As she walks to school, a girl looks at her and laughs at her (which could imply she was also a victim of bullying. While she's at school, the teacher and her classmates ignore the bruises on her body, either because they think she just had a minor accident or they want to avoid having problems with her family. One day, a boy who is an angel (Luke Benward) befriends her. One night, Angela is talking to the boy who is in a house that no one lives in because the lights were out. But then, her mother catches her and beats her to death. After the beating, police officers and an ambulance are shown at her house. Angela's grave (marked 1995-2002) is shown, surrounded by a group of people, including her teacher, and her only friend. (It is implied that the boy is an angel that comes to her before she passes and shows her friendship) The boy passes through the adults, hugs the angel of Angela and both run to meet a group of abused children as they run off into the horizon. When the video was originally released, it featured the phone number for the American Child Abuse Hotline and encouraged viewers to report abuse.

In Popular Culture

On December 30, 2014, a country music station in Cincinnati played "Concrete Angel" and dedicated it to the memory of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teenager who had committed suicide the night before, and urged listeners to get help if they or someone they knew was being emotionally or physically abused or had suicidal thoughts.

Cover versions

• Spanish singer Marta Sánchez covered the song as "Cómo Un Ángel" in her album Soy Yo, released in 2002.
• Canadian Idol winner Melissa O'Neil covered the song on the album High Notes.
• Jackie Evancho covered this song in her album Prelude to a Dream which was a self-produced CD available briefly as a demo album in 2009 when she was nine years old.

Chart performance

"Concrete Angel" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of November 30, 2002.

Chart (2002–03)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)	5
US Billboard Hot 100	47

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)	Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)	33

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics