I recommend listening before reading.
I also recommend you wear headphones.
I’ll start out by saying that the process of working on, failing at, and completing a creative project is one of the best feelings in the world.
To have an idea that essentially comes from “nothing” and watch it form to fruition is incredibly vulnerable. You are giving a part of yourself to the world, and that is both humbling and inspiring.
This song in particular helped me realize the idea of vulnerability in all its fullness, and I hope you feel the passion and emotion in it as much I did while creating it.
The Lyrics
Alongside the lake
I sit and remember
Nobody cares anyway
Next to the willow tree
I lie and gaze up at
Who I could be
But I’m only human
I’m only a coward
I’m only all you said I am
Footsteps behind me
I sense your sigh
While we sit in the weeds
You say give it time but
When I leave it up to fate
It ends up being too late
Since I’m only human
I’m only a coward
I’m only all you said I am
So darling leave me
To my day drinking
While I sit on this burning swing
Of all my burnt up dreams
Darling just leave me
To sit on my burning swing
Humans are weak
So we celebrate and drink
I never used to but now I do
So darling leave me
To my day drinking
While I sit on this burning swing
Of all my burnt up dreams
Darling just leave me
To sit on my burning swing
What are you so ashamed of
Just admit it
That I didn’t turn out like you
Yet you still hang on to first love
Way back in 1991
Your very first and last kiss
That couldn’t come back if you wished
Cause you’re only human
You’re simply a coward
You are everything I say you are
Darling leave me
To my day drinking
While I sit on this burning swing
Of all my burnt dreams
Darling just leave me
To sit on my burning swing.
Symbolism and Imagery
Symbolism:
“The use of symbols to represent ideas, or the meaning of something as a symbol”
Imagery:
“The way things or ideas seem in your mind or in art or literature”
“Burning Swing” is taken from the perspective of an alcoholic facing his/her feelings of desperation, shame and hopelessness, and projecting such identity onto a loved one.
And for the sake of writing out the process of this song, and because I thought of the alcoholic as a man, I will describe it with a man in mind.
But just as with all my previous songs, you can interpret it as you like.
The Process
I don’t remember where I came up with the idea of a burning swing, but I imagined it as an old wooden swing hanging under a willow tree next to a small lake. But it’s on fire, and a man wallowing in his shame is making a home on this swing that’s on fire.
Eventually, the fire will spread, and everything around him - his home, the beauty of life around him, the people that love him - will wither away and burn. The only constant that will be left in his life is his drinking.
We all have our obsessions and addictions. We all know that the world is not Black and White, but instead, filled with shades of grey.
One simple addiction can lead to the destruction of a life so well put together.
An obsession for one life can lead to the downfall of the life one already has.
And the alcoholic in this song obsesses over his shame of past failure, causing his present and future to fall apart. And the depressing part is that he has so many chances to start over, to combat his addiction, but he refuses to stand up from his burning swing. He’s comfortable there.
“So darling leave me
To my day drinking
While I sit on this burning swing”
In the imagery for this song, the man is surrounded in beautiful nature (a symbol of rebirth and second chances), and he’s beside a clear lake in the presence of a loved one fighting for his sobriety. And yet, he chooses to focus on the fact that they are sitting in the weeds, sitting on a burning swing of burnt up dreams.
“While we sit in the weeds
You say give it time but
When I leave it up to fate
It ends up being too late”
How the tables have turned…
There is an obvious change in the song when the bridge hits. The downcast piano fades out and hopeless complaining of the chorus stops. In comes the resentment with Bass, and the alcoholic turns hostile towards the person trying to help him.
“What are you so ashamed of
Just admit it
That I didn’t turn out like you
Yet you still hang on to first love
Way back in 1991
Your very first and last kiss
That couldn’t come back if you wished”
He chooses to focus on the mistakes of his loved one because he only sees his own mistakes. It’s as if he trying to excuse his behavior because someone else has problems too.
In the end, we decide what we want to focus on. We decide if we want to chase our dreams or let them dry up because of one thing or another.
Yes, the world is grey, the world is unfair, there is struggle and tragedy. But there is a point in life when we have to hold ourselves accountable and realize when the “problem” is only there because we cater to it.
Look around and remember that there are second chances offered everywhere. Give yourself Grace, give yourself a chance to see the beauty of forgiveness and chasing dreams.
Burning Swing