Stained Glass

I find it almost impossible not to at least mist a little at this song. The imagery of God being broken and an imperfect creature much like us, somehow gives me both hope and the intense urge to weep, although it is hard to say whether it’s out of sadness, out of joy, or out of understanding.

I love the twist on that classic trope of a son trying to live up to their father. This time it's a father trying to live up to his son. You can imagine he has made little use of his time so far and now, in the twilight of his life, has to live up to the legacy of his own son.

It was thirty days til Easter when the elm tree hit the church Thank God it fell on Friday cause at least no one was hurt But there was fear it might delay the second coming of the lord Cause the stained glass crucifixion was in stains upon the floor They spent a day of cleaning and a day to board the hole Where the stained glass once had cast a godly light upon the fold But come the Sunday service all the faces now were gray And they commenced to take donations as the faithful knelt to pray But on Monday they discovered that the man who"d built the glass Was the only man in town who could and sadly he had passed But his father who was ninety said the tools were in the shed And he"d kindly try and resurrect the window from the dead The congregation argued, but the wise ones all rejoiced In the one hand was solution, in the other was no choice And they gave the man their blessings and they gave his hand a shake And they gave him all the coins they had collected on their plate It was seven days til Easter and they"d seen a hide nor hair So they came and knocked at suppertime in hopes the man was there But a banging from the basement was "bout all that they could hear And curses that might make the devil blush and wash his ears Come first thing easter morning and to everyone"s good grace The man was up on ladders with the window nailed in place It was covered in black velvet like a hood or like a veil He pulled the sheet and there it hung apocryphal and frail The seams had melted jagged, they were crooked like a spine The glass was rough like hands of man against the hands of time And there was bloodstains in the red and there were teardrops in the blue He said: It may not be the best but it"s the best that I can do The chapel fell to silence, it was more than just surprise As the monstrosity of color slid its tongue across their eyes And they shivered from exposure like babies born again Cause in every pane of glass was all the joy and pain of man . . . There was every fearful smile, there was every joyful tear There was each and every choice that leads from every there to here There was every cosy stranger and every awkward friend And there was every perfect night that"s left initials in the sand There was every day that filled so full the weeks would float away And there was all those days spent wondering what to do with all those days There was every lie that ever saved the truth from being shamed And every secret you could ever trust a friend to hide away There was the fortune of discovering a new face you might adore And the thrill of coming home to find her clothes upon the floor And the prideful immortality of children in the home That the storm can"t grind the mountain down, it can only shift the stones And there was everything your mouth says that your lips don"t understand And every shape inside your head you can"t carve with your hands And every slice of glass revealed another slice of life Emblazened imperfections in a perfect stream of light It all flooded through the window like rapids made of fire And then God rode through on sunshine and sat down cause he was tired He was tired. As the thunder and the hardwood settled back into its place God removed his veil and there were scars across his face And some folks prayed in reverence and some folks prayed in fear As all the shades and chaos in the glass became a mirror

Only 227,000 views as of current date, but this may be among the greatest songs ever conceived. If it's not lost entirely to civilizational collapse, this song will be remembered. I can't see anyone hearing it not recognizing it for what it is. Fucking hats off to Danny Schmidt on this one.

I have listened to this song probably 50 times by now and every single time I get goosebumps. It is a song that has religious imagery, but is about the human experience. Beautiful.

I absolutely adore musical story telling

I'm not religious but this is a masterpiece

This song breaks my heart every time I hear it. There's so much grief and beauty in it.

This is a beautiful piece of music. I hope Danny Schmidt is proud of his work with WTNV, because that's how I found his voice, so far out in the void. I wish him the best, and hope he keeps doing what he loves.

Happy Good Friday & Easter, 2023!

This song made me burst into tears

This song is so beautiful

It was thirty days til Easter when the elm tree hit the church Thank God it fell on Friday cause at least no one was hurt But there was fear it might delay the second coming of the lord Cause the stained glass crucifixion was in stains upon the floor They spent a day of cleaning and a day to board the hole Where the stained glass once had cast a godly light upon the fold But come the Sunday service all the faces now were gray And they commenced to take donations as the faithful knelt to pray But on Monday they discovered that the man who’d built the glass Was the only man in town who could and sadly he had passed But his father who was ninety said the tools were in the shed And he’d kindly try and resurrect the window from the dead The congregation argued, but the wise ones all rejoiced In the one hand was solution, in the other was no choice And they gave the man their blessings and they gave his hand a shake And they gave him all the coins they had collected on their plate It was seven days til Easter and they’d seen a hide nor hair So they came and knocked at suppertime in hopes the man was there But a banging from the basement was ‘bout all that they could hear And curses that might make the devil blush and wash his ears Come first thing Easter morning and to everyone’s good grace The man was up on ladders with the window nailed in place It was covered in black velvet like a hood or like a veil He pulled the sheet and there it hung apocryphal and frail The seams had melted jagged, they were crooked like a spine The glass was rough like hands of man against the hands of time And there was bloodstains in the red and there were teardrops in the blue He said: It may not be the best but it’s the best that I can do The chapel fell to silence, it was more than just surprise As the monstrosity of color slid its tongue across their eyes And they shivered from exposure like babies born again Cause in every pane of glass was all the joy and pain of man . There was every fearful smile, there was every joyful tear There was each and every choice that leads from every there to here There was every cozy stranger and every awkward friend And there was every perfect night that’s left initials in the sand There was every day that filled so full the weeks would float away And there was all those days spent wondering what to do with all those days There was every lie that ever saved the truth from being shamed And every secret you could ever trust a friend to hide away There was the fortune of discovering a new face you might adore And the thrill of coming home to find her clothes upon the floor And the prideful immortality of children in the home That the storm can’t grind the mountain down, it can only shift the stones And there was everything your mouth says that your lips don’t understand And every shape inside your head you can’t carve with your hands And every slice of glass revealed another slice of life Emblazoned imperfections in a perfect stream of light It all flooded through the window like rapids made of fire And then God rode through on sunshine and sat down cause he was tired He was tired As the thunder and the hardwood settled back into its place God removed his veil and there were scars across his face And some folks prayed in reverence and some folks prayed in fear As all the shades and chaos in the glass became a mirror SHARE THE LYRICS RECOMMENDED VIDEOS Justin Timberlake Paid Tribute To Prince (And Maybe Janet Jackson) During His Super Bowl Performance Fall Out Boy Breaks Down "Thnks fr the Mmrs" Post Malone's "Stay" And His Acoustic Guitar Skills Breaking News From Linkin Park & Machine Gun Kelly Fall Out Boy Breaks Down "Young And Menace" “STAINED GLASS” TRACK INFO Release Date July 12, 2005 NEXT UP Ghosts DANNY SCHMIDT Parables and Primes (2005) DANNY SCHMIDT 1. This Too Shall Pass 2. Neil Young 3. Dark-Eyed Prince 4. Happy All the Time 5. Riddles and Lies 6. Esmee by the River 7. Stained Glass 8. Ghosts 9. Beggars and Mules 10. A Circus of Clowns 11. Parables and Primes

A face you adore and the thrill of coming home to find their clothes on the floor.

Listening as Notre Dame burns....

This is one of the most beautiful works of Human Reverence I have ever heard.

This song brought me through the worse time of my life. It saved me.

This music was haunting. I was listening to it while playing minecraft and I was completely transfixed.

This hits me spiritually every time I hear it.

Goosebumps. Every time. This is a brilliant song.