I had a dream about a burning house
You were stuck inside
I couldn't get you out
I lay beside you and pulled you close
And the two of us went up in smoke

Love isn't all that it seems
I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you
Until this dream is gone

I've been sleepwalking
Been wandering all night
Tryna take what's lost and broke
And make it right
I've been sleepwalking
Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house

I see you at a party and you look the same
I could take you back
But people don't ever change
Wish that we could go back in time
I'd be the one you thought you'd find

Love isn't all that it seems
I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you
'Til this dream is gone

I've been sleepwalking
Been wandering all night
Tryna take what's lost and broke
And make it right
I've been sleepwalking
Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house

Flames are getting bigger now
In this burning house
I can hold on to you somehow
In this burning house
Oh, and I don't wanna wake up
In this burning house

And I been sleepwalking
Been wandering all night
Tryna take what's lost and broke
And make it right
I've been sleep walking
Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house


Lyrics submitted by pinktoad10

Burning House Lyrics as written by Jeffrey Bhasker Samuel Tyler Johnson

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Burning House song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    This song is about the person she loved, cannot have, and is haunting her dreams. He's moved on, and she logically knows she and him will never work, but he haunts her dreams nonetheless.

    Love isn't all that it seems I did you wrong I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone

    She recognizes that she and him don't work, and she blames herself - she wasn't good enough, or he wasn't as into her as she was into him. The only place she can be "with him" is in a dream - day dream, night dream. The dream is a burning how to demonstrate that even if they were together, it wouldn't last. They both perish in the fire much like Romeo and Juliet perished from not being able to be together.

    I see you at a party and you look the same I could take you back But people don't ever change Wish that we could go back in time I'd be the one you thought you'd find

    They are still in the same social circles, she sees him out moving on with his life while she's still tortured with finding peace. She wishes she could have done something different so she could have been the love of his life.

    I've been sleepwalking Been wandering all night Tryna take what's lost and broke And make it right I've been sleepwalking Too close to the fire But it's the only place that I can hold you tight

    She keeps playing the fallout of the relationship over and over in her head, playing back the what ifs on how it could have turned out different, but she knows they will never be together.

    c2jumpon August 29, 2023   Link

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