I have burned my tomorrow
And I stand inside today
At the edge of the future
And my dreams all fade away

I have burned my tomorrows
And I stand inside today
At the edge of the future
And my dreams all fade away

And burn my shadow away
And burn my shadow away

Fate's my destroyer
I was ambushed by the light
And you judged me once for falling
This wounded heart will rise

And burn my shadow away
And burn my shadow away

An' I see the light, too light for love
An' I see the light, too light for love
An' I see the light, too light for love
An' I see the light, too light for love

An' I see the light, too light for love
Burn my shadow
An' I see the light, too light for love
Oh...
An' I see the light, too light for love
Burn my shadow
An' I see the light, too light for love
Away

And burn my shadow away
And burn my shadow away
Oh, how I loved you



Lyrics submitted by Rain.

Track duration: 04:56


Burn My Shadow (Feat. Ian Astbury) song meanings
Add your thoughts

15 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Am I the only one who sees the positivity in this song?

    I have burned my tomorrow
    - I have made a choice to disregard the societal straight jacket and choose my own path. The path laid out before me has consciously been avoided. I have decided to burn my tomorrow, and burn what most people believe is their destiny or their fate. I have burned the the path I am told to follow, have burned the future I perceived I was supposed to attain, and I have burned the restrictions and limitations this future has imposed on me, today.

    And I stand inside today
    - I am now aware. I am conscious and alert. I realize I have a choice, and life is no longer pre-defined.... the future is defined by what I choose to do now. This is the point of personal enlightenment, where standing in today means living in the present in harmony with your present environment.

    At the edge of the future
    - If your future has an edge, it means at some point your future is no longer defined, not necessarily that it is no longer in existence. Standing in today at the edge of the future backs up the notion of rejecting the concept of destiny; complacency and apathy. Sinced we burned our tomorrow, and we stand inside today at the edge of the future, we essentially have the freedom and will to build what we want into the unknown. Life becomes limitless. All options are available.

    And my dreams all fade away
    - My dreams fade away because they become reality. Understanding the power of walking down your own path instead of the one created for you brings ultimate empowerment.

    I have burned my tomorrows
    And I stand inside today
    At the edge of the future
    And my dreams all fade away

    And burn my shadow away
    And burn my shadow away
    - At this point, nothing matters but the present. There is no longer a tomorrow, and you can choose to change for the better. Your past is only in your memory. Burning your past means you are evolving. Your shadow is your past. You are becoming a new person. Burning your shadow implies the elimination of closed mindedness, becoming aware, and understanding that if you were to travel back in time with what you know now, you would not have made the same decisions in the past. You are able to burn this, become and redefine yourself. A rebirth. Removing the shackles and straight jacket society places on us. Perception is a figment of our imagination, projected onto others - it does not exist.

    Fate's my destroyer
    - The realization to burn the tomorrow and the shadow; to stand inside today.

    I was ambushed by the light
    - The enlightenment

    And you judged me once for falling
    - Your shadow - eliminate the negative sources that cause anxiety

    This wounded heart will rise
    - Your re-creation and re-birth.

    And burn my shadow away
    And burn my shadow away
    Flag EBHubaon November 18, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I find the song to be about a man's last thoughts, after he is sentenced to death. The beginning, prior to the "drop" is his thoughts racing as his time ticks, hoping that his crimes will be forgotten after he dies ("Burn my shadow away"). After this, the music falls silent, and bursts suddenly, I view this as his chance to escape, and he flees promptly. But, eventually, he is caught again, and he goes back to his thoughts, as his captors just decide to kill him then and there.
    Flag Drahydraon November 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:"I have burned my tomorrow
    And I stand inside today
    At the edge of the future
    And my dreams all fade away"

    He sacrificed rest of his life for/because of something that he will do now.
    "And burn my shadow away"
    And forget about me

    "Fate's my destroyer"
    He believes that it is fate that send him to death...

    "And you judged me once for falling
    This wounded heart will rise"
    Or gave him opportunity to atone his sins.

    "Oh, how I loved you"
    His final thoughts.
    Flag amlyon March 06, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Like others, I definitely see death in this. Maybe too morbid, but: it feels to me like someone in the act of committing suicide: the split second between the act and the death. The "Oh, how I loved you" feels like the final thought, and in the past tense, as he acknowledges that he's ceasing to be. The falling/burning imagery just feels so violent and immediate to me.
    Flag kunibobon April 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about reincarnation/the afterlife.

    'I have burned my tomorrow'
    Meaning he has lived and used up his life, there is no longer a reason for him to live.

    'And I stand inside today'
    Not sure what this means or its significance.

    'At the edge of the future'
    He's at the very end of his life, but also near his rebirth, just about to cross over.

    'And my dreams all fade away'
    He grows weak and begins to die.

    'Burn my shadow away'
    I think this has to do with him being reborn as something pure- cleansing/burning the shadow of sin that followed him in life.

