Set the Fire to the Third Bar Lyrics

Lyric discussion by ashleym917 

Cover art for Set the Fire to the Third Bar lyrics by Snow Patrol

I think it's about being far from someone you love, in distance and thought. All you have left of them is memory.

"I hang my coat up in the first bar There is no peace that I've found so far The laughter penetrates my silence As drunken men find flaws in science" ... "After I have traveled so far We'd set the fire to the third bar We'd share each other like an island Until exhausted, close our eyelids And dreaming, pick up from The last place we left off Your soft skin is weeping A joy you can't keeping"

I think these two parts about the bar are saying it doesn't matter that other people are having a good time, because you are still "miles" from where you want to be -with the person you love. I think the whole "set the fire to the third bar" is because they were feeling so many emotions- happy, and mad, and sad that they just wanted to do something crazy.

p.s. i also think that they "set fire to the third bar" because they want to enjoy each other alone without any distractions from other people.