“The Storm is Over Now” by R. Kelly

As we have pointed out in the past many, if not most R&B musicians, especially singers, can trace their musical origins back to the church, i.e. to African-American gospel. And such also appears to be the case with R. Kelly. It should be noted that his own mom was a “devout Baptist”. She raised all her children (including Kelly) in the church. Furthermore, she also sang lead in her church’s choir. 

And that’s why R&B singers, more so than any other genre of secular musician, are able to pull-off gospel-sounding songs. And these songs, which are often empowered by passionate, often faith-based vocals which in some instances, as in “The Storm Is Over”, are actually backed by a choir. 

Is “The Storm is Over Now” a religious song?

Indeed classifying the lyrics of this song as being religious in nature would be a stretch, despite most facts, including the above information, perhaps pointing to such an idea. But still we have certified gospel platforms showing this track love.

The only overtly-religious word in this song would be “Heaven”. And whereas “heaven” may be one of the most widely-used terms in pop music, in this song it reads as if it is based more directly on the Biblical understanding of the word, i.e. being spelled with a capital H. 

But also, as with pop music usage in general, it alludes to the vocalist achieving some type of idealized, euphoric state. However, in this instance it isn’t like something sensual or drug-related. Instead “Heaven” is representative of Kelly achieving ‘freedom’ which, within the grand scheme of the lyrics, means that he has effectively overcome this harrowing depression which has been plaguing him, that being the titular “storm”.

It can be religious depending on your interpretation

At the end of the day, what would ultimately determine whether this song is religious or not is how respective listeners interpret these unspecified entities who are referred to therein. For instance, Kels mentions “voices of the wind” who are imbuing him with faith to overcome “the storm”. Furthermore, he also addresses a “you” who actually has the power to ‘set him free’ from it. 

From a religious standpoint, the latter would be most generally interpreted as God, with those “voices” being that of His emissaries, so to speak. But again, such is not specified. And for instance, if you were to read the song’s official lyrics, the “heaven” may be capitalized. However, the “you” isn’t. So one would have to conclude that even if this song is religious in sentiment, a conscientious effort was made to make it more appealing to a general audience, sorta like “I Believe I Can Fly“, if you will.

In Conclusion

And lastly, interesting to note is that whereas Kels is exclaiming “the storm is over”, as presented in the narrative, that doesn’t mean that he has overcome whatever depression or hardship he is going through in the moment. 

Instead now, unlike before, he is able to perceive forthcoming victory. Or put differently, ‘faith became his friend’. In other words, what this piece actually represents is not a change in circumstances per se but rather a transformation in the outlook of the singer. And given the type of terminology involved, that idea can also lead to other postulations/interpretations. 

But conclusively, what this track is speaking to most specifically is the power of faith, and relatedly we may also say that of positivity thinking.

Facts about “Storm Is over Now”

This song came to us via R. Kelly’s fifth album, TP-2.com. Kelly released it as the second single from that project on 3 April 2001. And to note, later that same year it was also featured on the soundtrack of a Keanu Reeves’ film entitled Hardball. On a side note, you probably never heard of this film before due to the fact that it was released a few days after 9/11.

In addition to writing and producing this song, Kelly also co-directed its music video. In the latter regard, he worked alongside Bille Woodruff.

“The Storm Is Over Now” was a mild hit. Most notably it broke the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. Also, this song gave Kelly a top-10 hit in Switzerland and Belgium. The best performers from the aforementioned TP-2.com actually proved to be “I Wish” and the remix of “Fiesta”.

The label behind the original release of this track is Jive Records.