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  1. Tracks
  2. Sam Smith
  3. The Thrill of It All
  4. Burning
Burning by Sam Smith

SINGLE

Sam Smith

Burning

Release date: 3rd November 2017

From The Thrill of It All
Track 5
3:23
PopMusicRockAdult Contemporary
Spotify Apple Music More on Sam Smith

About This Track

A slow-burning ballad from Sam Smith's 2017 album 'The Thrill of It All', released as a promotional single on 27 October that year. Smith described it as his favourite track on the record, a claim that speaks to the raw emotional weight the song carries. The lyric builds its central metaphor around literal and figurative combustion: 'I've been burning up since you left', Smith sings, the flame on the chest an image of uninsurable damage. The smoking references layer a second meaning over the heartbreak, the habit framed as rebellion even as the narrator admits to isolation and regret. The chorus returns to that consuming fire, the love replaced by something hotter and more destructive. Stripped of ornament, the track leans into gospel-tinged balladry, Smith's voice carrying the full weight of the confession. It sits alongside the Timbaland collaboration 'Pray' as one of the promotional releases that built anticipation for the album's arrival.

"Burning" is a single by Sam Smith, from the album The Thrill of It All, released 3rd November 2017. The track is 3:23 long. It's filed under Pop. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 20 articles about Sam Smith.

About the Artist

Sam Smith

Sam Smith

Lyrics

Burning

I've been burning, yes, I've been burning
Such a burden, this flame on my chest
No insurance to pay for the damage
Yeah, I've been burning up since you left

I've been smoking, oh
More than twenty a day
Blame it on rebellion
Don't blame it all on me
Wish I was younger
Back to the nineteenth of May
I had an open mind
Swore to never change

Funny how time goes by
Had respect for myself
That river ran dry
You reached the limit
I wasn't enough
It's like the fire replaced all the love

I've been burning, yes, I've been burning
Such a burden, this flame on my chest
No insurance to pay for the damage
Yeah, I've been burning up since you left

Oh, if you ever called
I would run straight back
Give you my forgiveness
And the shirt off my back
No friends to turn to
Yeah, I messed up that
Wish we could smoke again
Just for a day, oh

Funny how time goes by
Had respect for myself
That river ran dry
You reached the limit
I wasn't enough
And it's like the fire replaced all the love

I've been burning, yes, I've been burning
Such a burden, this flame on my chest
No insurance to pay for the damage
Yeah, I've been burning up since you left

Yeah, I've been burning up since you left
Oh, I've been burning up since you left

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From The Thrill of It All

3:232017Single
Listen
Album
The Thrill of It All
The Thrill of It All
Sam Smith
3rd November 2017
Track number
5
Release year
2017
  1. 1Too Good at Goodbyes
    3:21
  2. 2Say It First
    4:08
  3. 3One Last Song
    3:13
  4. 4Midnight Train
    3:27

More from Sam Smith

Albums & EPs

BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
2025
In The Lonely Hour (10th Anniversary Edition)
In The Lonely Hour (10th Anniversary Edition)
2024
A Lonely Christmas - EP
A Lonely Christmas - EP
2023
Gloria (Special Edition)
Gloria (Special Edition)
2023
Gloria
Gloria
2023
Sam Smith Stripped - EP
Sam Smith Stripped - EP
2023

Explore

More tracks by Sam Smith

  1. Both Sides Now (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    6:05
  2. Good Thing (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    5:22
  3. How Do You Sleep? (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    4:17
  4. I’ve Told You Now (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    4:38
  5. Lay Me Down (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    5:27
  6. Leave Your Lover (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    3:21
  7. Like I Can (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    3:32
  8. My Funny Valentine (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    3:27
  9. Over The Rainbow (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    5:16
  10. Stay With Me (BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall)BBC Proms At The Royal Albert Hall
    4:37

Showing 10 of 20

If you like Sam Smith

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JP Cooper

JP Cooper

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Jessie J

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Calum Scott

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Ed Sheeran

  • 5Burning
    3:23
  • 6HIM
    3:10
  • 7Baby, You Make Me Crazy
    3:28
  • 8No Peace (feat. YEBBA)
    4:43
  • 9Palace
    3:07
  • 10Pray
    3:42
  • —Leader of the Pack
  • —Blind Eye
  • —Scars
  • —One Day at a Time
  • —Nothing Left for You
  • —No Peace
  • —The Thrill of It All

    • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Dominic Jordan, Jimmy Giannos, Poo Bear, Sam Smith
    Producer
    Jimmy Napes, Steve Fitzmaurice
    Bass
    Jodi Milliner
    Vocals
    Sam Smith
    Assistant Recording Engineer
    Henri Davies, Steph Marziano
    Mastering Engineer
    Bob Ludwig
    Mixing Engineer
    Jimmy Napes
    Organ
    Reuben James
    Recording Engineer
    Darren Heelis, Gus Pirelli, Steve Fitzmaurice
    READ MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITH
    READ MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITHREAD MORE ABOUT SAM SMITH
    Why Sam Smith saved ‘To Be Free’ from the ‘Gloria’ sessions, and what its rivers mean
    Features

    Why Sam Smith saved ‘To Be Free’ from the ‘Gloria’ sessions, and what its rivers mean

    Written during the ‘Gloria’ period but held back for five years, ‘To Be Free’ became a personal marker for Sam Smith before finding its place on ‘Hazel Eyes’.

    19 Oct 2026 • 8:40 am
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    From Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘1x1’ to their Doechii cover, these are the Nova Twins releases that sit outside their three-album catalogue.

    12 Oct 2026 • 7:35 am
    Why Sam Smith connected ‘To Be Free’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ to San Francisco’s Castro
    Features

    Why Sam Smith connected ‘To Be Free’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ to San Francisco’s Castro

    Sam Smith’s 2025 Castro Theatre residency announcement joined a song about personal freedom to a neighbourhood with a long queer political and cultural history.

    11 Oct 2026 • 9:10 am
    Beyond ‘Unholy’, where to start with Kim Petras’ collaborations
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    Beyond ‘Unholy’, where to start with Kim Petras’ collaborations

    Four Kim Petras team-ups that run from Charli xcx’s ‘Pop 2’ to 2026 album preview ‘Jeep’.

    27 Sept 2026 • 11:10 am
    Sam Smith and Normani’s ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ copyright case has been sent to trial
    News

    Sam Smith and Normani’s ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ copyright case has been sent to trial

    A federal judge has denied Sam Smith and Normani’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging their 2019 hit copied a 2015 song’s hook.

    23 Sept 2026 • 11:04 pm
    What Sam Smith’s ‘In The Lonely Hour’ tenth-anniversary edition adds to their breakthrough album
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    What Sam Smith’s ‘In The Lonely Hour’ tenth-anniversary edition adds to their breakthrough album

    Released in 2024, Sam Smith’s expanded debut adds the previously unreleased ‘Little Sailor’, live performances and collaborations to the record’s original 10 songs.

    17 Sept 2026 • 9:10 am