LYRICAL ANALYSIS

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VERSE 1: I been saying goodbye to a piece of myself

she covered up the hard times nobody could help

she listened to the big lies and told them herself

i been saying goodbye to somebody else

VERSE 2: talking ‘round in circles to make it make sense

holding on to stories like she holds on to friends

trying hard to prove that if she could she would mend

but everything was broken and some things have to end

VERSE 3: i wake up and I wonder what the hell I did wrong

I was falling under trying hard to stay strong

I didn’t have the language for what was going on

and I been so afraid of putting fire on fire

Let it burn

VERSE 4: I’m guilty of believing that everyone’s good

and i admit i knew that i wanted more than he could

give me but I wondered if i was asking too much

but looking back I see that where there’s smoke there’s fire

and I was wrong to touch

Let it burn

VERSE 5: I been thinking maybe i shouldn’t say this out loud

I don’t wanna hurt him i’m still looking out

for anything he’s feeling anything he’s thinking or needs

even though I know that he wouldn’t do that for me

Let it burn

VERSE 1: The “piece of myself” that I’m referring to is the part of me that let sooooo many other pieces of myself be squashed, silenced, made wrong, tamed and/or attacked - in the name of “love” or “acceptance”.

Obviously, somebody mistreating me (or anybody) was never my responsibility - so this is not about taking responsibility for someone else behaviour by saying “oh, I ALLOWED IT”.

What I mean is, a lot of unlearning and new learning had to happen (and still is happening) in order to understand my worth DESPITE mistreatment from others. And a lot of work had to be done (and still does) to build the strength and resilience required to constantly challenge - instead of bow to - the status quo.

VERSE 2: I’ve gone through times in the past couple of years where my brain felt as though it was on a constant loop, trying to understand ….. everything. Not just about the breakup (because, really, none of this is actually about breaking up with a person, it’s about waking up with myself) - but also about all kinds of things I had believed about myself, relationships, my roles as a woman, and who I had to be in order to be loved. Again, not just in an intimate relationship - but by my family, my friends and the world aswell.

This is what I’m referring to when I sing “holding on to stories” - and I’m also talking about how I literally pretended that my fantasies were reality. I wanted things so badly to be true, that I was willing to deny reality and work my ARSE off to pretend things (in my relationship and in the world) were peachy. While I was writing this song, I recognised that it was much more valuable for me to accept the brokenness of some things and move forward armed with that knowledge, working towards something better for myself, rather than trying to operate effectively inside of the brokenness.

VERSE 3: This verse is completely about the relationship that ended. I constantly blamed myself, even though all evidence pointed towards the relationships “failure” not being my fault. I tend to be very agreeable (I’m practicing being less agreeable on the things that matter!) and always want things to be fair for everyone else - but when you place that kind of personality next to someone disagreeable that never thinks anything is fair for them, well, you just can’t ever win 🤷‍♀️

“I been so afraid of putting fire on fire” feels like a very important line to me. How many times have you kept quiet, or said yes, or done what you didn't want to do because you were afraid of making things worse? This had been such a huge part of my life, and it was time to let that part of me burn.

VERSE 4: I felt SO guilty for so many things, and this verse is a play on that guilt - outlining that the only thing I had to feel “guilty” about is that I trusted and cared for someone that took advantage of that (obviously, I do not actually have to feel guilty of that!)

The line “Looking back I see that where there’s smoke there’s fire and I was wrong to touch” came out of what I had been learning about red flags in a relationship. There was so much smoke that I ignored or accepted time and time again… and, eventually, everything just burst into flames.

So when I sing “let it burn” here, I think I’m referring to the relationship itself. If something is smoking that much, and the fire is that out of control, a moment comes where there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop the fire. It’s out of your control and the only thing left to do is let it burn. Completely. To. The. Ground.

VERSE 5: Well, I think this verse is pretty self explanatory.

I felt like such a jerk writing this song, and so many others that would eventually make up my new (not yet released) album.

Actually, so much of this particular song was about voicing that experience (of creating the album) out loud.

I had written SO many songs about his behaviour, and I wanted to acknowledge that the process of creating those songs really hurt me. I was resistant to saying anything “bad” about him, and I felt so afraid of hurting him. I battled back and forth between feeling responsible for his feelings and wellbeing, fearing that I would make him mad (and how that would affect me), and my desperate need to shout from the rooftops how I was feeling and what I was demanding for my future self.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that, sometimes, I felt like I was losing my mind.

I was writing all these ball-busting “fk you” songs and it didn’t feel like I was painting the whole picture. Everything hurt. I was grieving and confused and feeling such a roller coaster of emotions - so LET IT BURN was my way of aknowledging how painful it was to try and step into that space of washing my hands of him, and moving on with my life.

If I’d had it my way, I would never have lost him. Even though he repeatedly hurt me, disrespected me and stepped all over my spirit, ambitions and sense of self.

I know that might sound ridiculous but that’s what happens when you’re addicted to the good times. Your brain completely ignores the reality of the rest of the story.

So I think the “let it burn” line has another meaning here too. It hurt. it burnt. it stung. The relationship ending AND the acceptance of all the bad things that had happened along the way. I instinctively knew that the only way to heal from this pain was to feel it ALL. So, “let it burn” here is a reminder to myself, to tell the truth, feel everything and let it hurt - so that I could learn, grow and never ever repeat the same patterns again.