Lyrics Page
I Wouldn't Know You
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Sep 14, 2026 updated
The Transformation album
Verified editorial review
Song Meaning
James Fortune builds this whole song on a series of "if I never" statements, each one naming a specific hardship before crediting it with something unexpected — "if I never had a stormy day, then I wouldn't know that you could take all my pain away." He isn't grateful for the pain itself; he's grateful for what only became visible because of it.
His refrain repeats the same trade throughout: friends who walked away revealed a God who stays; a broken heart revealed a God who gives "a brand new start." Fortune doesn't minimize what he went through — "all the hurt and pain I felt inside, deep inside" — he just refuses to let the hardship be the whole story.
Paul writes in Romans 5:3-4 that tribulation produces patience, and patience produces the kind of proven character that leads to hope, and James 1:2-4 calls trials something that can be counted "all joy" because of what they produce. Fortune's closing refrain of titles for Jesus — healer, provider, protector, way maker — reads like a resume built entirely out of the hardships that required each one.
Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team
[Verse 1:]
If I never had a stormy day, stormy day
Then I wouldn't know that you could take all my pain away
If my friends had never walked away, so far away
Then I wouldn't know that you would always stay, never stray
From my side when I was going through, didn't have a clue
Of what I should do but then you brought me through, you always do
Thankful for those things that I went through (If I never had issues)
Then I wouldn't know you like I do
I wouldn't know you like I do
[Verse 2:]
If I never had a hungry day, broke day
How would I know that you could make a way, another way
If I never had a broken heart, torn apart
How would I know that you could give me a brand new start
All the hurt and pain I felt inside, deep inside
You let me know that I could still survive, you are my guide
Thankful for those things that I went through
(Cause if I never had to cry at night)
Then I wouldn't know you like I do
I wouldn't know you like I do
[Refrain:]
(Oh, Oh Jesus) Jesus
(My healer) My healer
(My Lord) Jesus
(You healed me) You healed me
(Jesus) Jesus
(Provider) Provider
(Ad Lib) Jesus
Provided for me
(Jesus) Jesus
(My savior) My savior
(Oh Lord) Jesus
(You saved me) You saved me
(Jesus) Jesus
(My Protector) Protector
(Ad Lib) Jesus
Protected me
(Jesus) Jesus
(Way Maker) Way Maker
(Ad lib) Jesus
(You made a way) You made a way
(Jesus) Jesus
[Refrain]