Skyler Derrington is processing her grief through song. After the 12-year-old survived the devastating floods at Camp Mystic in Texas, she decided to rewrite Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” with lyrics about her experience.
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After a video of her singing the rewritten track went viral, Fox & Friends welcomed the camper onto their show to perform her song.
“I wrote it in honor of all of the girls at our camp, for those that we just lost, to honor them and to remember that God has a plan for all of us,” Skyler told the show’s host. “Even though rough stuff can happen sometimes, that doesn’t normally happen. There was no blame or fault. Its purpose was to tell and to honor them, and to sing and remind people what happened.”
Skyler wrote the lyrics with the help of her mom, Lacey Derrington.
“It was very emotional and healing, like song therapy,” Lacey said of working with her daughter. “It was getting it all out. We just had a sad day that day and it just felt like this beautiful release. It was just a beautiful tribute, I thought.”
Camp Mystic Survivor Performs Her Version of “Hallelujah”
With that, Skyler began her performance, wowing all who watched.
“I heard there was a giant flood / But we were washed in Jesus’ blood,” she sang. “And you don’t really care for my news, do ya? / On July the fourth 2025 / The water rose and we went adrift.”
Later in the song, Skyler sang, ” Our faith was strong, you showed us love / Like only God from up above / Your prayers, your hugs, and your love overwhelmed us / We cried, we prayed, we did our share / You clothed us, fed us, brushed our hair / And from our lips we drew the hallelujah.”
Skyler’s song continued as she belted out, “They say the water overcame / But I will never forget their names / No blame, no fault, so really what’s it to ya? / We are a part of Mystic’s heart / We spread His light, His love, His word / The holy and the broken, hallelujah”
“We did our best, we left a mark / A light that shines within the dark / I told His truth, I didn’t come to fool ya,” she continued. “Even though it wasn’t long / We stand before the Lord of songs / With nothing on our tongue but hallelujah.”
Camp Mystic Survivor Gets Epic Surprise from Her Favorite Singer
After her performance, Skyler told the hosts that she wants to be a Christian singer like Lauren Daigle when she grows up.
“I just like how her songs are really unique and how she spreads the word of God,” Skyler said. “It’s really beautiful and I love all her songs.”
When the hosts asked Skyler to tell Lauren hi, the tween turned to the camera to do so. However, Skyler was shocked to see the singer herself walk out onto the stage.
Lauren told the Derrington family that she saw Skyler’s video online and was instantly inspired. So when the show reached out to ask Lauren to surprise Skyler, it was a nobrainer.
“You have such a beautiful voice. You did awesome,” Lauren told the young fan. “… I was thinking about it before, and here’s the beautiful thing: tragedy happens in so many people’s lives—and what you experienced was unbelievable—but you took a tragedy and you turned it into something incredible. You turned it into something beautiful.”
“That, to me, is so telling of your faith,” she continued. “It’s so telling of the hope that you have in Jesus, that you could take a tough situation and turn it into something beautiful. I just want to applaud you.”
Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
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