“I’ll just stand here and burn in my skin”…the brilliance of Ray LaMontagne’s “Burn.”

My all-time favorite song with my all-time favorite lyrics is from the brilliant artist, Ray LaMontagne’s “Burn.”

Obviously, I think the whole song is potent and it undoubtedly brings me to my knees, but the opening is nice:

“Oh mama don’t walk away, I’m a goddamn sore loser.”

A well-placed curse word in a song is always a powerful tool.

Then as it progresses, this part:

“Yes and try to ignore all this blood on the floor; it’s just this heart on my sleeve that’s a-bleeding.”

And finally my all-time favorite lyric in music:

“I will stand here and burn in my skin.”

That’s such a powerful image to me. I love it. Add in his emotive and soulful voice to these potent lyrics with the “slow burn” nature of the song, and it’s utter brilliance.