Sia- Chandelier ( 1000 Forms of Fear)
This is TRUE ART!!!
Amazing message, voice, song and video!!! In my opinion, this video is a symbolic one. And this is ART.
1000 Forms of Fear is the name of the album – fear is the biggest enemy of the human being and fear can hide itself beyond the normal behavior, or in an apparently normal behavior.
Of course, nowadays, most people concentrate in seeing things on the surface, and what is obvious.
At the beginning, body is freezing, suspended in the door frame, as it was numbed – not having negative feelings, ugly parts of life. Sia’ s portrait is hanging in one of the rooms… We see the image of an untidy, disordered house. This is an insane image.
Empty rooms – you are alone, just with your feelings, your fears (1000 forms of fear), with everything you feel and can be overwhelming at that moment, so, you ‘push it down’.
Sia is a deep soul and I think the video clip was very well organized… This is ART. And ART is symbolic.
The lyrics seem to say it would be about alcoholism, but in fact, I think, this is a metaphor for addiction, for any kind of addiction.
My perception about all the content (music, lyrics, image, movement etc) is a symbolic, a metaphoric image for our 1000 forms fear and for any addiction (alcoholism, drugs, unhappiness).
Addictions (of any kind) are unconscious attempts to cope with negative feelings, or the painful reality, with too strong emotions (especially the shame feeling).
As feelings are so strong and difficult to be managed, the need to hide them and try to control them is stronger, in order to suppress negative emotions.
Here is so much sadness and loneliness, depression I would say, or manic depression, which is transformed into big anger, because depression is an unvoiced angriness.
‘Party girls don’t get hurt’… This is not true, they should smile all the time and entertain others; they must maintain a good atmosphere. Everyone just wants them „for a good time call.” They don’t have ‘ problems’. They fake smiles and are like puppets being controlled by others.
I read on YouTube a lot of comments about this video and about ‘the naked’ girl who dances – Maddie Ziegler – she is amazing!
She is dressed in a leotard costume (nude color, like skin color ) – could be a representation of being emotionally naked… You see the ‘naked’ body, in fact, she is in her ‘naked soul’. Because body is a container of emotions and feelings, so, you don’t see the body. You ‘see’ / FEEL only emotions (if you can feel it). The child is spinning around dramatically searching for help. It could be the inner child within us, the lost, neglected inner child.
I studied movements, the choreography and the space. It seems to be a chaotic, bizarre dance, which seems to be without direction, in order to express the overwhelming feelings and chaos in the mind. It is such a big space there, empty space outside and inside, too. It seems she wants to fill this space with her amplified movement, and to not live such a loneliness and despair, which will be never ending in an empty space.
To expose your emotions, feelings in fact, means to be vulnerable and to be naked. In fact, the power came from accepting this vulnerability. Only a strong person can say I AM WEAK!
Here is such energy and intense movement. The house is empty, only a few portraits and drawings on the walls… all doors are open: ‘ Come in, if you can!’ Push it down- fears are forced to stay inside, not to be externalized.
I have to run from this, ‘here comes shame’ and the shame feeling is so overwhelming.
Sia’s voice cut the deaf silence of this empty space. I hear the voice as a desperate cry for help: Do you hear me? Are you listening to me? Do you feel me? Her voice breaks the heavy loneliness and inner fears when all this goes out and tries to fill the space around.
A fake smile, a strange, artificial smile a creepy image, isn’t it?
Final movement is robotic, repetitive, ending in a state of stillness. Energy decreased and she is in pending. Would you come into my life to see how it really is? Will you stay here, with me to accept me as I am, with my negative sides?
Why is the song named Chandelier?
The Chandelier is so beautiful, in a room where it is, everyone sees it, there’s not anything hidden. But there’s no chandelier, only an opposite image that highlights and amplify the message. This is about something as fragile as human being having fears, addictions, overwhelming feelings…
Maybe this chandelier is just the fragility of human beings. When it falls, you cannot do anything and I think it’s important to be aware of this.
Sia made the video’s lyrics. Here you do not see the face, the body… you just know she is there, because you recognize her after haircut (and voice). Sia is unique. In fact every person is unique (despite the fact that some people try to copy the others). Actually, what I mean is that Sia is authentic. She does not try to emulate anyone’s style, she has an unique and amazing voice and more than this, she has a very strong message. I don’t think you need to show your tits or ass to be recognized as valuable and authentic artist… you do not need to show, even your face… 🙂
Her Live performances are stunning!
I said at the beginning of my opinion THIS IS ART!
ART has the power of containing paradoxical elements and through ART, people can bring together all elements, in order to integrate experiences and inner conflicts.
Music is LIFE.
Fears, bad or negative feelings are part of life. And for ‘ DEAR LIFE’ we need holding on…
Copyright© Laura- Simona Ciocoiu