Carolina John Rees – Blue Jamaica Sky lyrics

When Sandra was a baby, her mama moved around
Sometimes she stayed in Montego Bay, sometimes in Kingston town
Sandra she got dragged along, like a puppy on a string
With tangled hair and patches on her second hand blue jeans

Sandra she just waited when Mama tied one on
She never knew just where she went or how long she’d be gone
But she’d hold to something deep inside when things were more than she could bear
She didn’t know just what it was, she just knew that it was there

Sandra had a radio, she’d play it all night long
She’d sit there for hours waiting for her favorite song
She’d feel the warm breeze blowing, and pretend that she could fly
Like a big bird to the open sea into the blue Jamaica sky

And she’d fly, she would fly
Into the blue Jamaica sky she would fly

Sandra had a grandma who lived in a northern land
She changed sheets and towels at the Hotel American
She’d pray for a girl with tangled hair and seal it with a tear
Send it on up to Jesus and then pray that He could hear

Grandma lived above the mission, Our Savior of the Cross
She’d sit there most mornings among the righteous and the lost
She’d light a candle for a daughter who didn’t seem to care
Then pray for all that she was worth for a girl with tangled hair

Well the Lord, He finally answered, and it came as quite a shock
She could hear the choir rehearsing when she found the card in her mailbox
It said, “Mom, it might be better, for the kid to come up there
I know you’ll treat her better than those bastards at Welfare”

And the choir sang “Glory, Hallelujah, since I laid this burden down
This burden down, this burden down”

Sandra still has a radio, but now she dresses in the latest style
The folks down at the Mission, well they treat her like an angel child
But sometimes when the breeze is blowing, she’ll close her eyes and wonder why
God never made anything quite as fine as the blue Jamaica Sky

And she’ll fly, she will fly
Into the blue Jamaica sky she will fly
She will fly, she will fly