text: what does "getting burned in a three way script" mean? gordon lightfoot says it in this song "if you could read my mind". getting burned means someone took advantage of you or got over on you. something that stings really bad. a three way script usually means two men(or women) and one woman (or man). one of them is going to be left out, he or she is going to get burned. in the song, she has moved on, and he doesn't know why.