Ellie Goulding - Lights Lyrics Meaning

I know this song is old, some of the post are from 2012, it's 2015. I don't care.

The first verse really hit me when I actually listen to them.

"I had a way then losing it all on my own;
I had a heart then but the queen has been overthrown"
As I have read above, the lines are talking about change in her life.

"And I'm not sleeping now, the dark is too hard to beat"
"The dark" here can be seen as a struggle. Even when she said that she was afraid of the dark as a kid, "the dark" can be seen as a struggle of some kind. Further, because she leaves "the dark" as a vague term here, the song can be easily relatable for anyone for any reason.

"And I'm not keeping now the strength I need to push me"
She admits here that she is drained from the struggle. She is losing the fight. She was strong, but "the dark" has outlasted her.

Going back to the first line, "I had a way then losing it all on my own"
Maybe the first verse is a cry for help. However, I don't think the point of the song is this, because the terminology is vague, and it was probably meant to be relatable.

The second verse is harder to understand, not because I'm baffled, but because one line I'm just not sure what she said.
There are three possible things she said according to what i can find on the web:
"In an unknown place the only time I feel safe"
"In an another place the only time I feel safe"
"In an unlocked place the only time I feel safe"
But if you asked me what I thought she said, it sounds the most like "unlocked place" but she said "unlock place" rather.

However, if ether of the first two were are right, then my interpretation doesn't hold.

The whole second verse is about insecurities, and how she has them now, but she didn't have them when she was young.

"Voices I play within my head;
Touch my own skin and hope that I'm still breathing" is an example of her insecurities

"And I think back to when my brother and my sister slept;
In an unlocked place the only time I feel safe" is an example of her reflecting on her childhood when she was in her room at night looking at her siblings with a sense of security.

The chorus is what really trips me out. She says "You show the lights that stop me turn to stone" She is stopped by the lights, like stone. This doesn't sound hopeful.
The next line digs more into the negative "You shine it when I'm alone"
The lights are attacking her, if you will, when she has no one around to comfort her. The lights stopper her when she is vulnerable.
And to top it all off " And so I tell myself that I'll be strong;
And dreaming when they're gone"
She want to persevere. She wants to move on to when the lights are gone. The lights are not a good thing.

If the lights are supposed to comfort her because she is afraid of sleeping in the dark, then these lines don't really imply this.
She is dreaming of when they are gone. Suffering means to wish one was in another place or time, and this fits the bill.

I will admit that the verse do suggest this fear of the dark, but only if you knew that she was afraid of the dark.

Without that bit of knowledge you would think that this song is about something deeper and because the chorus doesn't add up with her fear of the dark, this song's meaning is starting to get deep.

"(the lights are) calling, calling, calling me home"
Maybe this means the lights are invoking a regression in her personal development. If her overcoming the fear of the dark is the case, then it sounds like she wants to move on from the fear.

However, I think this fear if the dark is a ploy. While it can be what the song is about, the terminology is vague, and as I've said before, it is because the song is meant to be universal. While she can say it's about her fear of the dark, someone else could say it is about they fear of losing their house or not providing for the children.

I want to get away from the fear of the dark interpretation. Instead I suggest the song is about the everyday struggles (the dark) of life, how overwhelming they can be, and how these struggle invade your place of security in adulthood.

Moreover, I want to further suggest that the song is also about resisting a presented solution (the lights).

She says "You show the lights that stop me turn to stone" she is being shown the lights.

Because the lights are the opposite of the dark, if the dark is seen as the struggles, then the light is the solution. However, the lights cause her to suffer. The lights mean regression, and this turns into a cycle, not an escape.

No real solution was ever presented in the song. Because of this, the song does come off as very depressing. However, because the song is universal, then the song unites people with their struggles.

I truly think this song is about showing people that they are not alone in the world.

This is what art is about.