We, we don't have to worry 'bout nothing
'Cause we got the fire
And we're burning one hell of a something
They, they gonna see us from outer space, outer space
Light it up
Like we're the stars of the human race, human race

When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah, we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn

We don't wanna leave, no
We just gonna be right now, right, ri-ri-right now
And what we see
Is everybody's on the floor acting crazy, getting loco 'til the lights out
Music's on, I'm waking up
We start the fire, then we burn it up
And it's over now, we got the love
There's no sleeping now, no sleeping now, sleeping now

When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah, we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn

When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn (ooh)
Burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn (ooh)

We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out

When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah, we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn

When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah, we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn


Lyrics submitted by zeroZ, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Burn Lyrics as written by Ellie Goulding Gregory Kurstin

Lyrics © Global Talent Publishing, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Downtown Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Burn song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

19 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    Ellie is certainly not a fundamentalist Christian, so I'm sorry, you're just trying to see something that's not there. The song certainly isn't pro-Christian, if you're trying to read into that.

    matt1111on November 11, 2014   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.