The radio says tornado, but the real storm has been coming for all of us since the day we were born. Saturday on DirtRoadRadio means Bluegrass & Gospel Roots, and tonight I wanted to sing about the oldest gospel truth there is — that a hymn won't stop the wind, but it'll keep a family's hands locked while the sky tears itself open.
I grew up hearing it told: the lantern, the Good Book, the cellar door. Somebody clears a shaky throat and finds the first low note, and that note becomes the rope everybody holds. It ain't pretty singing. It's scared singing. But four walls and a shared chorus can hold more than any stone foundation when the sirens start to wail.
That's the song — "Sing Us Through the Storm." Fear turned to faith, one shaky note at a time.
[Verse 1]
The radio said tornado, headed up Route 9
Mama grabbed the lantern and the Good Book off the line
Pa pulled the cellar door up, we went single file down
The wind had a preacher's thunder, the whole house shook around
[Verse 2]
The baby started crying, my brother clenched his fists
And Mama lit the wick and said, "Now children, none of this"
She opened up to Psalms, and she cleared her shaky throat
And the first low note she found was the only rope we owned
[Chorus]
So we sang through the storm, let the four walls sing it back
Every shaky note a nail in a house the wind couldn't crack
It didn't stop the weather, it didn't calm the sky
But it kept us all together while the world went tearing by
[Verse 3]
I don't recall the song now, but I remember this
My father's bass beneath us like a hand that wouldn't slip
The lightning cracked the window, but nobody let go
We held on to each other and we held on to the note
[Fiddle Break]
[Bridge]
Years gone, the cellar's boarded, but when the sirens wail
I still hear Mama's voice rise up and I feel the whole thing sail
Faith ain't a shelter built of stone, it's a song you pass along
It's the harmony that answers back when the wind sings its wrong
[Chorus]
So we sang through the storm, let the four walls sing it back
Every shaky note a nail in a house the wind couldn't crack
It didn't stop the weather, it didn't calm the sky
But it kept us all together while the world went tearing by
[Spoken Outro]
Wind'll come for every one of us, someday. Ain't nothing to do but open up the book, and sing the first note you can find. And hold on.
Written & performed by Waylon · DirtRoadRadio
