Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Used to be clear as a window
Polished and eager to please
Every sharp word left a hairline fracture
Every loss another crease
I learned to smile through the splinters
Teach my hands not to bleed
Kept my stories under lacquer
So that no one else could see

[Chorus]
I'm tarnished cello glass
Scuffed and cracked but I can sing at last
All my fractures bend the light that's passing through
I'm tarnished cello glass
Bruised and braced by every broken past
I'm not shining but I'm strong and I'm true

[Verse 2]
I've been dropped in quiet kitchens
Shattered on a stranger's floor
Swept aside with yesterday's headlines
Thrown out by the back door
But I learned to prize the jagged
File my edges into grace
Now the echoes in my ribcage
Give each note a different face

[Chorus]
I'm tarnished cello glass
Scuffed and cracked but I can sing at last
All my fractures bend the light that's passing through
I'm tarnished cello glass
Bruised and braced by every broken past
I'm not shining but I'm strong and I'm true
[Bridge]
Every scratch is a sentence
Every dent a quiet vow
I was certain I was finished
Hear me trembling open now
I'm the stain on the crystal
I'm the wobble in the tone
But you feel it when it reaches you
You know you're not alone

[Chorus]
I'm tarnished cello glass
Scuffed and cracked but I can sing at last
All my fractures bend the light that's passing through
I'm tarnished cello glass
Bruised and braced by every broken past
I'm not shining but I'm strong and I'm true