It was just [?] 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 picking up and howling louder all the time
The sky turned like a cauldron and the distant thunder roared
And I knew that I was in for quiet a storm
A little rain never heard no one, so I kept pr?ssing on
And I tried to tell myself it's always dark?st before the dawn

Lightning struck an old tree as I left off my bike
The siren started ring-ring but there was no good place to hide
I knew without a doubt, there was a twister touching down
So I crawled into a [?] 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 through hell
And if my life [?], 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 die?
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
There I tried to tell myself, it's always darkest before the dawn
So I kept hanging on
I kept hanging on

Shadows slowly melted as I was hunkered down
To the last worst was over, the storm was dying out
I crept out of that covert, 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 line
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 the tunnel but come out the other side
'Cause with all those 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 a bad weather on the way, I stay calm
And I keep playing on because it's always darkest before the dawn
And I keep hanging on
I keep hanging on