From my point of view, Chandelier portrays an attempt to escape from a broken heart through alcohol. The way Sia sings the lyrics Im gonna swing from the chandelier sounds desperate and hopeful. She wants so badly to not appear broken, but instead glorious and happy. She puts on a show, in hope that the show will truly become her life. However, the love this party girl feels from the people blowing up her phone, taking shots with her, and sleeping with her, will not replace the love that she craves from another person, and ultimately, when the sun comes up, she will have accumulated shame, and an engorged sense of emptiness.
(he/she is gonna hang from the chandelier by the neck and swing back and forth. He/she wants to forget about the next day as if it doesnt exist incase the suicide attempt doesnt work. When he/she dies theyll turn into a bird or an angel and fly off, while hanging the body was hanging there with tears falling from crying.)
(he/she doesnt really have friends so he/she creates fake images of people because he/she is so used to being alone)
Its the moment when we come back down. When we wake up the next morning. When we realize what just happened and the awful decisions we just made. And sometimes were in denial about it. We try to run from it like it never happened, but we know it happened – its shameful. Its humiliating.
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Im gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
(the 1,2,3 part are the handfulls of pills and he/she has to swollow them down with a drink, he/she loses track of the amount of pills or drink he/she has taken)
party girls dont get hurt… Im a party girl (Im a dancer for a strip club)
(Its morning time and he/she is all messed up from the drinking and the pills. They need to get of the mess they are in, but instead they get worse. Here comes the shame is the puking from the drug and acholol abuse.)
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Actually been to this place twice in my life…..and I thank GOD I am not there anymore.
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Phones blowin up, theyre ringin my doorbell
Im gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
Help me, Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I mean being pretty isnt just being sexy! She can be beautiful and lovely with changing her way of thinking!
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame
Help me, Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
pretty girls dun get hurt!!so thats suppose to mean that Sia is not pretty! well, i say she is not pretty too, but not for her looks!!!
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Im gonna live like tomorrow doesnt exist
In the end, its like were holding onto this rope for dear life, but were too afraid to open our eyes and look down because we know well see how bad of a situation weve gotten ourselves into. We feel the shame, the resentment, the self-loathing. So we keep our eyes closed and climb higher up the rope, throw em back, and fly higher into the night, knowing well feel the same way tomorrow, but ignoring the feeling because were in the now – were just holding on for tonight.
(He/she is holding on for dear life hoping that things will change the next day. She/he wont look down as theyre cutting their wrists. They want help, but nothing seems to work so they need to keep their glass full because they think acholol will help them get through the night.)
Help me, Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
No Im Im just holding on for tonight
Its interesting that the content of the song is relatively dark, but the music itself is very upbeat and hopeful. This could symbolize the facade that she puts on. She wants the people around her to think that shes fine, that shes happy. But in reality, she is actually broken.
Its about turning towards destructive outlets to deal, whether its to forget about whats going on, to chase the high, or just to feel something, anything, that lets us know were alive. Yet theres a frenzy when youre circling the rabbit hole, and sometimes the people around associate us with the fun facade they see, an attraction to the energy thats masking what is really happening inside. Even inside, theres something pushing us to keep doing it, though our mind and soul are saying, Stop, when will you learn?
IMHO the meager apartment with the family pics on the wall, the bedroom with the bed, the kitchen with a table, etc was purposefully laid out…probably from the authors past. I detect a cry in her voice and the auther suffered some sort of abuse as a child and that is why a child dancer was selected to awkwardly dance around as she probably did in both reality and in her mind when she was escaping the abuse. She was probably left home alone often and would dance and dance maybe without any music and was left to sing to herself. The awkward faces and gestures are so sad and out of place like a child that has so much pent up inside and no one to tell anything to but then performs and bows repeatedly a frozen face. No chandelier was shown in the video but I feel like she may be integrating sublte meanings into obvious lyrics. For example, I wonder if the drinking was done by her abuser and she fantasized about a chandalier when he was on top of her, she says Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes and gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry. Of course, many children of sexual abuse become very sexual active and seek love anywhere they can find it, often become alcoholics and suffer major depression so those aspects of the lyrics can apply to the mature child as well. I hope I am wrong but sadly it happens way too often and children need to know they should tell someone the first time they are touched. Thats my real opinion.
I heard a theory that its actually about suicide and that the line Im going to swing from the chandelier is a double entendre.
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Maybe thats why Sia refused to sing this song showing her face… To portray the negative aspect of her ways of feeling alive through drinking and partying. She fills a void, being stuck, emptiness, while the girl dances and basically shows the happiness, complete side. J dont know….just a thought
@robertalerI felt the same thing when I heard this song for the first time, before I even payed attention to all of the lyrics. All I heard was I want to swing from the Chandelier and I got chills down my spine. Talk about a song that is dead on.
