I’ve learned to be more grateful for clarity. I don’t love the storms that bring it — but I honor what they wash away. I hate hard times. I hate
I’ve learned to be more grateful for clarity.
I don’t love the storms that bring it — but I honor what they wash away.
I hate hard times.
I hate realizing that people I thought shared my values never did.
I hate discovering that those I believed I was marching beside were, in truth, walking arm in arm with those who wished me harm.
But I’ve learned something sacred:
hard rain brings clarity.
It rinses away illusions, false alliances, and quiet betrayals.
It cleans the road before me — even when the thunder feels unbearable.
The rain made the road clearer.
Now, I can see where I’m going.
Now, I can walk lighter.
Now, I can walk free.
Johnny Nash wrote and released this song in 1972, right after a decade of enormous upheaval — the Civil Rights Movement, the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and ongoing racial tension.
Nash himself was a Black artist from Houston, Texas, deeply influenced by gospel, soul, and later reggae (he worked closely with Bob Marley in Jamaica).
When he sang about seeing “clearly now” after “the rain is gone,” it resonated far beyond personal struggle — it sounded like hope.
- Hope after hardship: The message mirrored what many in the Black community felt — trying to rebuild after years of pain, loss, and struggle.
- Metaphor of light and vision: “I can see clearly now” spoke to spiritual awakening, collective clarity, and a longing for freedom.
- Gentle defiance: In a time when many protest songs were fiery, this one offered a quiet confidence — a reminder that peace and clarity were also forms of resistance. (Turns out that annoys some people too. Who knew?)