What does Chandelier mean?

Sia: Chandelier Meaning

Album cover for Chandelier album cover

Song Released: 2014


Get "Chandelier" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

Chandelier Lyrics

Party girls don't get hurt
Can't feel anything, when will I learn
I push it down, push it down

I'm the one "for a good time call"
Phone's blowin' up, they're ringin' my doorbell
I feel the love, feel the love

1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
1,2,3...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    bilodeaume
    click a star to vote
    Nov 18th 2014 !⃝

    Swinging from the chandelier is a well known and long established metaphor for partying to excess. Although I think the song is autobiographical and Sia had once contemplated suicide, I don't think suicide is the intended meaning. It is about the emptiness and pain that accompanies alcoholism and substance abuse. "Party girls don't get hurt" and "can't feel anything" because they "push down" the pain. Drinking provides an escape, but in the "morning light" one wakes to the reality of an empty life. The "feeling the love" is just an illusion because the party friends are only good time friends and there are no meaningful relationships when all your friends have the same addiction problems. In the morning light, the realization that one is trapped in this endless cycle causes shame. If you keep your glass full and don't look down, you can, at least for the night, avoid the painful truth. Sia chooses a child for the video to represent her fragile inner child and the dilapidated surroundings reflect the desperate and bleak mental state of her mind. The forced smiles and the curtsies at the end are the personae that she presents to the world. It is a never ending dance going between the manic and depressive states.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 30th 2016 !⃝

    In this song Sia starts off explaining how she used drugs to hide the pain. "Party girls don't get hurt, can't feel anything when will I learn, I push it down, push it down." Then she states that she threw parties to hope the partying and drinking would make her feel better and so she can feel that bit of appreciation for her throwing a party and try to make herself feel like they actually care. "I'm the one for a good time call, phones blowing up, ringing my doorbell, I feel the love, feel the love." Then she explains how she chugs drink after drink after drink until she's so drunk she can't even remember her last drink. "1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, throw'em back till I lose count." Then she explains how she parties so much and parties like there is no tomorrow and that she gets so high to hide the pain that she's like a bird flying in the dark lonely night and then parties even more. "I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier. I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist, like it doesn't exist. I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry. I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier." Next she says she knows she is in such bad condition and so drunk that she knows she is close to death so she won't look down into the dark abyss of death but she's so addicted to drugs she still won't open her eyes to see all the issues she has and that she needs to stop, and that her addiction is so bad and she is so scared that she thinks that if she keeps her glass full she can finally make it to that morning light and she thinks she can only hold on for that night and that this is a repeated process everyday. "Oh I'm just holding on for dear life, won't look down won't open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, Help me I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down won't open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, on for tonight." Then she says that when the hangover is finally over she sees she has problems and wants to get away from it and that the shame is rising so she just drinks and parties even more to try to hide that shame even though she ends up in the same depressed state. "Sun is up I'm a mess gotta get out now gotta run from this here comes the shame, here comes the shame. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink, throw'em back till I lose count. I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier. I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist, like it doesn't exist. I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry. I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier. Oh I'm just holding on for dear life, won't look down won't open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, Help me I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down won't open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, on for tonight, on for tonight, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, oh I'm just holding on for tonight, help me I'm holding on for tonight, on for tonight, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, cause I'm just holding on for tonight, oh I'm just holding on for tonight, on for tonight, on for tonight."

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    smileheidiluvsu
    click a star to vote
    Nov 15th 2014 !⃝

    It's someone using alcohol to numb the pain. "Party girls don't get hurt," gear yourself up, be the life of the party. She does what she needs in order to stay out and not be alone. Then she wakes up, regret from what she did last night. The pain begins to creep up and you need to numb it again. So it starts again, "1,2,3, drink."

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 18th 2020 !⃝

    I listened to the song just now. The more I think about it, the more I realize that it was a suicide song. And no, I don’t think that because she is literally hanging from the chandelier. She is explaining how empty and numb she feels and how she tries to disguise these feelings by partying. She is desperate for love of any kind, even if it isn’t genuine. She is ashamed of who she has become, but she can’t escape her life. This is why she contemplated suicide. She drinks with out a care in the world. She doesn’t care wether she lives or dies. She hopes that partying will make her feel happier, but it just makes her feel terrible and ashamed.

  5. anonymous
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    Aug 8th 2019 !⃝

    I think the song's a good one,got a lot from it's interpretation, it's one song I don't get tired of listening to,it reveals her helpless addition to drugs and alcoholism

  6. anonymous
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    Feb 12th 2018 !⃝

    I think this is a song about her bout of alcoholism, drug taking and depression she fell into after her boyfriend was killed in a car crash.

