Hearts Without Chains

Album: Halcyon Days (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • Goulding penned this breathless ballad with songwriter Fraser T Smith, who also co-penned Adele's hit single "Set Fire to the Rain." Smith was also responsible for producing UK chart-toppers for Tinchy Stryder ("Never Leave You," "Number 1"), Pixie Lott ("Boys and Girls") and Taio Cruz ("Break Your Heart").
  • This piano-backed ballad finds Goulding crooning about the misery of a long distance relationship. Her lover (most likely American electronic musician Skrillex) is about to fly away to New York and the misery she feels is "weightless as a stone." "It's my favorite song of the batch," she told Rolling Stone. "It has a folky English quality to it. Plus, it's quite nice to listen to and not be in the state I was when I wrote it."

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