Set the Fire to the Third Bar Lyrics
I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from "A" to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
[Pre-Chorus 1: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
I touch the place
Where I'd find your face
My fingers in creases
Of distant dark places
[Verse 2: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science
[Pre-Chorus 2: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
Their words, mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me
[Chorus: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
And miles from where you are
I lay down on the cold ground, I
I pray that somethin' picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
[Pre-Chorus 3: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weepin'
A joy you can't keep in
[Chorus: Gary Lightbody & Martha Wainwright]
And miles from where you are
I lay down on the cold ground and I
I pray that somethin' picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
And miles from where you are
I lay down on the cold ground and I
I pray that somethin' picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
About
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
According to Gary Lightbody in 2013:
‘Set the Fire to the Third Bar’ is a song that I wrote with Martha Wainwright in mind, like a love song between the two of us. I don’t know whether that’s creepy, when it’s someone that you don’t know. But it wasn’t meant like that.
I think it’s beautiful. I sent it to her – again, we’d never met or spoken – and we got a pretty quick response saying she would come and sing it. So she was playing in Dublin, so me and Garret went up to Dublin, went into a studio in there, the day of her gig. And we recorded her singing ‘Set the Fire’, and…I mean, she’s just extraordinary. She’s just like a big breath of life. Extraordinarily intelligent, very funny and warm. And she came in and she sung it once, and it was perfect. She sung it again for luck, and we used the first take.
- 2.Hands Open
- 3.Chasing Cars
- 8.Set the Fire to the Third Bar
- 10.Open Your Eyes
- 11.The Finish Line
- 12.The Only Noise