    'Fate's my destroyer'
    Not sure- I'm thinking something to do with the fact that Fate is ending his life so he can go to the afterlife.

    'I was ambushed by the light'
    People say when someone dies, they see a light- as he dies he becomes engulfed in a light.

    'And you judged me once for falling'
    After he dies he goes to a purgatory to be judged, where they decide whether or not to let him through after he made a series of bad choices- 'falling' into sin.

    'This wounded heart will rise'
    He will be reincarnated.

    'An' I see the light too light for love'
    Once again referring to people who see the light when they die. I think the 'too light for love' is that it's something so powerful it either confuses or scares him.

    'Oh how I loved you'
    Could be referring to the fact that he won't be reincarnated with his lover, or that his lover steered him wrong and almost denied his chances in the afterlife, making him despise her.
    Flag Eggmayonaiseon December 19, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Here's what I think this is about:

    "I have burned my tomorrow" this means that he has lived a life of crime, you could say, and has wasted his whole life.

    As a few verses down it states "And I stand inside today, At the edge of the future, and my dreams all fade away" I think that means that he is about to be executed for what he's done, but don't get this wrong - it's not that depressing; by burning his shadow away he means that he is repenting.

    He is repenting all his sins and wrongdoings. I think that the verse "Fate's my destroyer" means that sooner or later he was going to get caught because it was fate - it was bound to happen.

    "I was ambushed by a lie" I think that this means how the devil told him all sorts of lies and made him do evil things while giving him the hope that something good would happen to him (by "to him" i mean the one who the lyrics are about), but it was all a lie. Therefore he was ambushed by a lie.

    "And you judged me once for falling" I sense this line is about how someone he cares about judged him for doing something very small (like stealing) and now he has done something much worse than that... many much worse things, in fact.

    "This wounded heart will rise" here we have, once again, the part that makes me think he's repenting. He thinks that he will rise to heaven because he has repented his sins and (possibly) found Jesus.

    "When I see the light true love forever" I think this means that he started loving God when he found out what he was all about through Jesus. Therefore seeing the light.

    "Oh, how I loved you" this last verse is great. it's very simply about how he loved to sin until he saw the light.

    Write back with any improvements on my answer or anything you think I've made a mistake on, but I have to tell you. All of the songs from Unkle that I've heard have something to do with God.
    Flag Zargogoon November 23, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Ok bear with me on this one...kinda in a depressed mood at the moment. but.

    I have burned my tomorrows: You waste every opportunity that life has thrown to you to become something great and spectacular.

    And I stand inside today: The results of those actions you chose throughout life. Stuck in the realization of the fact that you aren't really anything you hoped you would be.

    At the edge of the future: There's no turning back. Where you are at is where you are. Back when you were still dreaming of what you wanted to be is right there, but you are at the edge and cant get over there.

    And my dreams all fade away: You become a stuck in the same old same old. Just going through the motions. Not exactly happy with life. But you do it just because. And everything you dreamed about is slowly leaving you since you are stuck.

    And burn my shadow away: [[this is where you really have to bear with me]] but. When i hear this song, i think of your shadow as that person you always wanted to be. shadows are always dark spots on the ground. The person in the dark. Who you truly are. who you wanted to be as a child. and now you burn your ambitions and become copacetic with the fact that you are what you are now. and it hurts to think about how much you didnt become what you wanted to. so you burn your shadow away.


    just my thoughts.
    Flag shadowoftheloston November 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I'm a firm believer that every powerful song will mean something to not only the songwriter but also the individual listener and it may not be the same thing but as a listener you aren't wrong. to me this song is one of the most powerful songs I know. It reminds me of an ex of mine and how I gave up all of my plans to be with her then when I was left with nothing all I had was today. I no longer felt like I was the same person hence I've burnd my shadow away. And of course I burnd my tomorrows (I gave up my plans and dreams) to stand inside today (and be with her). At the very end he professes how much he loved someone or something just as I loved Shelby.
    Flag BlackSheep05on September 23, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:"I have burned my tomorrow"
    To me this means that he has abused his life/action's over his time, so he might die tomorow or commit suiside("hopeless" I feel would be a word I would describe it as)

    "And I stand inside today"
    The person feels stuck, which is a human condition of "the present".

    "At the edge of the future"
    Obviously this is the recognition of that the person recognises that there still is more that could be done with there life.

    "And my dreams all fade away"
    This line show's that from previous line's of the song that, even knowing the possibility's that there is still a future the person figures it is to late to change anything and it really is a hopeless situation.


    And the rest of the song becomes quite obvious explaining why the person feels this way and that they feel whatever they are about to do will allow them to purify the past/move on.

    In summary.

    I feel this song is about someone down on themselfs from a bad breakup of some kind and is now contemplating a way out of there present situation.

    Hope this nails it. =)

    Flag uchigatanaon September 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The vocalist is from the metal band "The Cult". So perfect in terms of tone and voice.
    Flag Jordo013on September 18, 2010   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain