Red, Red Wine: Song Analysis

Sia, a recording artist from Australia, recorded the song “Chandelier” in 2014. This is an electro-pop song that tells of a party girl who goes out with people frequently for a drink. However, she doesn’t have one or two drinks, she drinks until she loses control of herself. The girl drinks excessively in order to make her problems go away, similar to the man in the song “Red, Red Wine”. UB40 recorded the pop/soft rock song “Red, Red Wine” in 1968. It explains how a man is heartbroken and it leads to him drinking Red Wine until it makes him feel better or until he forgets. Both of these songs undercut the virtue of hope, because the people that the songs speak of lose hope that they will overcome their hurt and find love somewhere else. Instead, they drink themselves into oblivion so they won’t have to face their problems. Sia uses the excuse of heartbreak and hurt …show more content…
The lyrics read: “I’m gonna fly through the night, feel my tears as they dry.” It is like she wants to fly away from it all and just leave her problems behind. She also says “I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, ‘cause I’m just holding on for tonight”. This is where her hopelessness shows. She is explaining how she has given up and is only going to hold on for so long. It almost seems like she is suicidal. Although he has never been an alcoholic, UB40 sings about alcoholism. “Red, Red Wine” is sung from the perspective of someone who has found out that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his problems. Very much like Sia, UB40’s reason for drinking is because of a heartbreak. However, he doesn’t have the credibility that she has to write about alcoholism because he has never experienced it. That is the difference in the two songs’ ethos. Sia has the credibility to write about alcoholism, but UB40 does