Her debut EP Lights was released in July 2008 and achieved commercial success which enabled the release of her first full-length album, The Listening, on September 22, 2009. Her second album, Siberia, was released on October 4, 2011. Both albums have been certified gold in Canada. Lights released her third studio album, Little Machines, on September 19, 2014, which debuted on the Canadian Albums Chart at number five. Her fourth album, Skin&Earth, which featured "Giants", was released in September 2017, accompanied by a graphic novel of the same name. Her albums won the Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year in 2015 and 2018.
Lights has collaborated with artists including Bring Me the Horizon, Silverstein, Deadmau5, Felix Cartal, i_o, Owl City and Sleepy Tom. Lights signed with Fueled by Ramen in 2019 and released Skin&Earth Acoustic, which included three new songs.
Up We Go
Lights Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We got our heads down
And we pretend it's cause the night is dark
And running out of space
For us to run around
But it's a dead end, and money's tight
And it's been a long time of this
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year with nothing to show
From down this road
It's only on we go, on we go
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year, and I only know
From down this low
It's only up we go, up we go
Let's get on another flight
Maybe set out to sea
Kick it up and shake a fist at it
Cause death is harder to come by
Than it is to breathe
When you gotta make a break for it
'Cause it's been a long time of this
Something is got to give
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year with nothing to show
From down this road
It's only on we go, on we go
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year, and I only know
From down this low
It's only up we go, up we go
Nothing gives easy
Easy gives nothing
I'm just tryin' a keep
Income coming in
Dawn is bound to break
When the night is done
Always darker days before brighter ones
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year with nothing to show
From down this road
It's only on we go, on we go
Everyone here is ready to go
It's been a hard year, and I only know
From down this low
It's only up we go, up we go
In "Up We Go" by Lights, the singer addresses the struggles of life and the need to keep pushing forward despite adversity. The song starts with "Here in a familiar place, we got our heads down," indicating that they are stuck in a rut, and they can't seem to find a way out. They pretend that it's because of the dark night sky and the lack of space around them, but they know that they are actually at a dead end and facing financial difficulties.
The line "Something has got to give" is repeated throughout the song, showing that the singer is aware that something in their life needs to change, and they can't continue on this path. The chorus brings in a hopeful tone, stating that "It's only up we go," and everyone is ready to leave their struggles behind and move forward. They talk about traveling and setting out to sea, running from their problems but knowing that they need to make a break for it.
The bridge emphasizes the difficulty of finding a way out of the struggles, stating that "Nothing gives easy, easy gives nothing," but also brings in the idea that brighter days are ahead. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the need to keep moving forward and the hope that things will get better.
Line by Line Meaning
Here in a familiar place
We are in a place we know well
We got our heads down
We are not looking up, we feel down
And we pretend it's cause the night is dark
We are trying to justify our feelings by using the night as an excuse
And running out of space
We are feeling trapped and running out of options
For us to run around
We feel like we are stuck in one place with no options to move forward
But it's a dead end, and money's tight
We have hit a dead end in our situation and money is scarce
And it's been a long time of this
We have been dealing with this situation for a long time
Something is got to give
We need a change to happen to get out of this situation
Everyone here is ready to go
We are all ready for a change
It's been a hard year with nothing to show
We have been struggling this year with no real progress
From down this road
We have been down this path before
It's only on we go, on we go
We have to keep moving forward
Let's get on another flight
Let's try something new
Maybe set out to sea
Perhaps we need to start fresh in a new place
Kick it up and shake a fist at it
Let's face our problems and fight them head on
Cause death is harder to come by
We are willing to take risks because death is less of a threat than living in our current situation
Than it is to breathe
Breathing is easy, but facing our problems head on is difficult
When you gotta make a break for it
We need to make a big change to break free from our current situation
Nothing gives easy
Our situation is difficult to change
Easy gives nothing
If we want to see progress we will have to work hard
I'm just tryin' a keep
I'm just trying to maintain some sense of normalcy
Income coming in
We are focusing on making money to sustain ourselves
Dawn is bound to break
Things will improve, the dawn will come
When the night is done
After the difficult times are over
Always darker days before brighter ones
We have to go through tough times before we can see better days
It's only up we go, up we go
We are determined to move up and improve our situation
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Lights Valerie Poxleitner, Thomas Salter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@metalguard4
The cool thing about this video was it all done in a single shoot. No retakes
@studioa.productions4507
+Andrew Alfred yeah same with "second go"
@timgaul400
No fucking shit captain Sherlock
@womaninthewave
Andrew Alfred but what about when the band froze? that wasn’t a single take
@willythemailboy2
@@womaninthewave Yeah it was. The band just froze in place. The whole video from start to finish is one continuous shot with no cuts.
@darrininverarity4297
Just like spice girls “wana be”
@LeFroge
I saw her at a free concert in Calgary of all places, and I have to say, she sounds just same live. Amazing singer, and she had a great personality and was extremely humble. Great artist 👍
@CytheriaXylia
I saw her years ago in Red Deer! It was a pretty strictly seated venue for a reason I can't remember now, but me and my friends drank a little too much and went out to the front of the stage to dance along with a few other people and she waved off the bouncers when they tried getting us back to our seats. After that pretty much everyone else got up and it was a blast. And she really does sound just the same live. We almost didn't get to say hi to her at the end, but she quickly hugged me and my best friend and told us that she liked our hair. Definitely one of the most genuine bands I've seen in concert. It's always the ones that still play in small venues even after fame 🤣
@orlandogloom5409
I'm beyond glad to hear she's still down to earth and cool (and even more popular afaik) but tbh I had been getting different vibes for a while ...must be the fans now that I think about it tho, they call her queen and try to massage her ego 24/7 while calling her humble etc... but the newer songs don't really have similar flavor, too.
I also need to see what she's been posting on Twitter, haven't checked in ages now. NGL, I'm feeling curious about that, just not enough to login there yet xD
You guys are lucky to be able to go to her concerts tho, I can only imagine being to an acoustic show of hers. I'm not too keen on attending concerts but I bet this would be a really unique experience even after all these years...
@orlandogloom5409
Oh with some of that wording, it probably seems I'm jabbing at the op but I wasn't 😅
It's the replies that blindly praise (or hate, in other cases) that I have the problem with, not the rest.