Yuki
What does "I only want to die alive" mean ?
In Ariana Grande's  song, Break Free it says;

I only want to die alive
Never by the hands of a broken heart

I'd appreciate it very much if you could explain what this means.

May 25, 2018 3:33 PM
Comments · 3
Thank you Tommy and Ferial for your help. 
So, it's kind of like; although part of her is still attached to him, she wants to breakup with her boyfriend because she is mistreated by him.
And the pain to breakup is kind of like dying, but even if it hurts she'd like to accept it rather than suffering from the emotional pain of a bad relationship.
May 27, 2018
It means I want to live a full life and die while I am living a full life. Some people wake up in the morning, do the same thing every day, eat, shower, work, etc. But, they have a lot of things that they want to do and they don’t do. Its kind of like they are only alive in body and dead in spirit. Then comes a day that they physically die. So, the song is saying I am going to live a full life and am not going to die with an already dead spirit. I hooe this helps. :)
May 25, 2018
According to Genius it means the following: <standard-rich-content html="annotation.body.html" ng-show="!annotation._editing._form_visible && !ctrl.annotation_is_unwritten() && !ctrl.content_is_truncated" watch-images-loaded="annotation.body.html" open-links-in-new-window="" handle-intra-page-links="" class="" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Programme, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">

"She’d rather “die by living,” so to speak, than suffer the emotional pain of a bad relationship again and again. She wants to achieve her hopes and dreams and have fun, not be held back by the ghosts of relationships past."

</standard-rich-content>
May 25, 2018