Burning With Optimism's Flames Lyrics

Lyric discussion by falcotron 

Cover art for Burning With Optimism's Flames lyrics by XTC

As great as this song is, it can't live up to its brilliant title. Nothing could.

I always thought that title was borrowed from GK Chesterton's "The Optimism of Byron". But I was wrong; apparently Andy came up with it himself.

And actually, the girl in this song is almost the opposite of Byron. He tried to hide his optimism in cynicism, but it burned so bright that he couldn't contain it. She hides her desperation in optimism, and she's burning from the outside rather than the inside.