Royals - Lorde

"Royals," by almost all measures, was one of the most popular songs of 2013. Radio play on alternative, pop, and adult stations boosted the 16 year-old New Zealand songstress' soothing, pretty song to international acclaim. Because of this, there is a vast amount amount of online blog literature in praise and analysis of Lorde. One of my favorites is Pitchfork's piece on the "indification" of pop music, and vice versa. Another is Complex's brief, and far from absolute, analysis of the hip-hop imagery used in her lyrics.

Without preaching too much, I will offer a short thinkpiece more in line with Complex's work. Lorde cites "gold chains," "Cristal," "tigers on a gold leash," and "Maybachs" as iconic symbols of excessive wealth, and how her and her lover will never experience such financial esteem, but instead have their own love to exceed the benefits of modern royalty. However, the images she chooses to cite are not only American in nature, but images of American hip-hop from the past decade or so. Is Tyga, with his tiger on a chain, a true "royal" in the sense that Lorde wishes to criticize? She is offering a social critique of excessive wealth, yet Tyga's annual income and societal clout is dwarfed by others in America. He is both a target of international teenage songwriters and a goofy caricature of young black wealth. He is by no means a royal who enjoys the privileges Lorde seems to look down upon. Why does Lorde choose to name the Maybach automobile brand, most commonly associated in American music culture with Maybach Music Group CEO Rick Ross? Is Cadillac, or Mercedes-Benz, or Land Rover not a more esteemed vehicle of American excess?

Perhaps Lorde's visions of American excess are purely derived from pop culture, and as a 16 year-old New Zealand native her perspective is skewed. This is no reason to analyze her position differently than any other song which offers social commentary. Her commentary suggests an ascetic life is one suited for her and her lover; the life of "royals" is worthy of dismissal. But her characterization of royalty is inaccurate; hip-hop artists with first generation, self-made money and stupid possessions do not constitute America's influence-wielding body.