[Verse 1]
Hard pew
Soft threat
I trace dust halos
On a hymn book edge
Stained glass
Melts and sways
Colors crawl slow
Up my veins
You say “last mass”
Like a joke at lunch
But the word hangs heavy
Like iron on my tongue
Silence in the rafters
Buzz in my skull
I can hear the ceiling
As it starts to pull
[Chorus]
It’s the end of the gospelvas
All the pretty stories peel
Every painted promise cracking
Till the wood and the rust reveal
It gets to you
Yeah it eats at you (oh)
Like incense in your lungs too long
Till you cough up every truth
[Verse 2]
Choir in my head
Sings off-key psalms
Every “amen”
Got teeth in its palms
Candles drip wax
Like slow-drive car wrecks
I’m breathing in sermons
That stain my neck
I kept my doubt folded
In a pocket like receipts
Now the numbers shout
From the underside of seats
[Bridge]
[Beat drops to just guitar and reverb]
Knees on stone
Eyes on sky
Is it faith
Or fear to try
Holy water
Tastes like rain
Same wet chill
Same old pain
[Chorus]
It’s the end of the gospelvas
Where the echoes used to hide
All the painted faces fading
As the saints climb off the sides
It gets to you
Yeah it eats at you (yeah)
Like a spiral in your vision now
Till the walls all bend in two
It’s the end of the gospelvas
No more script to hold you still
If the chapel starts to breathe tonight
Will you leave or trust the chill