93. Breathe Me – Sia

 Breathe Me is an incredibly confusing song. The meaning of the song is ambiguous at best (however, it is commonly assumed that Sia is singing about being alone and needing someone to be with her), the instrumentation is incredibly beautiful and her voice is perfect for the song. Yet, the thing that confuses me is the how the song has remained relatively unknown throughout the world. The song was released in 2004 on Sia’s second album Colour The Small One, and gained popularity somewhat through the use of the song on the closing of an episode of Six Feet Under. However, this song, and Sia herself, remained relatively unknown until earlier this year and the release of her third album. The song had gained underground fame through the way that so many fans connected with what Sia was saying. However, since the meaning is greatly ambiguous, there is very little chance of finding out exactly what it was those fans connected with.

The song itself has a very ethereal and fragile feel. Sia’s lyrics show a sense of loneliness (the opening lyric of “I have done it again” seems to hark back to a Sylvia Plath poem regarding suicide) and regret. A clever, but quite symbolic aspect to the song, is the opening. The song starts with a very straightforward piano melody which continues until the breath of Sia is heard, signifying the start of the song and adding another element to the mystery of the song’s name. The beauty of her voice and the fragility of voice becomes evident as the song progresses, however, the song reaches its high point at the start of the chorus. The chorus seems to start out with a call for help and asking people to “be my friend”, and continues to project a sense of beauty and despair as it continues. The song does tend to take depressing tones at times, however the overlaying themes of happiness (albeit mixed with depressive lyrics), seem to present a confusingly uplifting message to the listener. However, if you manage to work out what the heck that message is, and if you can somehow work out the enigma that is this song, don’t hesitate to enlighten me.

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