Corsicana

That last line "We should hold our breaths with mouths together, now" is the craziest metaphor. And you know Peter knows it by the way he sings it, he wants you to hear that line.

I feel like it could mean so many different things.

1. It could mean, basically, if we can't be together (which is what all of the previous lines in the song are about), I'd rather die here with you (holding your breath against another mouth, would theoretically/metaphoricaly kill both people)

2. It could mean we should hope for the best (hold our breaths) and just stay together (with mouths together)

3. Or it could mean, quite literally, we should kiss for a really long time, because it could be our last.

I bet there are other interpretations of that line and I'd love to hear them from someone else...

I think that this song is about a relationship that is doomed to fail and is falling apart. The house (their relationship) is burning and there is no way to stop it. They are realizing, now, at the end, how petty their other worries were, such as shutting the window. They were too distracted to realize that their whole relationship was crumbling. So, in the end, they decide to just kiss for their last few minutes together and make it last as long as possible by holding their breaths. But even though they are holding on at the end, they know that ultimately they will burn.

"I found an article about a man in a tiny town called Corsicana, TX, whose family had perished in a fire, who, at the start of the article appeared a tragic, ill-fated grieving father. But as it continued, evidence quickly and obviously pointed to this father as the arsonist. This confusion of victim and perpetrator seemed fitting for the recording, a simple love song about a relationship seemingly ended by circumstance, but actually killed by both partners’ unwillingness to save it. Unlike the case of the man in Corsicana, TX, the sabotage in the song is unintentional."

And I just love that last line. Beautiful song.

I love the Antler's sound, but Peter's explanation of this song title disturbs me.
See this article for enlightenment: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann

It's sad enough that our group-think fueled presumption of guilt killed this man; let's not continue to ignore the injustice that's been done.

I always interpreted it as a story about two people who have a lot of tension and chemistry between them,didn't want to fall for one another, but have (similar to "I Don't Want Love", actually).

Upon "awakening," or returning to reality after a daze-like establishment of love for each other, they find that the connection they share is too strong; both the inability to "stop the sparks" and the "window" they "both left open" indicate flirtation/affinity and accidental vulnerability; the lyrics about the "door" being "too hot to touch" and the suggestion of holding their "breath with mouths together" tell me/them they're too far gone for each other to be able to deny it any longer, and they might as well go with it, even if that means they die together.

Again, just my thoughts.

Anyone notice that some lyrical themes from "Hospice" carried over to "Burst Apart"? The most obvious example is the lyric about doors, curtains, and windows, that are both prevalent in this song, and "Wake".

Taken literally, it's a song about a room on fire with two people trapped inside. Figuratively it seems to be about two people giving into something between them that it's too late for them to stop.

I like that it starts in past tense and turns into present tense, like it's happened before and this time they shouldn't fight it.

Gorgeous song.

The line should be spelled "Now the door's too hot to touch"

I think the song title relates to the story of Cameron Todd Willingham, of Corsicana

-convicted of triple homocide for trapping his three infant children in his burning home read David Grann's article 'Trial by Fire'

i love the way that he described the title, as pointed out by johannsen.

i think that this song is a more in depth look at the "bursting apart" that was referenced in "rolled together".

this is the violent and passionate end of the relationship of two "burning paper hearts" that was damned as soon as it began.