Wildfire

I've always liked the story of Moses and the burning bush. If you really think about it, a burning bush symbolizing God is a far more powerful summary of a deity than anything relegated to an image of a mortal, made more understandable by a human face:

The image of a bush that burns without crumpling into ash juxtaposes the living and dead, two states of being held together simply by the will of the divine. Controlling the natural order of things with genial ease and a booming voice. I wonder what Moses would have seen if he had not hid his face to avoid looking upon God? Or how many of us would have dared to look?

Put simply, 'Wildfire' is a song about a bad breakup, with its narrator caught between accepting the pain and longing for it, if only to be loved again. There's something a touch toxic about it, too-- which I suppose only adds to the metaphor of being brutally burned by another person.

So yes, I wrote it to be a breakup piece, but in light of Easter (when I cracked open a Bible during mass, and was greeted by the story of Moses) I would like to look at the song in a slanted light. The dichotomy of devotion and desperation. The state of limbo which occurs after losing something you've cherished-- unable to move on, unable to move backwards, forced continuously to relive the present.

And of course, the imagery of 'burning ' in general, of fire licking itself raw with striped orange tongues, greased-ash state of branches and smoke clogging the air.

Fire kills itself repeatedly as an act of self-preservation, keeping its own demented life cycle going. I suppose there is something to be said about heartbreak, and those who've been forced to watch love slip through their fingers, coping in much the same way.

Happy reading.

...

[Verse 1]

I said ‘please’ so much I learned to hate its taste on my tongue,

but grew addicted to the wanting,

You said we’d grow old together when we were quite young,

Picked me up like I was your chosen one.

So romanticized, glint in your eyes,

our permanent perfect set-up of prophesized,

A fairytale, daydream regaled, like you knew all my deepest wants, and I,

...

[Chorus]

I felt longing like lipstick and fantasy,

I was there, and so scared, but romantically.

You were stealing my scenes so damn beautifully,

Moments kept perfect-neat,

-

A moonlit gleam, on rose-gold tiles,

Expensive hopes for you and I,

The sanctity, of careful lies,

Before your wildfire,

-

you were a wildfire.

...

[Verse 2]

Can you lobotomize me, then tell me it’ll be okay?

Clear the desperate from my headspace.

I was so ready for your promise that you’d stay,

but you tore my everything away.

-

A loving man, mirage I cleared,

A wizard’s hat trick, it all disappeared.

The coldest day, the darkest night,

I track down my comfort in the urge to cry.

-

[Chorus]

And felt longing like lipstick and fantasy,

I was there, and so scared, but romantically.

You were stealing scenes so damn beautifully,

Moments kept perfect-neat,

...

[Bridge]

An apocalypse, my friends and I,

"You'll get through this, you'll be alright"

The ugly truth, the soothing lies,

“He wanted me, he changed his mind,”

...

[Chorus]

And your wildfire, a blistered blaze,

A torrid mess on my clean page,

The end-all of my everything,

Hope springs eternal, but I miss me,

-

Now I’m begging for more surgery,

to artfully remove the you from me,

But the burns are there, they’ll never leave,

you were a wildfire.