Lyrics Page
Pearls
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Aug 27, 2026 updated
Verified editorial review
Song Meaning
Audrey Assad's live acoustic cover of Sade's "Pearls" tells the story of a woman in Somalia who endures immense hardship while gathering pearls to provide for her daughter. The song contrasts the woman's suffering with the singer's own struggles, expressing a desire for such bravery. It touches on themes of survival, resilience, and the cry to heaven amid pain. The repeated "Hallelujah" adds a spiritual dimension, though the original song is not explicitly Christian. This cover, however, is performed by a Christian artist and may be interpreted through a lens of faith and lament.
Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team
There is a woman in Somalia
Scraping for pearls on the roadside
There's a force stronger than nature
Keeps her will alive
This is how she's dying
Dying to survive
I don't know what she's made of
But I would like to be that brave
She cries to the heaven above
There is a storm in my heart
She lives a life she didn't choose
Hurts like brand-new shoes
Hurts like brand-new shoes
There is a woman in Somalia
The sun gives her no mercy
The same sky we lay under
Burns her to the bone
Long as afternoon shadows
It's gonna take her to get home
Each grain carefully wrapped up
Pearls for her little girl
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
She cries to the heaven above
There is a storm in my heart
She lives in a world she didn't choose
And it hurts like brand-new shoes
It hurts like brand-new shoes