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It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dyin' breath of
This love we've been workin' on
Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms
[Chorus]
We're goin' down
And you can see it too
We're goin' down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burnin' room
I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw
I'll make the most of all the sadness
You'll be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me, just hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
'Cause you can't understand
[Chorus]
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
My dear, we're slow dancin' in a burnin' room
Burnin' room, burnin' room
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dyin' breath of
This love we've been workin' on
Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms
[Chorus]
We're goin' down
And you can see it too
We're goin' down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burnin' room
I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw
I'll make the most of all the sadness
You'll be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me, just hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
'Cause you can't understand
[Chorus]
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
My dear, we're slow dancin' in a burnin' room
Burnin' room, burnin' room
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Lyrics submitted by InfraRecon
Track duration: 04:02
"Slow Dancing In a Burning Room" as written by John Mayer
Lyrics © REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Whatever it's about, it's a beautiful song. Gorgeous.
From the second this song starts, it's obvious that it is a song of heartbreak and sadness. I don't think that there's any hidden meaning - I just think it's about two people who are in a relationship, and they both feel that it's coming to an end, but neither are willing to actually break up yet. I think that both had gotten so comfortable and secure in the relationship that not being together scares them. I get the sense that both feel so out of control of what's happening to their relationship - especially the line "You try to hit me just to hurt me, so you leave me feeling dirty
because you can't understand we're going down."
My favorite line of the entire song is "how dare you say it's nothing to me - baby, you're the only light I ever saw." I think that encompasses the entire feeling of a breakup, and how both people usually blame the other and initially feel very bitter toward each other. Despite the fact that he's obviously in pain, he's acknowledging that she is/will always have an important part in his life.
They can't get enough of each other and they seem to be spinning and everything around them is burning and collapsing. Maybe she didn't run when she should have, maybe he lost it.
You try to hit me just to hurt me so you leave me feeling dirty.
The first stanza is about how their relationship is taking it's last deep breath, and dying. How the disease will never be cured, how the storm will never be calmed.
The second stanza is about how whenever he holds her in his arms, the warm embrace turns violent. Every time this happens, someone comes to help, but this has happened so many times that the people have stopped coming.
The chorus is about how their relationship is never going to get better and they know it. The line "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" is about how their relationship (the room) is crashing and burning with them inside. They decide to savor their last few moments together and just hold each other in their arms.
The third stanza is about how they were never meant for each other, even from the beginning, but they still love and care about each other very much.
The fourth stanza describes a violent fight; her hitting him, him pushing her off and then feeling guilty for hurting her.
This song is so creative and beautiful. I can't help myself from crying every time I hear this song.
~Ariana
"Can't seem to hold you like I want to, so I can feel you in my arms." -Pretty self-explanatory with the situation.. And because I would try to distance myself from him, emotionally, like I felt he did to me.
"Nobody's gonna come and save you. We pulled too many false alarms." -I can't even say how many times I've said I had given him up and moved on. I even started lying to friends about no longer talking to him.
"I was the one you always dreamed of. You were the one I tried to draw. How dare you say it's nothing to me. Baby, you're the only light I ever saw." -This one is deep to me, like everyone else. He was everything that I wanted, I even broke up with my fiance for him. He told me that all he ever wanted was someone that would love him for everything he was- which was what I had to offer. He still always had problems expressing how he felt about me until it'd get close to being over- when I would actually stand up for myself and say I didn't think he cared. But then he'd tell me that I'm his best friend and no one knows him better mentally than I do.
"I'll make the most of all the sadness. You'll be a bitch because you can." -Using those strong emotions to actually say what's on our mind. And sometimes I would get a little harsh about it..
"Don't you think we oughta know by now? Don't you think we should've learned somehow?" -Basically saying that we should've never gotten so deep into this relationship we can't have in the first place but haven't learned how to let each other go. And the repetition of these lines just reinforces that fact.
it's not just the lyrics that make this such an amazing song either, it's that steady beat, it's that feeling. it's nostalgic. i keep getting the feeling that it's two people holding on despite knowing that they're doomed, even if they want it to last - not all the time, though. why do i think this? the title alone gives me that idea; they're not fighting, they're not running, they're not screaming at one another - they're slow dancing. in a burning room. they're making the last of the good moments last, while they can, and they're unwilling to let go, even if it means they'll eventually be hurt ...
but they know they have to let go soon.