The 2010s File Feature
Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)
The Making and Chart History of "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" is a country song by Gary Allan, written by Hillary Lindsey…
01 The Story
The Making and Chart History of "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)"
"Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" is a country song by Gary Allan, written by Hillary Lindsey, Gary Baker, and Jenny Yates. It was released in 2012 as the lead single from Allan's eighth studio album Set You Free, which was released on MCA Nashville in October 2013. The single preceded the album's release by several months, serving as an advance introduction to the emotional and musical direction Allan had chosen for this new chapter of his recording career.
Gary Allan had spent the previous several years going through significant personal upheaval, and the themes of resilience, endurance, and the eventual passing of difficult periods that characterized "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" were understood by many observers to reflect genuine emotional experience rather than purely commercial songwriting calculation. Allan had built his reputation as one of country music's more emotionally direct and unvarnished voices, and this song fit squarely within the tradition of honest emotional expression that had defined his best work.
The songwriting team behind the track brought strong credentials to the project. Hillary Lindsey had become one of Nashville's most respected and commercially successful songwriters, with credits including major hits for multiple prominent country artists. Gary Baker was another veteran Nashville songwriter with a long track record of successful compositions. Together with Jenny Yates, they crafted a lyric that managed to be both specific enough to feel personal and universal enough to connect with a broad audience navigating their own difficult circumstances.
The production of the song, overseen within the MCA Nashville framework, featured a sound that balanced the more rock-influenced edge that had always characterized Allan's musical identity with a warmth and accessibility appropriate to the song's emotionally supportive message. The arrangement built gradually, with Allan's distinctive, slightly ragged vocal delivery carrying the emotional weight of the lyric and the production providing a sturdy, moving framework around it. The recording had a feeling of genuine emotional investment that distinguished it from more polished but less personal commercial country productions.
On the Billboard Hot 100, "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" debuted on October 20, 2012, entering at position 78. The song's chart history was somewhat unusual, initially climbing before dipping slightly and then resuming its upward trajectory as country radio continued to add it and listener response accumulated. After entering at 78, it moved to 84 in its second week before recovering and continuing its climb. The track eventually reached its peak position of 26 on February 9, 2013, an impressive crossover peak that placed it solidly in the upper quartile of the Hot 100. In total, the song spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, one of the longest and most sustained chart runs of Allan's career.
On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the single was even more successful, reaching the top five and spending an extended period among the most-played country records in the country. Country radio embraced the song with notable enthusiasm, with programmers across formats responding to its combination of emotional depth and commercial accessibility. The song received particularly strong performance in the adult contemporary country formats that formed the backbone of mainstream country radio during this period.
The album Set You Free debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 when it was released in October 2013, making Gary Allan one of the few country artists to achieve a number-one album on the all-genre chart during that year. The strength of "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" as a lead single was a significant factor in building anticipation for the album and establishing the commercial momentum that carried it to that debut position. The song was nominated for Grammy Award consideration and received various country music industry accolades recognizing its achievement.
The song remained a centerpiece of Gary Allan's live performances, receiving particularly enthusiastic responses from audiences who connected deeply with its message of hope and endurance.
02 Song Meaning
Themes and Meaning of "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)"
"Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" is a song of profound emotional comfort, built around one of the most enduring and universally recognizable truths in human experience: that periods of pain, difficulty, and suffering are not permanent. The song's central metaphor, the storm that must eventually end and give way to clear weather, is ancient in its origins as a vehicle for expressing hope, yet the song deploys it with enough emotional specificity and musical sincerity to give it genuine freshness and impact.
The song addresses someone in the midst of genuine hardship, acknowledging the reality and weight of their suffering without minimizing it. This is an important distinction from simpler forms of cheerfulness or reassurance. The song does not suggest that the pain is small or that the person experiencing it is overreacting; it takes the darkness seriously while insisting that it is, by its very nature, a temporary condition. This honest acknowledgment of suffering, followed by the affirmation of its impermanence, is the song's central emotional and philosophical contribution.
Gary Allan's personal history with loss, widely known within the country music community, gave the song an additional layer of meaning for audiences familiar with his biography. When a singer who has experienced significant personal tragedy delivers a song about surviving darkness, the performance carries an authenticity that cannot be manufactured. Listeners understood that the comfort being offered in the song was not theoretical but grounded in lived experience, which deepened the emotional impact considerably.
The storm metaphor operates effectively on multiple levels within the song. At the most immediate level, it is a simple and accessible image that conveys the idea of difficulty giving way to relief. At a deeper level, the storm represents the specific emotional and situational conditions of each individual listener's hardship, whether grief, relationship breakdown, financial struggle, illness, or any other form of sustained difficulty. The metaphor's generality is a strength, not a limitation; it allows the song to speak to an enormous range of specific experiences through a single, clear vehicle.
There is also a communal dimension to the song's meaning. When Gary Allan performed it in concert settings, the audience response consistently reflected a sense of shared recognition, of people who had survived their own storms identifying with the song's message and feeling their endurance validated and honored. This communal response transformed the song from a personal statement into a collective affirmation, which is one of the highest functions that popular music can serve.
The songwriters, particularly Hillary Lindsey, brought a sophistication to the construction of the lyric that elevated it above standard inspirational song conventions. The specific imagery and the emotional pacing of the song, moving from acknowledgment of pain through the statement of hope to the affirmation of survival, follows a logical emotional arc that feels earned rather than imposed. This structural care is one of the reasons the song resonated so broadly and retained its impact through repeated listenings.
Culturally, "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" joined a tradition of country music resilience anthems that provide comfort and solidarity to listeners navigating hardship. The song's enduring presence in Gary Allan's live performances and on country radio playlists reflects its success in fulfilling this function for a large and grateful audience.
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