There is a wealth of Jars of Clay songs. No matter how you measure it there are at least 200 song recordings to listen to spanning their extensive career. Probably only the most devout of Jars of Clay fans have truly heard them all. I took it upon myself to search every nook and cranny to sift through the bottom of the barrel (looking at you “I Love My Triangle”), the hilariously bizarre (“Smells Like Rudolph”), and the real gems.
And what we have here are 10 of those gems. None of these songs have appeared on any a regular edition studio album. And there is also no way to get all of these on one streaming playlist, so your best bet is YouTube if you want to give any of these a try or revisit them if you’ve heard them before. These 10 songs are in chronological order of when they released. Enjoy!
- “The Chair” (1997)
- Much Afraid is generally held in high regard. I’m not personally much of a Much Afraid advocate but this does seem like it would have been a good fit for the album and I’m surprised it didn’t make the final cut. Instead it is stuck on the Crazy Times Maxi-Single as well as on the soundtrack of a movie I haven’t heard of called The Long Kiss Goodnight. This one has a really fun vibe and a unique string arrangement that we don’t normally hear from Jars of Clay.
- “If I Stand” (1998)
- A lovely cover song from the compilation album Awesome God: A Tribute to Rich Mullins. Looking back this serves as an interesting stylistic bridge between Much Afraid and If I Left The Zoo.
- “Everything In Between” (1998)
- This one is from The Prince of Egypt: Inspirational Soundtrack. The song definitely got a little specific to the movie to really have any impact for the band outside of this soundtrack, but it’s nonetheless a good song.
- “Fly Farther (feat. Allison Krauss)” (2000)
- An exclusive to the White Elephant Sessions. According to discogs, this song was originally intended to be released on Much Afraid but was cut for an overabundance of slower songs. This is indeed a slow song and also incredibly sad.
- “Dig” (2003)
- First released on Furthermore: From The Studio, From The Stage and then also on the second disc of The Essential Jars Of Clay in 2007. This is a moody and thoughtful piece.
- “Waiting For The World To Fall” (2005)
- One of their longer song names on possibly the longest album title Jars of Clay has music on. The full title for the compilation album is Music Inspired by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” It did gain some recognition as a song, however it has not appeared officially on any other album release.
- “Love Me” (2006)
- As far as I know this has only appeared on the Mini Monsters EP which was only digitally released through iTunes as a way to promote their upcoming release, Good Monsters.
- “Body & Wine” (2010)
- Originally released on a compilation album called Freedom: Artists United For International Justice Mission and later found on a free noisetrade release Gather And Build: A Collection in 2011 as well as a sampler to promote a 2012 tour with Leagues and Matthew Perryman Jones. Another slower, beautiful song. This one is particularly poetic.
- “Ghost In The Moon” (2014)
- From their 20 album which had reimagined takes on fan-voted tracks (two from mainline studio album). This is one of two new tracks and it’s hauntingly beautiful.
- “Caught-Escape” (2015)
- From the The Long Fall Back To Earth (Deluxe Edition) which released six years after the original studio album. A fun and catchy song about God’s grace.
Honorable Mentions
- “Headstrong” (2000) from Roaring Lambs
- “What Wondrous Love” (2005) from Roots & Wings EP
- “If You Love Her” (2014) from 20
- “The Stone” (200) from City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise
- “Save My Soul” (2015) from The Long Fall Back To Earth (Deluxe Edition)
- “Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows” (1996) from Never Say Dinosaur
- “Prisoner Of Hope” (2008) – Closer EP
- “Shipwrecked” (2007) from The Essential Jars Of Clay
- “Tonight” (2007) from The Essential Jars Of Clay
- “Broken Places” (2022) There’s A Rainbow Somewhere (The Songs Of Randy Stonehill)
Yes! So pumped to see Body & Wine and The Chair on your list.
The chair with its sound and violin dancability sound more like a debut Album feel than MA, reminding of Boy On A String
“What Wondrous Love” is a song I’ve loved for many years, and Jars’s version is great. Lots of other great deep cuts here, yes!