Lyrics
Intro (Leader)
Better days ahead (2 times)
Keep on looking up (2 times)
Better days ahead (2 times)
Things are looking up for you
Chorus
Better days ahead (2 times)
Keep on looking up (2 times)
Better days ahead (2 times)
Things are looking up for you
(Choir repeats)
I know the sun will shine, the sun will shine
Keep on looking up (2 times)
I know the sun will shine, the sun will shine
Things are looking up for you
It's gonna be alright, be alright
Keep on looking up (2 times)
It's gonna be alright, be alright
Things are looking up for you
Verse
I'm so glad that trouble don't last always
There's got to be a better day
Your help comes from the hills
So dry away your tears
Hey, things are looking up for you
Chorus
Better days ahead (2 times)
Keep on looking up (2 times)
Better days ahead (2 times)
Things are looking up for you
I know the sun will shine, the sun will shine
Keep on looking up (2 times)
I know the sun will shine, the sun will shine
Vamp
Things are looking up
(Leader adlibs)
Ending
For you
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
This call-and-response gospel piece offers encouragement to anyone in a hard place. A leader sings "Better days ahead" and "Keep on looking up," and the choir answers, so the message is carried by repetition and the pattern of voices more than by a story.
The verse supplies the biblical anchor: "trouble don't last always" and "Your help comes from the hills." That second phrase closely follows the opening of Psalm 121, where help is traced to the Lord who made heaven and earth. The promise that "the sun will shine" is stated as confidence, tied to that help.
Because the text is brief and built for repeating, it works as an uplifting chorus for choirs and congregations. Its comfort points to hope after grief, with "dry away your tears" as the practical call. The Psalms and the prophets speak in a similar way about weeping that lasts for a night and gladness that follows.
Related Scripture
- Psalm 121:1-2 The psalmist looks to the hills and says help comes from the Lord, echoed in the verse.
- Psalm 30:5 Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning, matching the hope of better days.