(in the video I took this as the girl trying to see her imaginary party friends again, but this time she realizes shes standing infront of a mirror which she thought was a door and she cant just drink or take pills or party to hide the pain because shes left in reality. In reality shes just left with all the pain that shes feeling inside.)
Help me, Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
No Im Im just holding on for tonight
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame
And Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
Im gonna live like tomorrow doesnt exist
Sia talks about the devastating feeling of guilt as everything is happening, but the rush of it, the high as were flying through the night – it dries our tears and we keep going until were lost in the moment – like tomorrow doesnt even exist – like we wont have to deal with anything or any consequences, because for now, its only tonight. There is no tomorrow, or at least thats how we feel.
Suppose she sing one of Taylor Swifts Speak Now eras lyric, then she would be a lot prettier than that crappy broad Katy Perry!
Im gonna live like tomorrow doesnt exist
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Im gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
Like it doesnt exist… when you are dancing nobody exist, just you and the music
Im gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
Cant feel anything, when will I learn
And Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
1,2,3, drink…. well, its hard to explain when you dont know the lenguage but when you are talking with someone at the club you sometimes need to forget who you are and become at the person who is in the bar
I think many who have struggled with destructive coping mechanisms such as drugs, alcohol, sex, etc might be with me in what I believe Chandelier means.
I push it down, push it down … at the first you feel strange, then you just dont feel anything
Cant feel anything, when will I learn
Feelings of depression and trying to avoid suicide:
@robertalerTotally agree, but I will add a small twist to your story: the entire night never happened, its all in her mind. A bit of a psycho call if you wish, but the song still makes perfect sense to me; shes struggling with reality the way it is/it should be.
I love this song!! Beautifully sung and written. I believe this is song is a true alcoholics or drug addicts point of mind. Its pretty self explanatory. Its like a reoccurring thing where you do drugs or drink and like youre so happy when your messed up nothing can touch you-but ones in a fog. Then next day feel like s*** . Then you got to do it all over again. Shes escaping living her life shes numbing her pain through alcohol.
No Im Im just holding on for tonight
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Chandelier as written by Sia Furler Jesse Shatkin
Im gonna live like tomorrow doesnt exist
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
And Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
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No Im Im just holding on for tonight
Help me, Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
As Im just holding on for tonight… like if in the moment you are there dancing you dont want to open your eyes because you are imagine the life you want and if you open it you get sad because you know that you spend it more time until you fly away from ther
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Thats a beautifully written interpretation. I agree and can relate to what you are expressing but you did a great job at putting that into words. Thats a gift.
@robertalerThis is so precisely accurate and eloquent, thank you. I would agreeI have learned it is possible to finally get past these demons and find happiness by learning to love yourself and forgive yourself. Now I look back at this aspect of my life with nostalgia and gratitude that I grew from there into something healthier emotionally.
Wow….I mean, whoa. This is Umbrellas effed up, party-girl, black sheep half-sister. She feels pain and guilt but refuses to let that stop her from self medicating with partying and alcohol. Carpe diem until you wake up on the carpet.
dude this is exactly what I thought this song means cuz im I am going through this same exact thing right now in my life and this song like describes my life right now . . .
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Cant feel anything, when will I learn
I believe this song is actually about the battle we go through every day.
And Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
Swinging from the chandelier could mean having a good time, nothing holding her down. But it could also be suicide, literally swinging from the chandelier. Sia has had a history with depression and contemplating suicide.
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Cause Im just holding on for tonight (the most repeated phrase in the song).
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Im gonna live like tomorrow doesnt exist
Its like YOLO gone wrong, and youre so far down that path you cant just drastically turn back. Especially when you LIKE it. Its a bitter, endless cycle.
@mellanie55I was wondering the same thing.
And the music itself, if you listen just to how it sounds, you take it at face value, a quick glance at the surface, you could very easily misinterpret it. But if you pay attention, stop and listen, you realize that something is wrong. And if youre willing to investigate, youll find so many broken pieces.
Keep my glass full until morning light, cause Im just holding on for tonight
Wow I love this song and what a great interpretation! Thank you for sharing. If you are still coping with these demons, please seek help. Celebrate Recovery is an amazing program that helps people heal their hurts, habits and hang-ups. I dont mean to infringe on your personal territory, but I was getting a nudge to reach out. If you are ok then disregard. Peace.
(she/he is trying to push down the depression and stay above it to try and have a good time by maybe turning up music full blast or partying)
The internal battle between our self and that little goblin. The battle between our self and that little goblin which just insists on covering everything in BBQ sauce, regardless of what it is you are actually eating.
Phones blowin up, theyre ringin my doorbell
Im gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
And Im holding on for dear life, wont look down wont open my eyes
@robertalerI completely agree with this analysis of the song. I think the meaning of the song is clear and Sia define toy enhances that with her vocals that sound so desperate and pleading.