It’s hard to say that I’m back on a straight line
You’ll see my path is in fact just a fault line
It’s in my blood, it’s in my lungs, and it won’t die
I fight these words, I bite my tongue, so I don’t lie

Though it’s me to blame, there is no more shame in me
I just feel the same, immune to all this pain
And the scars don’t write a song for me at all

I am a stone, unaffected
Rain Hell down onto me
Flesh and bone, unaffected
Your fool I will not be

I tried to see and believe in the short-sight
Accept the burn of a vain and a half life
And how you rest your faith in these for a lifetime
The hollow lie against my hope that I won’t buy

No, your tears won’t line a path for me to crawl

The waters rise above my eyes
I will breathe it in and go out with the tide
And when you think this is the end
You will find me there where I have always been




Behind the Song:
“I Am a Stone” is an anomaly. I challenge anyone to find another instance of a band whose highest overall streams belong to a B-side. I’m proud of this fact—not only because it’s interesting and unique— but because it proves our fans truly appreciate these ballad-esque departures. We began playing this song live in recent years. Its popularity almost demanded we do so. Since a live string section has not been feasible (yet), Patrick and I perform it with a simple clean guitar and vocal. This version of “I Am a Stone” is a bit reverseengineered. Most of the songs in this collection are stripped down and slowed down to some degree. Since the song’s original version is a minimal string section and vocals, the challenge here was adding to the song as we incorporated the full band. The best solution to pull it further away from the original was to make it slightly upbeat, but do so without jeopardizing the mood. This rendition of the song is more triumphant and proud. It’s less somber than the original, but somehow these changes feel equally fitting. —Ryan Clark