Music Review: Ellie Goulding "Lights"

Ellie Goulding

Lights

Album: Lights

Year: 2011

   Ellie Goulding relies on her boyfriend’s comfort to get her through the day in the mannered “Lights.”

 Sparkling synths open the single, setting a nurturing tone. She has a self-destructive, cynical side to her. When something good begins to happen to her, she will find a way to sabotage it. She doesn’t care about much. Other people haven’t really shown they care for her much, either. She stares at the walls of her bedroom at night, struggling through the numbness to everything around her. It’s weakened her and she doesn’t even have the desire to try anymore. (“I had a way then losing it all on my own/I had a heart then but the queen has been overthrown/And I'm not sleeping now the dark is too hard to beat/And I'm not keeping up the strength I need to push me.”)

       In the chorus, she sees her boyfriend, she relaxes and knows she will be okay again. He gets her to laugh and will stay with her until she feels better. With him there, she can get through what’s bothering her. Even after he leaves, she will be all right for a couple days. He centes her, giving her some peace in her life. (“You show the lights that stop me turn to stone/You shine it when I'm alone/And so I tell myself that I'll be strong/And dreaming when they're gone/'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home/Calling, calling, calling home/You show the lights that stop me turn to stone/You shine it when I'm alone/Home.”)

           Her mind doesn’t ever shut off. She thinks of what she needs to do, what she’s done, and whatever future complications may result in a decision. Her anxiety gives way to panic attacks, causing her not to breathe, scaring her. She remembers when she was younger, living with her family at home. She longs for the simplicity of her childhood again. (“Noises, I play within my head/Touch my own skin and hope that I'm still breathing/And I think back to when my brother and my sister slept/In an unlocked place the only time I feel safe.”)

       The chorus is sung again.

       The sparkling synths get an extended solo.

         In the bridge, she repeats “lights” several times.

           (“Yeah, hee/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights.”) The chorus is sung again.

       The bridge is repeated again to end the single. However, Goulding sings “home” over the word “lights.” (“Home, home/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights/Home, home/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights/Home, home/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights/Home, home/Light, lights, lights, lights/Light, lights, lights, lights.”)

      Goulding’s ragged, hardened vocals sting at the slighest touch. There’s an overabundance of softness in the bridge, provided by a fuzzy beat. It, thrawts her moodiness and snap! It’s instant happiness. At the end, with the additional of the word her sad repeating of “home” over the word “lights” does it actually work.

       The incomplete sentences in the lyrics -- two good lines patched together to make one -- cause her to rush, as though she’s forgot a thought. The “I had a heart but then the queen was overthrown” is an excellent lyric which belongs in a better single.

   The needy “Lights” offers a easy, simple answer for a deeper problem.