Black Chandelier

Album: Opposites (2013)
Charted: 14
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Songfacts®:

  • This was the first single to be taken from Biffy Clyro's sixth album, Opposites. It received its exclusive first play on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on November 19, 2012 and was released on January 14, 2013.
  • Lyrically, the song oozes emotional anguish. Vocalist and lyricist Simon Neil told The Sun: "It's almost an anti-love song. It's about being with someone you need to survive. But sometimes you feel as though you don't necessarily want to survive. It's kind of a downbeat look at love and what it demands of you as a person."
  • Simon Neil's wife had a couple of miscarriages and their personal troubles put a huge strain on their marriage, nearly tearing them apart. In this "twisted love song" he sings, "You left my heart like an abandoned car. Old and worn I'm no use at all." The singer explained to NME: "That's where the bitterness came from. But there's also a strength that came out of wanting to fix that."
  • Neil told NME: "It's got quite a lot of space for a song by us and it's one of the simpler songs on the record, but from the first time we played it live it felt right. Sometimes you've just got to trust your instinct."

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