The Tornado

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 pedaled through the neighborhood, 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"[Verse 4]

And then the nightmare started, it got deafeningly loud

Every fiber 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[Verse 7]

There was nothing but destruction and wreckage in that town

Cars were upside down and houses leveled 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 learn 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