For the both of you keeping track at home, the streak of Friday Night Jukebox posts actually posted on Friday ends at seven...once again thanks to life getting in the way.
My introduction to this week's tune came from the back room crew at the thrift shop where I was an incredible Assistant Manager (if I do say so myself). They would keep a radio playing to the latest hits as they worked--though amazingly enough when I asked about this week's song none of them had the slightest idea who it was. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I typed in a couple of lyrics from the single and voila! a new favorite was realized.
Lorde (birth name Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor) was born in 1996 just outside of Auckland, New Zealand (he writes as if he knows where "just outside of Auckland" would actually be), and at a very young age began to show the inklings of talents most of us can only dream about. At the ripe old age of thirteen she signed with Universal Music Group and began making music. She would release her first album, an EP, two years later originally as a free download and it helped attract attention to her first hit single--which would go on to sell fifteen million copies in the U.S. and help her to win two Grammy Awards. In the years since, Lorde has had a Golden Globe nomination, another Grammy nomination (for album of the year), won two Brit Awards, and an MTV Music Video Award. For her still very young career, she has released three studio albums (with all three reaching the top five), four EP's, and thirteen singles (with one #1 and another top ten). She's also had three world tours. As with our last two artists, Lorde, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be making music long after my ghost has departed this vail.
"Royals" was the first single Lorde released, in 2013, from her debut EP The Love Club. It was also included on her first studio album Pure Heroine (excellent play on words). The single would hit #1 in the U.S. and her native New Zealand, as well as ten other countries. The EP reached #23 in America and peaked at #2 in New Zealand and Australia (so many cools kids down under!).
Fun Fact: The song's title was inspired by a picture Lorde cut out of National Geographic of baseball Hall-of-Famer George Brett signing autographs--with his team's name, the Royals, emblazoned upon his uniform. Lorde thought it was a great word and worked on ways to incorporate it into a song.
When I was seventeen, I was wondering what it would be like to hold hands with any number of pretty young women I went to school with. Lorde on the other hand, was taking a half an hour to write a song that challenged the illusions of opulence often portrayed in popular--especially American--culture. Folks who are much more attuned to today's music have hailed the song as groundbreaking and an influence on countless songs and artists over the course of the last nine years. For me, it's minimalist musical tones and Lorde's defiant vocals set the table for the personal being the political. I've wondered over the past couple of days how Lorde views the song now that she herself is living the fantasy--I'm sure I'll never know, but I will know and have known what it means to literally count pennies and am glad that there's an artist who proudly shows the strength those of us who didn't win the economic lottery muster every day to do our part to keep this world rolling along.
Lyric Sheet: "We count our dollars on the train to the party/And everyone who knows us knows/That we're fine with this, we didn't come from money..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Losers
Peace,
emaycee
