MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
Chandelier (Sia)
click image to open video page
3:51
Video page URL
https://multimedia-english.com/videos/music/chandelier-sia-5504
Description

Self-destruction? a constant high-wire act to keep one's own sanity? on the verge of hysteria? a brutally honest tale of substance abuse?

Transcript

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 1,2,3 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

And 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
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

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


And 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
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
No, I'm just holding on for tonight
On for tonight
On for tonight
Cause I'm just holding on for tonight
Cause I'm just holding on for tonight
No, I'm just holding on for tonight
On for tonight
On for tonight

Explanations

PARTY GIRLS= 'A party girl 'has several levels of meaning. First, it means a girl who has a very busy social life or more often, one whose only interest in life is parties or having fun, somebody who has no serious interests and no 'real' job. It can often mean or imply a girl who drinks too much, uses drugs and sleeps around (sexually promiscuous).


DON'T GET HURT= Don't be injured.


PUSH IT DOWN= (push someone or something down) To force someone or something downward, cause to fall down by pushing.


FOR A GOOD TIME CALL= For having sex. The party girl is not loved, she is like an object, almost a call-girl.


PHONE'S BLOWIN' UP= Your phone is blowing up when you receice numerous phone calls in a short period of time.


1,2,3,1,2,3, DRINK= Sia begins the song with almost a dubious invincibility. The alcohol shield-barrier makes the party girl immune to feeling anything real… or at least until it wears off. She tries to forget with "1, 2, 3, drink".


THEY'RE RINGIN'= They are ringing.


DOORBELL= A bell, chime, or buzzer outside a door that is rung to announce the presence of a visitor or caller.


THROW 'EM BACK= (Throw them back) Return by tossing.


TILL= (Informal) Until.


I'M GONNA= (Informal) I'm going to.


SWING= Oscillate; to move with a relaxed and swaying motion.


CHANDELIER= (from Old French) A branched, decorative lighting fixture that holds a number of bulbs or candles and is suspended from a ceiling. See the picture here. The Chandelier could be a metaphor of life at the top.


I'M GONNA LIVE LIKE TOMORROW DOESN'T EXIST= Interpretation of Horace's Carpe Diem ("Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero" = seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the next day or future); live your life now. 


I'M HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE= (Idiom) To use a lot of effort to keep something. It means, you are holding on to whatever it is, with all the strength of your body (your fingers, hands, and whatever else) because if you let go, your "dear" (precious) life will be in danger of imminent end.


WON'T LOOK DOWN= I will not be in my lower gaze.


KEEP MY GLASS FULL UNTIL MORNING LIGHT= She wants to keep drinking because drinking is a night activity, and she doesn’t want the next day to come. She wants the night to be endless.


WON'T LOOK DOWN, WON'T OPEN MY EYES= The chandelier is swinging so much, she has to hold on tight to it, she’s afraid she doesn’t to look down nor open her eyes. Sia calls for help, because partying too hard can be dangerous for life.


SUN IS UP= The sunrise is here, night is over.


I'M A MESS= I am an emotional wreck. It means the same as to be in a difficult situation or a difficult state of personal matters


GOTTA GET OUT NOW, GOTTA RUN FROM THIS= She probably wakes up with a hangover, everything arounds her make her feel uncomfortable, that’s why she needs to get out and run from the place she woke up to forget what happened.


HERE COMES THE SHAME= Here comes the remorse, the sadness for what I did. Here is the painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of my wrong behaviour.

Meaning

A warning about the pitfalls of a party lifestyle.


The video takes place in three acts: a bedroom with mouldy walls and Sia portraits, a kitchen where the girl talks to herself, and a living room where she "entertains" invisible guests and dances-drinks, to a party that's not there. Halfway to the end, she runs out and desperately knocks on a door that doesn't open for her, so she returns sad to the room of the empty party.


---------------------------------


Most of us have heard of Sia's singing in pop anthem songs such as "Titanium", or "Wild Ones" but none of us have really seen or remembered her face. The Australian singer tends to shy away from media attention and not make an appearance in her music videos, which is exactly what occurred in her new single, " Chandelier". Rather than Sia herself sing in her music video, she chose to have 11-year old Maddie Ziegler perform a beautiful contemporary dance piece to the song. Maddie Ziegler is no stranger to cameras as she is currently a favourite on the hit reality series, Dance Moms. This music video is a delight to watch; it leaves you thinking of the dance, trying to decipher what the message is as well as decoding the symbols. 



In the beginning of the music video you have the young girl wearing a nude leotard with a Sia-like wig and dirty hands. Before her is a dirty, empty apartment but before she enters, she stands on the doorframe like a puppet. She then enters the apartment and starts dancing hysterically around the room, this demonstrates her erratic behaviour as a young party girl.  As she dances the lyrics "one, two, three, drink" are repeated to display the girl to be known as a "good time call" who "can't get hurt". After dancing in the room, the girl enters the kitchen and returns to puppet-like dance moves to represent young Sia being nothing more than a puppet to society. "Sun is up, I'm a mess" the lyrics say as the dancer starts to perform sluggishly, by rubbing her belly, and dancing with lower energy; this represents the shame & humility of being a party girl. After approximately 10 seconds, 'one, two, three, drink" returns and the girl starts dancing widely once more thus, demonstrating that she "drinks away the negative emotions'. Around 2:30 young Sia waves goodbye and runs into the damp & dark hallway and starts to bang on the wall; the hallway seen represents Sia saying goodbye to her current mess of a life and trying to escape, unfortunately the girl returns to the apartment telling the viewers that she was not able to escape. Once back in the apartment, the girl grabs the curtains of a window and once again waves to the viewers & starts using the curtains as if she was strangling herself; this demonstrates Sia trying or considering suicide to escape. Near the end the girl appears to be in front of a wall shaking her finger at the wall as if discipling herself for her choices. Finally, the music video comes to an end as the dancer enters a door frame once more and curtseys three times to the viewers with a creepy grin on her face; the end reinforces that she is just a puppet of sort.



Symbols


(cuurrentnews.blogspot.com.es/2014/05/sias-beautiful-piece-of-art-chandelier.html)