Lyrics Page

Don't Try So Hard

By Amy Grant

565 views Sep 14, 2026 updated How Mercy Looks From Here album Verified editorial review

Song Meaning

Amy Grant starts from plain exhaustion — "another Monday comes and I just wanna breathe," written for "someone wired to please" who keeps "taking my aim, pushing it higher" without ever feeling like enough. The verse doesn't diagnose the problem abstractly; it's the specific fatigue of constant self-improvement.

Her answer isn't a new strategy for trying harder — it's a flat refusal of the whole premise: "God gives you grace and you can't earn it." Grant makes the logic explicit rather than leaving it as a slogan: "He gave you His love and He's not leaving, gave you His Son so you'd believe it."

Paul's description of grace in Ephesians 2:8-9 — a gift, "not of works, lest any man should boast" — is the whole argument this song is built on, and John 3:16 supplies the proof Grant keeps pointing back to: God gave his Son. Her closing line, "you're lovely even with your scars," treats the scars as already accounted for, not something still being worked off.

Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team

[Verse 1]

Another Monday comes and I just wanna breathe

'Cause it's a long, long week for someone wired to please

I keep taking my aim, pushing it higher

Wanna shine bright, even brighter now

Wish I would tell myself


[Chorus]

Don't try so hard

God gives you grace and you can't earn it

Don't think that you're not worth it

Because you are

He gave you His love and He's not leaving

Gave you His Son so you'd believe it

You're lovely even with your scars

Don't try so hard


[Verse 2]

Do you remember how the summers felt when we were kids?

Oh, we didn't think much about it, we just lived

Taking our time, beautiful leisure

When did we start, trying to measure up

When all of this time, love has been trying to tell us


[Chorus]

Don't try so hard

God gives you grace and you can't earn it

Don't think that you're not worth it

Because you are

He gave you His love and He's not leaving

Gave you His Son so you'd believe it

You're lovely even with your scars

Don't try so hard

Don't try so hard


[Chorus]

Don't try so hard

God gives you grace

You can't earn it

Stop thinking you're not worth it

Because you are

He gave you His love and He's not leaving

Gave you His Son so you'd believe it

You're lovely even with your scars

Lovely the way you are

So open up your lovely heart

Don't try so hard

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