It was just startin' to drizzle as I walked out the door
But I've delivered papers in the rain like that before
3: 30 in the morning, I was happy as a lark
As I grabbed my bike and rode into the dark
I peddled through the neighbourhood
the weather on my mind
The wind was pickin' up and howling louder all the time
The sky churned like a cauldron
and the distant thunder roared
And I knew that I was in for quite a storm
A little rain never hurt no one, so I kept pressing on
And I triеd to tell myself
"It's always darkest bеfore the dawn"
Lightning struck an oak tree as I leapt off my bike
The sirens started wailing
but there was no good place to hide
I knew without a doubt, there was a twister touching down
So I crawled into a culvert to wait it out
The little bit of courage I had left was almost gone
But I tried to tell myself
"It's always darkest before the dawn"

And then the nightmare started, it got deafeningly loud
Every fibre in me screamed out but I couldn't make a sound
The whirling of a vortex, a violent carousel
It sounded like a freight train was dragging me to hell

And this was my prayer
Save me from this terrible nightmare

That was when I saw my family with my eyes shut real tight
Would they know how much I loved them
if this was how I died?
No, I vowed I'd not be murdered
by a monster in the sky that night
But if I went home to heaven
at least that's where I'd belong
Yeah, I tried to tell myself
"It's always darkest before the dawn"
So I kept hanging on (Ooh)
(Ooh) I kept hanging on
(Ooh)

The shadows slowly melted as I was hunkered down
'Til at last, the worst was over, the storm was dying out
I crept out of that culvert and I went weak in the knees
'Cause what I saw was a somber sight to see
There was nothing but destruction and wreckage in that town
Cars were upside down and houses levelled to the ground
A twisted trampoline was hangin' from the power lines
I blinked a tear back as I felt lucky to be alive
And that was how I learned to live
When you can run but you can't hide
How to feel trapped in a tunnel but come out the other side
'Cause with all the stormy weather in the world
You learnt to take life one storm at a time
You don't have to be afraid
And now, when there's bad weather on the way, I stay calm
And I keep hanging on because
it's always darkest before the dawn

And I keep hanging on
I keep hanging on