Breathe Me starts with a melancholy piano phrase and the word "help", establishing early the lonely sentiment of the song. It's piano-led throughout, in keeping with the recent rise in popularity of the piano infiltrating the charts (Jet, Evanescence, Keane, Gary Jules, Peter Doherty & Wolfman). Breathe however grows as it progresses, having swollen by the end to intense emotion manifested through instrumentation such as large bass, drums, and synthesised strings, as Sia's beautiful voice lazily laments over the top.

Structurally, Breathe Me is simple, and boasts a radio-friendly formula: there is no reason for this not to do well in the charts.