Lorde Says ‘Green Light’ Is Her First Heartbreak Song, Explains ‘Beach’ Lyric
Lorde, whose lyrical catalog has most famously observed "Gold teeth / Grey Goose / Tripping in the bathroom," says her new "Green Light" marks a completely new — and uncomfortably sincere — chapter in her life as a storyteller.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Lorde — now 20 — said "Green Light" signals the very first time she's released a song about a breakup's emotional toll, and explained that some of the more bizarre lyrics aim to explore a type of pain that can't always be explicitly identified.
Some of her more mysterious "Green Light" musings? "I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth / She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar" and "All those rumors, they have big teeth / Hope they bite you" are certainly up there.
"The song is actually about a heartbreak," Lorde explained. "And it’s not something that I really am used to writing about. It took me a while to be able to figure out how to write about that. It was my first major heartbreak."
She added seemingly inconsequential things that happen in the wake of a breakup can often be the most memorable.
"And the song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate towards," she adds. "I say, 'She thinks you love the beach, you’re such a liar.' What the f---, she thinks you like the beach?! You don’t like the beach! It’s those little stupid things."
Of "Green Light"'s meaning and mood, she added, "I realized this is that drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend who everyone thinks is a mess. That's her tonight and tomorrow she starts to rebuild. And that's the song for me."
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