Still Burning

🎙️ "STILL BURNING"

Artist: Dorian Voss

Written in response to: "Slow Fuse" by Aria Noelle

Genre: R&B / Soul / Contemporary R&B

Key: B♭ minor

Tempo: 72 BPM

Time Signature: 4/4

Length: 4:08

A&R Pitch: The answer record to end all answer records. She called him a slow fuse. He tells her the truth: he was already burned before she ever touched him. Think Leon Bridges meets Bryson Tiller meets Musiq Soulchild — with a vulnerability that cuts deep.

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🎼 SONG CONCEPT

In "Slow Fuse," Aria Noelle sang about a man who felt safe — someone who took his time, who didn't rush, who let love build slowly. She called him a slow fuse and thanked him for it.

This response flips the narrative.

Dorian reveals that he was never slow because he was careful. He was slow because he was terrified. He had been burned before — badly. The last woman he loved left him in ashes. He didn't take his time with Aria because he was confident; he took his time because he was trying to protect himself from feeling too much, too fast.

The song is a confession. He admits that while she was learning to trust him, he was hiding the fact that he was already falling harder and faster than she knew. He was never a slow fuse.

He was a man trying not to burn alive again.

The title, "Still Burning," carries a double meaning:

1. He's still burning from his past heartbreak.

2. He's still burning for her, even now, even after everything.

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FULL LYRICS

INTRO — 0:00–0:16

(Spoken, vulnerable, over soft Rhodes and distant vinyl crackle)

You called me a slow fuse…

Like I was something safe…

Like I had it all together…

Baby, you don't know the half of it…

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VERSE 1 — 0:16–0:46

I felt you watching me like I was steady ground

Like I was different from the ones who let you down

But baby, I'm not strong, I'm just a man who learned to hide

The fire in my chest, the fear I keep inside

I didn't rush you 'cause I needed time myself

I was scared to touch the flame, scared to lose myself

Every night I held you close and whispered "take it slow"

Was a night I fought a war you'll never know

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PRE-CHORUS — 0:46–1:10

'Cause I've been burned before, I know the pain

I've watched love turn to ashes in the rain

I wasn't being patient, I was being scared

I wasn't being steady, I was unprepared

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CHORUS — 1:10–1:46

You called me a slow fuse, but baby, I'm still burning

From the last time love went wrong and left me learning

I wasn't taking my time 'cause I was in control

I was holding back the fire so I wouldn't lose my soul

You saw patience in my eyes, I was just afraid to move

You saw safety in my arms, I was hiding from the truth

You called me a slow fuse, but baby, I'm still burning

I'm still burning from the last time, and I'm still learning

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VERSE 2 — 1:46–2:16

I remember when she left me, I remember every word

She said "you love too hard, and that's why this hurts"

So I promised myself I'd never let it happen again

Built a wall around my heart and called it self-defense