People should see how we're living
(We ride the bus with the knees pulled in) Lorde – Buzzcut Season
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Lorde claims that her lifestyle is incredibly impoverished. She’s focusing on the fact she’s withdrawn from the world, not sprawled out and open. Ella is protecting herself, she is in a defensive position.
People like her have to take the bus everywhere as they don’t have personal transport and the buses are all so small that the seat spacing means that they have to keep their knees tucked in.
The fact that nobody from the external world cares about New Zealand is an idea re-enforced on Team. Lorde feels a bit of animosity to the rest of the world as nobody ever pays her country any attention.
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Even though Lorde is not a white teeth teen she can view them with perspective, meaning that she can easily become their queen, and wear “the robe” in her dreams like a proper queen would.
But we got our methods and there's nothing here to stop
To stop this Lorde – White Teeth Teens
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Reckoning could refer to calculating something or to vengeance. The fact that Lorde states they she has her methods suggests that it does mean revenge. It is a common idiom in New Zealand.
The person Lorde talks to wants to stop the movement of the white teeth teens but it cannot be stopped, due to the fact that there are simply too many. Since these teens are now viewed as being popular, people will always flock towards them because it’s easier than opposing them.
Yet Lorde has her methods of getting back at them – this song is pretty cutting for example. She already has her own way.
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Lorde often talks about how she feels like she’s lost the inner child in her and that she secretly wishes that she could access that part of her more readily.
However, Lorde has completely lost her innocence, and there is no going back now. Lorde’s care-freeness has been replaced by an irritating awareness of the reality. She’s become completely disillusioned with society, therefore she can never go back to being an ordinary teenager.
This is an extension of the previous line.
Lorde is older now and knows there is more to life than partying and “Throwing your hands in the air”, she seems to be smugly telling her competition to Grow Up.
For a love they won't receive
'Cause what this palace wants is release Lorde – Team
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After Lorde intentionally broke the glasses she knew full well that people would come and try to suck up to her about the matter.
Lorde has no intention of giving these people their love she is Queen and, therefore, can do whatever she wants. However, Lorde doesn’t want her crown anymore – she wants out of the palace.
She’s tired of monarchy, yet once you are at the top you can’t go back. This is why Lorde stays in the ruins of the palace in her dreams, she can’t escape. Think back to Royals — much of Lorde’s music is about escaping society’s fixation on material possessions, and the palace wanting “release” alludes to this.
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What is this?
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What is this?
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Lorde comments on how with making it in the music business, actually being noticed or caught by a label is the hardest part. Due to the fact it is an incredibly saturated market means being noticed is near impossible – so you have to be unique.
Signing with a label is only half the journey. Often times, the chase is just as much fun as the success that comes at the end. Once you are signed, you have a whole other adventure, ready to pursue.
The fact that Lorde describes fame as a trip conveys her views on it. Just as tripping is a mistake that you can’t re-do, ultimately, fame is something you can never go back from. Getting caught up in the dream of being famous is half the trip. When you want something for so long and then actually get it and realize that wanting it was actually half the experience.
Another way of looking at this is that “getting caught”, messing up, etc. is part of what makes being famous so exciting. Being perfect is boring.
Finally, another interpretation is that the bridge is speaking of wealth, glamour, and fame. All of that looks marvelous in the pictures, but one small mistake once you have reached that level ruins your reputation and your career.
A world alone, we're all alone Lorde – A World Alone
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He has made Lorde feel complete. Finally Lorde has someone who understands her feeling of isolation in a world filled with evil.
Now Lorde isn’t alone, but they’re alone together. Lorde’s life is no longer a misery, it is enjoyable. She has somebody to live for, even if he isn’t a white teeth teen.
Moreover, Lorde considers her fans/listeners her best friends, and those who listen to this song are in her world, are separate from society.
What is this?
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Lorde comments on how anything that people do can be morally wrong when society lies to us constantly.
The news disillusions people as to what is really going on in the world, is this not a form of lying? Lorde finds herself moralizing at what the boundaries of being a good person these days are, when everybody lies.
This is also another reference to the suburbs. People are convinced that things don’t need to change. Everything is so perfect in the suburbs: the grass is perfectly cut, the streets are perfectly clean, the houses are perfectly similar. However, suburban people don’t know what it’s like to live in the real world.
Here she is touching upon how during the summer you are living in a bubble where you can just detach yourself from the world. If you ignore and pretend the things around aren’t happening, they aren’t real.
505
This may be a reference to the Chaos magic phrase “nothing is true everything is permitted”.
106
What is right when your a pawn on a chess board and have no idea what the rules are. Our lives are nothing more than a HUGE continuing lie.
This is about idealizing memories. When you think about good moments in the past it seems like everything was perfect (“nothing’s wrong”) but that’s not real, you’re just tricking yourself into believing it cause you miss the past and ignore the bad things that happened back then
This can also mean that the truth hurts. If one is oblivious to all the negativity around them, then it would almost be as if nothing is wrong. But as soon as one becomes aware of all that negativity (the truth), it can affect them and cause problems.