Orchid / Flame is Hannah Bahng’s two-part single, released August 15, 2025, about over-giving in love in Orchid and the irresistible pull toward danger in Flame.
Hannah Bahng frames love as care that damages and a spark she can’t stop touching.
Orchid / Flame is small on paper and loud in the body, the kind of two-part confession that starts as a whisper and ends in a run.
She calls the first half Orchid, the second Flame, and you hear exactly why the moment the metaphors start breathing.
It arrived on August 15, 2025 as a standalone single ahead of her independent project The Misunderstood EP, with a self-directed video that keeps its focus on gesture and aftermath rather than plot.
Piano and strings set the room, the camera lingers, and time stretches just enough for you to notice what’s already broken.
The writing credit belongs to Hannah. Production is split between her and Andrew Luce, with Jon Castelli on mix and Dale Becker on mastering.
That chain explains a lot about the close-miked vocal and the way the low end stays transparent even when the second movement starts pushing forward.
What Orchid / Flame is about feels almost embarrassingly plain when written out; the song trusts blunt truth over ornament.
The early line “I gave you too much water” sketches a relationship as a plant you tended into ruin, and the chorus tightens the knot: “I love more than I am loved.”
Those are not clever twists or cryptic riddles. They’re the statements you only say when you’ve finally stopped pretending.
The arrangement doubles down on that directness. Strings feel less like decoration and more like a breath that holds.
Press coverage around the EP cycle notes that Hannah scored the cello parts herself, which matches how the harmony behaves here: it lifts without crowding, and it keeps space for air noises and small consonants that carry hurt better than any belt.
Then the tempo inside the song shifts. You feel it first as a pulse in the chest, then as a literal sprint in the lyric: “I’m running to your flame.”
The writing stops teasing ambiguity and leans into compulsion with a question that stings for anyone navigating art and attention: “Was it the fame, or was it the light?”
That run is the second movement’s engine. Where Orchid chokes on care, Flame circles the lure with a mantra that keeps changing shape.
The vocal narrows, consonants clip, the piano starts to feel like footfalls.
It’s not about big drums, it’s about the hypnosis of repetition and the way wanting becomes a loop you can’t exit.
The video mirrors it with an image that carries more weight than any plot summary.
She places the flower, she doubles back, she lets the room breathe. None of it is theatrically loud, which is why the after-image sticks.
Fans are already arguing about the quiet. One Reddit thread shrugged it off as “bland,” asking for a hook that pops louder, while other pockets praised the way the second half worms into your head without shouting for it.
The divide is useful. Songs like this aren’t built to win a thirty-second audition on loudness.
They test patience and reward repeat plays where the smallest choices become the only ones you remember.
What makes the words kick is how little she decorates them. The quotes you carry out are short and heavy.
“I gave you too much water.” “I love more than I am loved.” “I’m running to your flame.” “Was it the fame, or was it the light?”
Each one is a window you can crawl through if you’ve ever stayed in something because leaving meant admitting you were the one who kept the fire going.
Zoom out and the single still fits the through-line she has been sketching since perfect blues and OLeander, where botany and burn keep showing up like recurring dreams.
This time the images pair themselves, care versus compulsion, gift versus gravity.
That pairing also works as a prelude to how The Misunderstood EP has been positioned in early notes: a record circling the gap between what you meant and what they took.
The date is fixed for September 12, and the tour calendar tied to it suggests she wants to test these songs in rooms where breath and silence can carry their own volume.
The most interesting reading might be the simplest: “Orchid / Flame” is a test of what happens when a songwriter refuses to over-argue her case.
You get two images, four lines that cut, and a structure that says the quiet part for you.
If you’re already invested in Hannah Bahng’s world, this sits comfortably next to Sweet Satin Boy.
If you’re new, it functions as an open door that doesn’t try too hard to impress you before you’ve decided to stay.
It stands up to repeat plays, which is what songs like this are built for.
The last thing worth saying is the one the song keeps circling without spelling out.
If caring can drown a flower and a flame can still pull you back after the burn, which part are you choosing next time, and will you notice when the choice flips from love to habit.
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hannah bahng Orchid / Flame Lyrics
Verse
I gave you too much water
Too much that you drowned
When I had asked you later
You shut me out and frowned
Chorus
And I love more than I am loved
But the love between there’s not enough
‘Cause I was an experience
But you were my everything and more
And I love more than I am loved
But the love between there’s not enough
‘Cause I was an experience
But you werе my everything and more
Post-Chorus
You wеre my everything and more
You were my everything and more
You were my everything and more
Everything and more
Verse
I’m running, I’m running
I’m running to your flame
I’m running. I’m running
I’m running, I can’t escape
Pre-Chorus
Was it the fame, or was it the light?
Once it came, hasn’t left despite, left despite
How it was tamed ’til I tried to fight
They said you’re the the same but I need the light
Need the light
Chorus
I’m running to your flame
I’m running, I can’t escape
I’m running, I’m not the same
I’m running and I’m addicted to your flame
I’m running to your flame
I’m running, I can’t escape
I’m running, I’m not the same
I’m running and I’m addicted to your flame
Outro
Ah
Ah
