(Royals) by Lorde, album:"Pure Heroine"

Lorde (Pure Heroine)

The first time I heard the overplayed pop song, by the teen singer “Lorde”, I got glued to the music- finding the upbeat song catchy, original and lively. The only thing that displeased me in the song, was that some gruesome words would strike out of the presentation, leaving the listener (me) questioned by the words. Other than that, I really enjoyed “Royals”! I don’t usually pay attention to songs on the radio, because of my family’s reputation of not listening to pop music that often. But when we listened to the song by Lorde, I really got interested in the song- because it was unlike most of the average (repetitive) pulsing songs on the radio!

Usually I don’t really listen to pop music (as in the previous paragraph). This would lead to me not really knowing the names of the songs and not getting the albums for them. When I researched the different songs in the same album as Royals, I found out that there were fifteen songs in the album. This probably wouldn’t have been quite a surprise to most of the public, but before I read all the songs that were in the album, I only thought that Lorde (singer) had only written a few songs! In the album “Pure Heroin”, there was (including “Royals”):



Lorde in "Royals" music video



“Pure Heroin” by Lorde: (POPULARITY- most to least (top to bottom)

- “Royals”

- “Team”

- “Glory and Gore”

- “Tennis court”

- “400 Lux”

- “Ribs”

- “Buzzcut Season”
- “White teeth teens”
- “Still Sane” “Tennis court”



The lyrics to Royals are just a little bit depressing, in my opinion. When listening to the song, you could hear some gruesome illustrated words- that would stand out, like: “Blood stains”, “tigers on a gold leash” or “trippin in the bathroom”. Unlike most pop songs in our modern age, the composer and singer of Royals (Lorde) didn’t use romance as the main component of her song. I liked how (at least) she didn’t really incorporate all the garbage “love” in her music, but added a little bit of a ‘female rebel’ characteristic within her songs. In my opininon, I think that the interpretation of Royals is that (then again) the person described in the song is rebellious, and wants to live life carelessly- trashing her money and spending it without caring about what anybody thinks (The rest of the album has a similar idea). I think that the lyrics are mostly appropriate, in terms of language (swearing), romance and gory or violent. I still was comparing Royals to other pop songs on the radio, again, so the comparison could be off (because of other songs that might not be inappropriate.



Album cover for "Pure Heroine"



I really enjoyed the part that Lorde sang her voice in a creaky- pitch, that didn’t sound bad. Her voice is quite original, because none of the other singers have performed songs with such a “weak” but lively way. Lorde’s music could be somewhat inspiring to girls, because of her “rebellious” songs… but the song was original and interesting! In her music video, she sings with a “sway” throughout her performance (very different from most singers) with her arms twitching. I’d never seen any pop singer sing that way- so again; I found that Lorde started a new “style” of performing music. I think that Lorde did a great job singing and performing her songs, with a new twist in pop music!

There were only a couple things that I didn’t really like in the song. In some versions of the song, Lorde’s swaying looked a little creepy. She twitched her arm (no offence), looking a little like a zombie. Another creepy part of her “album” is that the name of her album “Heroine” but “Heroin” is a drug- that has killed many victims. My parents were shocked by the name when I first brought it up, and they quickly told me that the name could’ve been related to the drug, to draw attention. But, on the other hand, the album could’ve just plainly meant “Female Hero”. Lastly, the song’s lyrics were a little bit ugly- with blood and violence. Other than the cons that were listed, I really liked how the song wasn’t inappropriate- in terms of romantic music (etc.).

Lorde is a very talented singer, in the "modern pop music terms". She brought out a new style of singing, with a good sound, but in a strained voice- and excluded all the unnecessary romance! She sings with a creepy style, that probably could become quite depressing after a while, but overall Lorde's music is original, calculated, and fun!
My rating out of ten for the song "Royals", is a 7.5 out of 10, because the lyrics were just a little bit upsetting... But the music was really well done!