"We were blown away after watching the film, and we immediately connected with Morgan’s passion as an underdog trying to shed light on this corrupt giant […] We wanted to create a song that captured that passion. If enough underdogs band together, real change can happen, and we wanted to help inspire that change in “Burn the House Down.”
Burn the House Down
AJR Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Used to be a fool
All about the bounce in my step
Watch it on the news
What you gonna do?
I could hit refresh and forget
Used to keep it cool
Stay out of the fight?
No one's gonna listen to me
If I write a song
Preaching what is wrong
Will they let me sing on TV?
Should I keep it light?
Is that right?
Way up, way up we go
Been up and down that road
Way up, way up, oh no
We gon' burn the whole house down
Watch me stand in the line
You're only serving lies
You've got something to hide
We gon' burn the whole house down
We gon' burn the whole house down
Yeah, used to let it go
Walk into the show
Gawking at the tricks up your sleeve
Too good to be true
Full, I'm in a room
Full of entertainers and thieves
Used to let it go
Whoa, oh no
(Whoa, oh no)
Way up, way up we go
Been up and down that road
Way up, way up, oh no
We gon' burn the whole house down
Watch me stand in the line
You're only serving lies
You've got something to hide
We gon' burn the whole house down
We gon' burn the whole house down
(We gon' burn the whole house down)
Should I hang my head low?
Should I bite my tongue?
Or should I march with every stranger from Twitter to get shit done?
Used to hang my head low
Now I hear it loud
Every stranger from Twitter is gonna burn this down
Way up, way up we go
Been up and down that road
Way up, way up, oh no
We gon' burn the whole house down
Watch me stand in the line (whoa oh)
You're only serving lies (yeah)
You've got something to hide
We gon' burn the whole house down
(Whoa oh, yeah)
We gon' burn the whole house down
We burn it down, we burn it down
We gon' burn the whole house down
The lyrics of AJR’s song Burn the House Down speak to the frustrations that many people have with the current state of the world. The first verse describes the feeling of being overwhelmed by everything happening around us, and the struggle to decide whether to speak out or stay silent. The line “watch it on the news, whatcha gonna do?” highlights the feeling of helplessness that can come with constantly seeing negativity in the media.
The chorus of the song is a call to action, urging listeners to take a stand and “burn the whole house down” as a metaphor for taking down the systems that have failed us. The second verse talks about the realization that many of the things we see in entertainment and media are illusions, and that we need to stop being fooled by them. The bridge of the song asks the question of whether we should stay quiet or speak out, ultimately coming down on the side of taking action.
Overall, Burn the House Down is a powerful anthem for anyone feeling frustrated with the state of the world and looking for a way to make a change.
Line by Line Meaning
Used to keep it cool
I used to stay calm and collected
Used to be a fool
I used to make bad choices
All about the bounce in my step
I used to be carefree and happy
Watch it on the news
I see it all happening on TV
Whatcha gonna do?
What are we going to do about it?
I could hit refresh and forget
I could ignore the situation and distract myself
Should I keep it light?
Should I not take this seriously?
Stay out of the fight?
Should I not get involved and let others deal with it?
No one's gonna listen to me
I don't think my voice matters
If I write a song
If I use my talent as a musician
Preaching what is wrong
To raise awareness about what is going on
Will they let me sing on TV?
Will they let me express my opinion?
Way up, way up we go
We're going up and down the roller coaster of life
Been up and down that road
We've experienced all kinds of situations
We gon' burn the whole house down
We're going to cause a disturbance and make a change
Watch me stand in the line
Watch me take a stand for what I believe in
You're only serving lies
You're only telling false information
You've got something to hide
You're covering up the truth
Should I hang my head low?
Should I be ashamed and not speak up?
Should I bite my tongue?
Should I keep quiet and not express my thoughts?
Or should I march with every stranger from Twitter to get shit done?
Or should I join and fight alongside other strangers on social media to take action?
Now I hear it loud
Now I understand the severity of the situation
We burn it down, we burn it down
We're going to make a change, regardless of the consequences
We gon' burn the whole house down
We're going to make a big impact and bring about change
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Adam Brett Metzger, Jack Evan Metzger, Ryan Metzger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
its just me
everybody when the scene whene there all dressed in white: eh
me: vibin with them
@justamookie7o4fan46
my older brother was in jail and he called
one day to ask me to play a song and he
requested this one,we sat in silence while I
put my speaker full blast and listened,after
he said it's a pretty dope song right and I
agreed , In 2019 he committed suicide and as
I sat in my room crying when I got the news I
remembered when he asked me to play this
for him, in my grief this song brought a bit
closer to my brother and after 2 years I still
come back to listen to this , RIP Shane
@loturzelrestaurant
The Song asks a question and i wanna say right here
and now; yeah, Cancel-Culture may not be good as it is,
but i refuse to lower my head and just shut up.
I have actively searched for Racists, Sexists, Mobber, Bullies, and more,
for years - just to report/flag them.
I recently even made a Wiki for that purpose.
A Wiki full of Links, leading to confirmed toxic
people and hacker and whatnotelse.
The Song asks a question, and if your answer is to not
shut up, then tell me, so i can tell you more about that Wiki of mine,
where all the Links wait for you to use them. Use them to make
this unhealthy plattform more healthy.
@user-sp3xy4kq6f
Jack: Gets blindfolded.
Adam: Gets blindfolded.
Ryan: Gets blindfolded with glasses on.
@everythingawesome7671
Ah yes common sense has arrived
@lescaryhuman9799
I have glasses
@loadingsince-6517
Box head 📦🦱
@cookingwithghosts1012
😂😂
@samnelson6509
Ummm no
@jesselowry429
When he said, “BRRRRR da da da da da Deet deet da da da” I felt that
@maddiegibbons4059
Wow whenever I hear it... I can only imagine the words and letters to the sound... Wack.
@manu-iman
We gather today haha keep safe everyone