Meaning of “Chandelier” by Sia

The lyrics of Sia’s “Chandelier” are about a party girls’ love for living life to the fullest. She loves the attention being a party girl gives her despite the fact that it’s fleeting and not genuine. She knows she’s the one for the good time. The one people call on only for fun. Swinging from a chandelier has always been one way of describing a life of excessive partying and that’s what she is doing.

But despite the thrill, she admits that her life is not all excitement and joy. It’s also about pain, tears and holding on to life any way possible. Sia insinuates that whenever she tries to drown her pain, it barely works and she should have learnt by now but no. She keeps trying. In so doing, she tries to drown her pain in a bottle and keep living like there’s no tomorrow. She drinks until she loses count and can’t feel anything but that barely stops her.

Furthermore, she makes it clear that all the effort is for the night. She’s just trying to hold on to her life for the night. At least when she keeps drinking, she won’t have to face the night or her challenges.

The second verse brings us to the realization that, running and drowning herself in a bottle doesn’t stop the sun from coming up. Neither does it stop reality from hitting her nor her from facing her shame for the mess she’s turned her life into.

All in all, “Chandelier” is like an autobiography considering how challenging Sia’s life had been around the time the song had been written. It’s common knowledge that Sia once battled intensely with addictions to drugs and alcohol.