Burn Down the Malls-- Mojo Nixon
Burning House of Love-- X
Norwegian Wood by the Beatles. I know there’s some debate about this, but I’ve always been quite certain that he burns her house down.
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me
She showed me her room, isn’t it good, Norwegian wood?
…
…
And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown
So I lit a fire, isn’t it good, Norwegian wood??
Two from Harry Chapin:
“What Made America Famous” includes “hippies and some welfare cases” living in a “tinder box trap” that eventually catches fire. I love Chapin, but I find this song to be pretty heavy handed, even by his standards. Still, the depiction of the fire is pretty good.
The second is a little off topic. “Burning Herself” is about a woman who burns herself with cigarettes because the pain is “easier to take than the emptiness of life.”
Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
ETA: It’s a protest song about giving Native Australians their land back. There’s nothing literally burning, so I’m okay withdrawing it.
How about a seasonal recommendation?
Chaston Groditski - We Burned the Christmas Tree
‘Girls in Their Summer Clothes’ - Bruce Springsteen
A breeze crosses the porch
Bicycle spokes spin 'round
Jacket’s on, I’m out the door
Tonight I’m gonna burn this town down
“Firewoman” by The Cult:
My heart’s a ball of burnin’ flame.
Billy Ray Cyrus Burn Down the Trailer Park
Some nerdcore for you: MC Lars Hot Girls Make Guys Do Really Stupid Things:
“They burned down Troy to get you back
Young thing, beauty queen, baby got back!”
Then there’s Warren Zevon: I Was In The House When The House Burned Down (title is it)
Tom Waits, Franks Wild Years.
MC 900ft Jesus, The City Sleeps
Bob Marley, Talking Blues (it looks like I was wrong on this one, Bombing not Burning)
Steve Earle - Burnin’ it Down
I’m thinkin’ about burnin’ it down, boys
Thinkin’ about burnin’ it down
Nothing’s ever gonna be the same in this town
I’m thinkin’ about burnin’ the Walmart down
Dokken Paris is burning
Jackson Browne, Rock Me on the Water, “While your walls are burning, and your towers are turning…”
Neil Young, Don’t Let It Bring You Down, “It’s only castles burning”
Slave driver, the table is turned.
Catch a fire, you gonna get burned.
—The Wailers