Little Black Sandals

This song brings so much emotion to me. It reminds me of a relationship that I currently got out of. He was extremely addicted to drugs. No matter how much I tried to leave him I could never see it through. One day I finally did it. I don't know how I found the strength, and that's what is so symbolic about the black sandals. She hoped that the little black sandals were going in the right direction and she mentions that she's happy she has brains down there. I think it was obviously difficult for her to find the strength that she almost doesn't know where it came from, putting the blame on the little black sandals. A huge part of her still wants to be with him, just as a huge part of me is also tempted to be in my old relationship. But there's something that is keeping me from it knowing it's wrong (the little black sandals). This song is so amazing and I can't believe there weren't more comments.

I keep being facinated by her lyrics, they are all sooo emotional and so deep and have such power. Everyone here is right, this is about a relationship, it could be about any type of relationship, between two people and one of them is abusive, it could be about drugs-it most likely is- ,it could be about a friend thats involved in bad stuff and you get dragged down by it and end up trying bad stuff too. But I think this song is most likely talking about drugs because of the line that says " He's crushing my knuckles/ Splitting my skin, he says he'll let go If only I'd ask it of him " .Like banditqueen said, the "splitting my skin" part could be a reference to heroin or some other drug. But I also think it's refering to drugs because of the part that says "he says he'll let me go if only I'd ask it of him" and "Sometimes I'm tempted/ I would be lying if I said I didnt miss that giant man/ He was the line between pleasure and pain". It's basically saying that If only she had the strenght to say Enough then the "big giant man" (the drugs) would "let her go". And "He was the line between pleasure and pain" it's saying that the drugs gave her pleasure when she was in pain by making her forget about it and if she didnt take them she was gonna have to just face the pain. But it's obviuosly worst to take the drugs cuz thats much more destructive than the pain, even if the pain is really hard to bear, the drugs are just destroying her. And yeah, "Sometimes she's tempted" but thankfully she's become strong enough not to go back to that. "But me and my feet have some years to reclaim" Amazing lyrics.

This song is so beautiful and full of soul. It's really just gorgeous. It sounds as if she's finally found the strentgh to leave a truly abusive situation. Even though she's been hurt, she's in the state where part of her does want to go back, but now she has the ability to fight that urge and free herself from all the pain and trouble of the relationship. Now she can start to rebuild herself.

i don't know that it's necessarily about a romantic relationship. i think it could also be taken as a relationship with god, one that has fallen apart. i felt the same way when i fell out of the christian faith -- sometimes i wanted to go back to that blind faith, blind ignorance, just because it was comforting. but i also feel like i lost some time while i was a christian. anyway, that's just what i got out of it.

I took the song to mean that she is breaking free from an addiction of some sort as there are many in life. The man is symbolic of the addiction and her constant battle in choosing between denial and reality. As she finally breaks free, there are still times when she is tempted to go back to her old ways. As she struggles with the thought of a relapse she holds on tight to her new life of freedom from the pain.

i'm projecting onto this song and thinking that it's about her strained relationship with her father/paternal relationship. just sayin'.

Definitely about finally finding the strength to walk away from someone who is bad for you. I love it, so positive. I love the line "Thank you feet, for guiding me; I'm glad somehow I got brains down there, at least". Brilliant.

this song is all about freedom and strenght to listen to your heart and obey it. i think it is about escaping a relationship where the "giant man" has an emotional hold over her, they both know that she wants to go but he just wont let her. so he uses mind games to keep her by his side. once someone gets inside your head it is so hard to get them out it takes a lot of emotional strenght. i think that she sometimes wants to go back because she is so used to the routine she doesn't know what to do with the freedom. i think the sandals symbolise that she is lost and she doesn't know which way to go, they are kind of like her emotional compass trying to guide her in the right direction.

Like most of you have said...i think this song is about her gettin away from something. Be it drugs or a relationship...that part can go many ways, but whatevss it is..its isnt good and she knows she has to get away. And some how she find the strength to break free from it and walk away. I love this song....it has so much strength in the words. It reminds me of my girlfriend. Before me she was in a abusive relationship with her daughter's father and one day she couldnt take it anymore and she found the strength to leave. and every time i hear this son it reminds me of her especially at the end when her and the little girl are singing together...... Such a beautiful song!!

I think that this song could be about both a bad relationship and drugs, as many of you have written. But I think that Sia was thinking about drugs when she wrote this. The line "Splitting my skin" could be a heroin reference. Also "You wanna fly, You wanna fall" is most likely a drug reference. Sia became addicted to drugs when her boyfriend died so a lot of her songs is about drugs.