Singer-songwriter Sia Furler unveiled the music video for her new single "Chandelier" on Tuesday, and like the song, it's pretty damn good . People have been stupidly asleep since "Chandelier" was released for almost two months, but it's still one of the best songs released so far in 2014! Now, "Chandelier" has become one of the most eye-catching music videos of the year.
Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill (who also directed the visuals for Sia's "Breathe Me"), the music video for "Chandelier" has only one speed: manic. Viewers watch as a young girl wearing a flesh-colored leotard and a seriously white-blonde wig dances wildly through the rooms of a severely run-down apartment. In the opening shot of the video, the girl is motionless, her body dangling gingerly from her bedroom doorframe.
At first I thought, is that Sia? She is so small! No, of course not Shia. This is Maddie Ziegler from the reality show Dance Moms . This doesn't mean much to me, but maybe it will to you - I'm basically a grandma when it comes to reality TV. Probably the last serious reality show I watched was Joe Millionaire on Fox in 2003. Ah, the memories. But back to "Chandelier."
At first, I was a little bummed that Sia herself wouldn't be in the video, but my disappointment faded as I quickly became mesmerized by Ziegler's bizarre dancing. After jumping, spinning and cartwheeling around the bedroom, Ziegler walked into the kitchen and ended up in the living room. From beginning to end, she never stopped . I imagine at least part of the movement was choreographed, but a lot of the time, it felt like she was just making it up as she went along - which is awesome. As the song ended, Ziegler stood in the open doorway of his apartment, curtsying repeatedly and a maniacal smile on his face. Wow. It's a gruesome image, but also a powerful one. It's like she's saying: "Come in if you dare."
In "Chandelier," Sia sings about a wild party girl who spends her nights swinging from a chandelier but is paralyzed by intense feelings of guilt and shame in the mornings. The woman in "Chandelier" surrounds herself with false friends who don't really care about her. She was self-medicating with alcohol. She was out of control. Of course, I can't say for sure that "Chandelier" is autobiographical, but Sia opens up about her past struggles with alcohol and drugs. (Interestingly, there is a portrait of Sia hanging on the wall of the bedroom in the video.)
To me, the apartment represents the narrator's mind—troubled, neglected, cluttered. Ziegler's frenetic dance moves and endless childlike energy perfectly embody the storyteller's reckless abandon in life. The video is an exciting, surprisingly captivating visual depiction of addiction and even depression. Thanks Sia for suddenly releasing one of the best music videos of the year!
Watch the “Chandelier” music video below. If you like what you hear (and see), please consider supporting Sia by purchasing "Chandelier" on iTunes. Sia's new album 1000 Forms of Fear will be released this summer.
