Verse 1
Palm trees shivering where the fireplace used to be
Soft focus on a Polaroid I just found of me and you
Sweater's still in the closet with a button that won't stay
I'm not supposed to touch things that were left behind today
Your grandmother kept saying 'hold it close, don't let it fade
But this whole town got quieter after you walked away
Pre-Chorus
Is this what they mean by bittersweet?
A warmth still moving where your shadow used to be
Chorus
Fireplace flicker on a winter's day
Every glow I'm holding turned to gray
Holding onto something that went warm and bright
Still warm, but it don't feel right
So the fireplace keeps burning, night after night
Trying to keep your heat from slipping out of sight
Verse 2
Snowflakes falling soft where we used to dance in the rain
I find a photograph with me smiling on a different page
The coffee machine still rings when I turn it low
And I'm not sure if this memory belongs to now or then I know
Your mother keeps saying 'don't be a stranger here
But nothing about it feels quite the same as we used to hear
Pre-Chorus
Is this what they mean by bittersweet?
A warmth still moving where your shadow used to be
Chorus
Fireplace flicker on a winter's day
Every glow I'm holding turned to gray
Holding onto something that went warm and bright
Still warm, but it don't feel right
So the fireplace keeps burning, night after night
Trying to keep your heat from slipping out of sight
Bridge
Some of these things are just not meant to stay
This light inside me knows I'm still okay
I'll hold this feeling until the flame runs low
And maybe it don't burn the way we thought it would glow
Maybe that's okay because when it starts to fade
I found a love inside me that the winter days couldn't shade
Chorus
Fireplace flicker on a winter's day
Every glow I'm holding turned to gray
Holding onto something that went warm and bright
Still warm, but it don't feel right
So the fireplace keeps burning, night after night
Trying to keep your heat from slipping out of sight