"Before The Dawn" is the sixteenth and final track from Tori Kelly's third studio album, Inspired by True Events. It was released on August 9, 2019 through Capitol Records.
Background[]
Tori Kelly said in an interview on the Zach Sang Show:
"Before The Dawn is one of my favorites I’ve ever written. Ever. I wrote this one with Jimmy Napes and Bruno Major. Amazing artists. It feels like one of those songs that’s always going to be relevant and because the song is basically saying “hey, I don’t know what you’re going through and I can’t imagine what you’re going through but just know that I’m here for you and it’s okay to be in this place that you’re in because it’s always darkest before the dawn.” Theirs gonna be hope and so I think that song I would say represents me, which is kind of fitting that it’s the last song on the album. I think that one represents me now musically but also lyrically because I can kind of take all the things that I did go through and then now just hopefully encourage other people through the things that I’ve gone through. I walked into the session with “what’s a rose without a thorn” like that sort of imagery. I remember sitting me, Bruno, and Jimmy and we all just kind of like pow-wowed like “Oh that’s great. What kind of other visuals can we use?” and so we came up with this long list of different ones and kind of chose the best ones and that became our chorus. It’s another song that feels very poetic. Very very much about the lyrics on that song."
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Thought I saw you smile, underneath you were frowning
Thought I saw you wave‚ but you must have been drowning
[Pre-Chorus]
What's a rose without a thorn?
What is calm without a storm?
I can't say I know what you're going through
I know you won't find peace without a war
The finest silk can still be torn
And it's always darkest right before the dawn
[Chorus]
So keep your head up
Keep your head up
My love
[Verse 2]
When you feel alone and the room is overcrowded (Oh‚ oh‚ oh)
I want you to know you could talk to me about it, darling (Yeah)
[Pre-Chorus]
What's a rose without a thorn?
What is calm without a storm?
I can't say I know what you're going through
But I know you won't find peace without a war
The finest silk can still be torn
And it's always darkest right before the dawn
[Chorus]
So keep your head up
Keep your head up
My love
[Bridge]
Oh-oh-oh
Too many words goin' unspoken
And oh, my door will always be open
What's a heart if it's never been broken
[Pre-Chorus]
What's a rose without a thorn?
What is calm without a storm?
And I can't say I know what you're going through
You won't find peace without a war
The finest silk can still be torn
And it's always darkest right before the dawn
[Chorus]
So keep your head up
Keep your head up
My love‚ my love
[Outro]
Keep your head up
Keep your head up
My love