Songfacts®:

• Kacey Musgraves penned this song about appreciating the smaller and finer aspects of life while sitting on her porch one summer night in 2017.
  
  I'm alright with a slow burn
  Taking my time, let the world turn
  I'm gonna do it my way, it'll be alright
  If we burn it down and it takes all night
  It's a slow burn, yeah
  
  Having found love with her husband Ruston Kelly, Musgraves is content to live her life at a slower pace than in her younger days. Unfortunately, that love didn't last: the couple divorced in 2020.
• Musgraves told The Boot she "might have been in a little bit of an altered state," as she was sitting on her porch that summer's evening, but she "had a little bit of an open mind and open heart," when the words "slow burn" came to her.
  
  Musgraves thought to herself, "The best things in life are a slow burn - something you enjoy the journey of." She concluded that nothing needs to be a race to get to the end, instead she's happy just to enjoy "the ride along the way."
  
  The singer added there's plenty in her life she can apply this "slow burn" philosophy towards: her career, relationships, friendships, "even in the drink in my hand - enjoy it, don't knock it back."
• Musgraves has referred to this as one of her most autobiographical songs. She starts it off by referencing how she was born six weeks early and under five pounds.
  
  Born in a hurry, always late
  Haven't been early since '88
  
  "I am definitely poking a little bit of fun at myself, because I was born a month early, and I struggle with having a little bit of a time management issue sometimes," Musgraves said. "So it's me poking fun at myself in little ways."
• This was a pretty obvious song choice for Musgraves when she appeared on Willie Nelson's "Come And Toke It" live stream on April 20, 2020. The virtual concert raised funds for the Last Prisoner Project, which support those who have been jailed for low-level marijuana offenses.
• Musgraves partnered with Boy Smells to release a scented "Slow Burn" candle that "captures the smells and visual vibrancy that one hears in the song."