As far as I can tell, Lisa Fischer: http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858584813

1) The song is called ""Wildflower", a 1972 hit song by Canadian pop/rock group Skylark" Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildflower_%28disambiguation%29 Here the beginning of lyrics: "She's faced the hardest times you could imagine, And many times her eyes fought back the tears. And when her youthful world was about to fall in Each time her slender shoulders bore the weight of all her fears, and her sorrow no one hears, still rings in midnight silence, in her ears... Let her cry, for she's a Lady Let her dream, for she's a Child Let the rain fall down upon her She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild." Source and further text: http://www.metrolyrics.com/wildflower-lyrics-skylark.html Note that in the original version, the lyrics say here "She's a *free* and gentle flower, growing wild" 2) That song with about the same text was also sung by "Color Me Badd": "She's faced the hardest times you could imagine. And many times her eyes fought back the tears. And when her youthful world was about to fall in Each time her slender shoulders, bore the weight of all her fears. And the sorrow no one hears, Still rings in midnight silence In her ears... Chorus Let her cry, for she's a lady (she's a lady) Let her dream, for she's a child (child) Let the rain fall down upon her She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild " http://www.metrolyrics.com/wildflower-lyrics-color-me-badd.html (also "free") 3) The song was sung also by Jodeci, but there are some differences, for instance "sweet" instead of "free": "She's faced the hardest times You could imagine But many times Her eyes Fight back the tears Lord lord And when her useful world was about to fall in Each time her slender shoulder Fought the weight of all her fears And a sigh that no one hears Still rings in midnight silence in her ear Let her cry For she's a lady Let her dream She is a child Let the rain fall down upon her She's a free and gentle flower Growing wild" http://www.metrolyrics.com/jodeci-lyrics.html 4) there is also another song with totally different lyrics, but exactly the same sentence, sung by Lisa Fischer. Here the beginning of lyrics: "Let the rain fall down upon her She’s a free and gentle flower, growing wild People used to laugh at me when I was a little girl I guess they didn’t understand But when you’re young and all alone You make up things for the things that are missing Ooh, how I used to love to dress up in my Mother’s clothes It made me feel like somebody I’d pretend I was the prettiest girl at the dance And all the boys loved me And I was gonna be a big success" http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858584813

Actually, Skylark is not the correct answer...The original R&B group singing the song is "The New Birth"!!!