song: burn to ashes
- Jan 25, 2024
- 4 min read
this song honestly paints a different imagery yet a very similar narrative to last week's song release song: ride your wave...
now when I think back to where these songs are in my timeline of songwriting, and what was happening in the seasons of my life....
Burn to Ashes was a one-take improvisation that I sang in November 2019 while Ride Your Wave was worked on between August and September of 2020.
Hmmm, honestly as I go through this journey, of reperforming songs, reflecting back and paying homage to the phases of me, I am a bit... maybe? touched? struck by? signified?
words are not a thing right now, oops,
I think what I'm trying to allude to, is that I feel still very strongly sometimes, I really do get thrown back and when I listen to these past original recordings, I can feel the rawness of my emotions of the past, and today, they are significant as ever as I reflect.
burn to ashes is one of those songs that strike as too timely and too much of a coincidence, I look at this one-take improvisation now, as a prelude, a prologue song, to what would happen in the next 3-4 years after. Almost like a subconscious foreshadowing?
I didn't know it back then, but i was really singing and asking myself, can I take a step forward into the neverlands, the unknowns, the unfamiliar, what isn't the normal for me,
and make a change?
At the time, I had placed very high expectations on myself, and tried to see through some cyclical waves of sadness and apathy with a lot of shame and criticism. And maybe it was an eruption that I needed a big change, and this big change to be better than you were, is to cry to the stars..
can we start a fire and burn?
burn to ashes, let go of the pain, cause the neverland is too far from here
As I interpret the narrative and the storytelling of my lyric, I really do wonder what the neverlands were, what it signified... Cause it might represent Peter Pan's neverland, but I honestly didn't watch it, so I don't really know if the neverlands are a magical place, or better, the ideal.
Cause as I listen back to the song, Neverlands sounds like a point where I didn't want to be at, but also, somewhere I had to go to, or something I had to realize.
And I had reached such a point, where I wanted to reset, to really want to start a fire, let go of the pain, let it rain and let the sun shine again,
And just last year, I learned of the symbolism of a phoenix, and the phoenix is a bird that rises from the ashes, which i just realized while writing now..
let the wind carry our souls
this lyric towards the end, am I referencing the rising? The rebirth and the transformation.
So burn to ashes was really a song that held a space, for the longing and the almost like the desperate cry outwards to make a change, to reset and let it all go. Because the act of starting a fire and letting it burn, signifies to me that I wanted to really let go of something, and restart a new.
Because after 2019, I really hit my burn to ashes, like burning and burnt out phase, quickly between 2019 and 2021. So as I sing it today, I honour that time, and I sing it for the younger version of me, who had felt so much to a brim. And to also honour myself, for going through it all to build a space and fill it with love.
so i invite you to take a moment to reflect:
what are some things you want to burn to ashes, to let go of the pain, to let it rain, and let the sun shine again?
or to flip it around, how do you want to rise from the ashes? how do you heal from the pain, let it rain and let the sun shine again?
feel free to ponder, journal, and be gentle with your thoughts. my hopes are that we honour what is serving and is not serving us, to let go of these things so we can make room for things that are better for us now.
MY ANSWER
When I look at the first question, things i want to burn to ashes, are the self-limiting beliefs and doubts I have with this project, and the shame and guilt that pops up from some of my past seasons, I know I am doing better now, I am not where I was, but sometimes, it hurts.
For the second question, how do I want to rise from the ashes?
I want to feel more free? To feel a lightness, and just continue finding what works best for me, without the hard criticism, to enjoy moments, to really ride my wave and go with the flow. to continue building this space.
it is my hope that we don't have to burn to ashes completely, and if we do, I hope that you rise stronger than ever.
next week, I will be sharing another creative prompt to feel where I'll take the reflection prompt and make a little art or journaling exercise out of it, that you could try yourself too!
I have done creative journaling prompts for all songs, so check them out below or on the blog homepage ~ the posts start with feel:
this space is open for you to share what you thought and felt from the song or this reflection <3
if you have reached this far, thank you so much for reading and holding a space with me.
Take care always,
MAP2
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