(SINGING) Can you see me over here?
Should I just disappear?
I try to fit in next to you.
Guess I wasn't clear
Or maybe I'm just not good enough.
Feel so alone here.
Can't even be myself.
Trying to fit in,
Left on the shelf.
Do I belong here
Or should I just stop trying
To be some other girl?
When I fight I'm all alone.
Got to tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Bend it back, quit trying to be someone else.
I tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Whoa, whoa.
Somehow I find a way.
It's never easy.
Why is it so hard?
All I've ever wanted is to be like them.
I don't understand why I am who I am.
When I fight I'm all alone.
I've got to tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Bend it back, quit trying to be someone else.
I tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I've got to keep my head up,
Be the girl I'm meant to be.
I may not be like them, but that's OK.
I can only be me.
When I fight I'm all alone.
I've got to tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Bend it back, quit trying to be someone else.
I tell myself I'm irreplaceable.
Welcome back to Mormon Channel Studio.
I'm your host, Yahosh Bonner.
You've just heard an original song
by Madilyn Paige, "Irreplaceable."
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Wow, that song was amazing.
Can you tell us a little bit about the backstory
of that song and when you wrote it?
Yeah, I wrote this song when I was a sophomore in high school,
and I actually just wrote it basically
to vent how I was feeling at the time.
I was going through one of those phases
that I think a lot of people go through,
where I was really insecure and just
had really low self-esteem.
And I would compare myself to everybody else,
and I just didn't think I was good enough.
I felt kind of invisible, I guess.
So that song is basically about how I was feeling at the time.
Wow, that was wonderful.
I could tell in your passion that that connected with you
at some point in your life.
So awesome, so awesome.
So you have been in the music industry for a while now.
Yes.
And you've sung at the highest levels, been
part of voice competitions.
Yeah, with all that experience and the people that you've met,
what advice could you give aspiring young artists
coming up?
I mean, there's so much that I could say.
There's so much that I wish that people would have told me when
I was just starting out, I guess,
but I think the first thing would be to figure out who you
are first--not just as an artist, but as a person.
Oh, yeah.
Because there's going to be a lot of voices
and a lot of opinions that are trying
to change you and tell you what they think you should be
and what they think you should sing
and how they think you should look.
And when you know who you are and you know what your values
are, I guess, and you know what you will and will not do,
I think--I think that's so important.
That's such an important thing to have first.
So I would say that, and then confidence is key.
Oh, absolutely.
And the way you get that is just by doing exactly what you're
afraid to do, so putting yourself out there
and performing.
And the more often you perform, the more confident
you're going to get.
And eventually those nerves are going
to turn into just excitement, and that's something
that I've seen for me.
I've seen that change.
And I still get a little nervous, but mostly excited,
and I used to not have that.
I used to just get so nervous that it was, like, paralyzing.
Oh, wow.
But I promise it works.
You've just got to perform.
You've just got to do it.
Well, that's great.
I just remember being at my mother's house.
You studied voice with my mom for a little while,
and we were all surrounded by the TV and watching
the competition and just rooting for you,
and you were just amazing.
So it's been so awesome to see how you've blossomed
into such an amazing artist.
Thank you.
And you still, as you said, you know who you are.
You haven't changed, and I really appreciate that.
Thank you.
You're going to sing another song for us, right?
I am.
OK, what song is that?
"Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Why did you choose that song?
Really, it's my favorite hymn to sing,
and I just, I love the message of it
because I think it's something we all feel sometimes,
is that we're alone.
And we feel like God is always so far away,
but He really is so close, and He's always there for us.
And so I just love that.
And it always makes me really feel something when
I sing this song, so I love it.
It's my favorite.
Well, I look forward to hearing your rendition.
Take it away.
Thanks.
(SINGING)
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me.
Still all my song shall be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav'n;
All that thou sendest me
In mercy giv'n;
Angels who beckon me
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!