Some awful rapture of noise held
you captured and broke my stare
You said it came from there
Up there on the stairs
No more than a second
that mystery beckoned your feet to climb
While I stayed behind
I held worry on my mind

You don't know how fire works
It burns too slow, you'll lose it
You don't know how fire works
It dies until you feed it

You dug through the floorboards
for some kind of folklore you heard before
The newspaper was torn
And the match burned bright
How I couldn't fathom
this loose hanging phantom your fingers wore
So yellow in hue
It was nothin' I knеw

You don't know how fire works
It burns too slow, you'll lose it
You don't know how fire works
It diеs until you feed it

You laugh at my temper, your eyes like December
so cold and blue
You were smiling too
I was jealous of you
Still, to this day you've been lightin' your way
with the pages you burn
While others read theirs first
See how bright you can shine

You don't know how fire works
It burns too slow, you'll lose it
You don't know how fire works
It dies until you feed it

Come some lonely evenin'
when these embers go leavin' me bitter and cold
We'll watch out bodies grow old
You'll hear me whisper, "You were right"
You'll laugh at my sorrow
so empty and hollow, I was such a fool
That I knew better than you
Makin' up all those rules

You don't know how fire works
It burns too slow, you'll lose it
You don't know how fire works
It dies until you feed it