    She said as much that at the time she was unable to feel anything; she could logically process emotions but was unable to feel them.

  7. anonymous
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    Jan 17th 2018 !⃝

    My thought is this song is about people with bipolar disorder.

  8. anonymous
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    Dec 1st 2017 !⃝

    Well This song is about Drugs and getting high like a Airplane she Wants to commit suicide because of her Drugs Addiction and On I'm in here Actually It has some Meaning on chandelier too the Sadness and Awareness i see that Sia needs to find a Life before... She has a really High Life Before on I'm in here is Like #ineedhelp #cryingfothelp but on chandelier #GettingHigh #SuicideME #CryingNow

    But I think She Can Deal On here Own Problem.

    -WilliamMG

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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    Oct 9th 2017 !⃝

    It’s about sex and suicide

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. anonymous
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    Jul 22nd 2017 !⃝

    It touches everyone differently... she gave a voice to me, my past and that is why every time I hear this song I become raw inside ... It literally releases all the emotion in 3+minutes and all I can say to her, I guess, is thank you ❤

  11. anonymous
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    Jun 9th 2017 !⃝

    The song is about sadness and pain. Sia might be talking of her life as a whole, growing up in a family of alcohol and drugs. She is craving for happiness.
    The words repeat themselves.
    I LOVE THE SONG. I don't GET tired OF PLAYING IT.

  12. anonymous
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    Mar 14th 2017 !⃝

    I think it's all about pain & hurt & alcoholism but look closely at the video the dancer Mackzie Ziegler was pointing down and it looked alot like she was yelling at a younger child witch could interp that it was her and maybe her and her parents.But i do not think it's intended sucide she said swing not hang. So she says party girls don't get hurt witch could intend she knows that not true. But why was there a younger girl dancing in the video because it could show that as a child growing up her family where alcoholics. At the end fake smiles and curtses witch means trying to not show the pain. So this all comes down to a child who us abuse her family is alcoholics and she trys to hide the pain know the wired dancing could intend how she dancing at a party or it could be away of entertaining herslef as she is alone in the house

  13. anonymous
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    Mar 12th 2017 !⃝

    Alcoholism

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 8th 2017 !⃝

    Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (born 18 December 1975), referred to mononymously as Sia (/ˈsiːə/), is an Australian singer, songwriter, record producer and video music director. She started her career as a singer in the local Adelaide acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she released her debut studio album titled OnlySee in Australia. She then moved to London, England, and provided lead vocals for the British duo Zero 7.

    In 2000, Sia signed to Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool and released her second studio album, Healing Is Difficult, the following year. Displeased with the promotion of the record, she signed to Go! Beat and released her third studio album, Colour the Small One, in 2004. The project struggled to connect with a mainstream audience, and so Sia relocated to New York City in 2005 and began touring across the United States. She released her fourth and fifth studio releases, Some People Have Real Problems and We Are Born, in 2008 and 2010, respectively. She then took a hiatus from performing, during which she focused on songwriting for other artists. Her catalogue includes the successful collaborations "Titanium" (with David Guetta), "Diamonds" (with Rihanna) and "Wild Ones" (with Flo Rida).

    In 2014, Sia released her sixth studio album 1000 Forms of Fear, which debuted at No 1 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and generated the top-ten breakthrough single "Chandelier" and a trilogy of music videos starring child dancer Maddie Ziegler. In 2016, she released her seventh studio album This Is Acting, which spawned her first Hot 100 number one single, "Cheap Thrills". The same year, Sia gave her Nostalgic for the Present Tour, which incorporated performance art elements. Sia has received an array of accolades, including ARIA Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.[1]

  15. anonymous
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    Mar 6th 2017 !⃝

    I feel like you are all wrong. This and most of her songs are talking about a older man who abused her, Or multiple men she is the "one" for a good time call. And she has been with multiple men so she trusts no one. That's why she has an elastic heart.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  16. anonymous
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    Feb 19th 2017 !⃝

    I think Chandelier is clearly about a girl who's parents were severe druggies. The girl partied every night, hence the lyric "party girl" and got drunk so much that she didn't even remember how many drinks she had. She clearly feels shame and repeats the same thing every day to escape the shame.

  17. anonymous
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    Jan 3rd 2017 !⃝

    I have a chandelier in my apartment and i literally tried to swing from it to see if the hook is strong enough to carry my weight. Surprisingly it was.

    Reminded me of the song, though i don't think that it refers to that. One could have such suicidal idea when you are thinking of a way out and there's no hook to put a rope on. Songs have hooks and eventually she got out with her writing.

    Maybe i have too much time on my hands.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 10th 2016 !⃝

    Thanks for the meaning of this lyrics

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