Burn Out
Rising in the east and fading in the west
To the north and to sleep at the close of day
The flame goes out only char left in the grate
Do you in dying become but a name
I can see your worn down weight upon your shoulders
All the joy you once had now is gone
Can’t find what you wanted feeling lost in turmoil
Will you finally be free
Out in to the cold night, Stare into the dark sky
Do you sleep forever or burn alive
Or linger in the half light fade into the dark night
Do you find contentment do you find your peace
Rising in the east and fading in the west
To the north and to sleep at the close of day
The flame goes out only char left in the grate
Do you in dying become but a name
Out in to the cold night, Stare into the dark sky
Do you sleep forever or burn alive
Or linger in the half light fade into the dark night
Do you find contentment do you find your peace
Song Notes
“Burn Out” had the working title “Jaz Odyssey”. The song entered the set list for the Nu-Clear Sounds tour, but quickly exited and hasn’t been played live much since. The song seems to take a fairly grim view of death and dying with Tim singing about his own mortality, and what will happen after death. Written during the difficult period of writer’s block while writing Ash’s second album. Tim said of the song:
Tim: I was getting a bit heavy into thinking about mortality, questioning the future. There’s a line in the song about rising in the east and fading in the east. I was thinking about what goes on when you die.
Mark during the Tim Burgess Twitter listening party for Nu-Clear Sounds in April 2020:
We really were burnt out after 1977. This album was kinda the exorcism.