[Intro] All the bells rose together All the candles leaned near The church opened its thousand wounds Cathedral of tears [Verse 1] The altar split with a silver sound And light came through the seam Not morning yet, not heaven’s fire But something in between The crypt below began to sing The walls replied in rain The marble angels lifted cracks Like mouths released from pain [Verse 2] I stood with empty, shaking hands No locket at my chest Your letter lay upon the stone Like a bird allowed to rest The names along the hidden walls Rose softly through the floor Not ghosts demanding blood from me But grief becoming more [Pre-Chorus] Every tear the church had carried Every prayer that disappeared Gathered into one dark river And brought me standing here [Chorus] Cathedral of tears Hold what I could not hold All my love and all my failure In your ribs of rain and gold Cathedral of tears Let the buried voices rise Not to bind me to the sorrow But to open both my eyes [Verse 3] Then you were there, or almost there In blue and candle flame Not flesh, not ghost, not memory’s trick Yet something with your name You did not cross the altar stones You did not take my hand You only looked with patient eyes As if you understood [Pre-Chorus] I wanted you to free me I wanted you to blame But you were not the keeper Of the prison I had named [Chorus] Cathedral of tears Hold what I could not hold All my love and all my failure In your ribs of rain and gold Cathedral of tears Let the buried voices rise Not to bind me to the sorrow But to open both my eyes [Guitar Solo] The organ shook The candles climbed The broken glass Turned into time [Bridge] I said I was sorry Not to purchase peace Not to make the dark undo The years it would not release I said I had loved you badly I said I had loved you true And both were standing in the light And neither one was you [Choir] Forgiveness is not forgetting Forgiveness is not clean It is the door left open Where the wound has been [Breakdown] I lay the guilt down I keep the name I leave the chain there I keep the flame I let the dead sleep I let love stay I walk toward morning Before the day [Build-up] Stone forgive me Rain receive me Glass remember Do not leave me Bells beneath me Choir above Teach my grief The shape of love [Final Chorus] Cathedral of tears Hold what I could not hold All my love and all my failure In your ribs of rain and gold Cathedral of tears Let the buried voices rise Not to bind me to the sorrow But to open both my eyes Cathedral of tears I give back what was never mine The punishment, the silence The altar, and the shrine Cathedral of tears Let the morning find us true I leave the guilt inside your stones But not my love for you [Outro] All the bells grew quiet All the candles cleared The church kept every sorrow Cathedral of tears The church kept every sorrow But released me from my fear