Melodrama - Lorde
Melodrama - Lorde
16 June 2017 - Universal Music NZ
Lorde’s sophomore album is precisely what the title suggests—exaggerated, histrionic and sensational. Her first album, Pure Heroine, relied on minimalism to create the hits that made her a household name. In these eleven tracks, Lorde goes the other direction to create a monumentally dramatic piece on heartbreak. This is a breakup album that goes beyond the platitudes of any other pop record. It hits every nerve, from the cathartic nights out to the frightening moments alone. This is melodrama by definition.
Green Light
Lorde brings us along for a night out after a dreadful breakup. There is a lot of uncertainty in the air; she needs a sign to tell her when to go. We hear her voice with the loud bangs from the piano. There is bitterness: “I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth.” But past it, the piano picks up and clangs along with the pulsing beat. Lorde admits to hearing “brand new sounds in my mind,” but still thinking about the familiar ones from her ex-lover. She’s trying to move in a new direction while finding it difficult to “get my things/ and just let go.” In the second pre-chorus, Lorde exaggerates the conflicting thoughts with screeches and echoes underneath the lines “All those rumors, they have big teeth,” making the thoughts sound eerie and disoriented. Soon after, Lorde snaps back into the beat and calls out for her green light to guide her forward. The instrumental ending is triumphant as she chooses to move forward with confidence. Of course, there will always be doubts—was moving on the right thing to do? But when the light turns green, it’s time to go.
Sober
Lorde meets the subject of her album in this brooding song. It’s the night of a party where she’s reached a high and starts overthinking about what happens when she comes back down. The music pulses to the beat of the background noise, as if we’re in attendance watching her dissociate. For a moment, Lorde focuses on the person she’s with: “we’re king and queen of the weekend/ ain’t a pill that could touch our rush/ but what will we do when we’re sober?” More voices and trumpets join in the rest of the chorus, leading us back into a trance. The next verses build up the darkness that follow in later tracks. She foreshadows a downfall when all of the instruments drop out: “I know this story by heart:/ Jack and Jill get fucked up and possessive when it get dark.” Again, she attempts to get back into the party: “but my hips have missed your hips...will you sway with me?/ go astray with me?” Near the end of the night, Lorde feels things grinding before she lets herself float away with the high-pitched backing vocals as her echoes.
Homemade Dynamite
The night is over, but her high isn’t. Without anxious thoughts of what happens in the morning, she finds herself swept away by the percussion of the night: “Let’s let things come out of the woodwork/ I’ll give you my best side/ tell you all my best lies.” The voices in her head lead the chorus, the high-pitched echoes, finally come into agreement with her. This could be a disaster, like “blowing shit up with/homemade dynamite,” but that doesn’t stop them. She realizes that she can’t go home; the only one that can drive is drunk, and they’ll end up “painted on the road/ red and chrome/ all the broken glass sparkling/ I guess we’re partying.” The tension between the two is growing. Hearts are racing, bodies are moving, and the beat feels heavier as we go later into the night. Towards the end, there’s a hint at impending doom: “now we know we’re really gonna blow.” Regardless, Lorde continues to light the dynamite.
The Louvre
These are clear thoughts from the morning after a long night out. Lorde reflects on how her relationship started, remembering “days and nights...perfumed with obsession” that turned to all the little things of a blossoming love. In the chorus, we can tell that she isn’t used to falling this way. She describes the rush at the beginning, but it’s so strong and loud that her heart beats violently, and she wants everyone to hear it: “Megaphone to my chest/ broadcast the boom boom boom boom/ and make ‘em all dance to it”. Even though she equates this feeling to an artistic masterpiece, she knows that it looks faulty from the outside: “But we’re the greatest/ they’ll hang us in the Louvre/ down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre.” She’s admitting to herself that maybe it’s a little off: “Okay I know that you are not my type (still I fall)/ I’m just the sucker who let you fill her mind (but what about love?)” We get another chorus before a dramatic close that feels sobering. Maybe this love isn’t good. Maybe it’s meant to fall apart.
Liability
After falling from grace, the listener is met with a solo piano poignant enough to send chills all over. Lorde begins with a narrative, describing how her lover “made the big mistake of dancing in my storm/ says it was poison.” She’s living up to her fear of being too much to handle, and we know this isn’t the first time when she refers to herself as “only love I haven’t screwed up.” The chorus pierces through the already delicate curtain, pulling back to reveal the damage to her strongest insecurities: “They say, ‘you’re a little much for me/ you’re a liability/ you’re a little much for me.’” As much as she’s aware of this, she can’t find a solution and sulks to herself: “I understand—I’m a liability…I’m a little much for everyone.” The second set of verses digs deeper into this insecurity. “I am a toy that people enjoy/ ’til all of the tricks don’t work anymore/ and then they are bored of me.” It’s so heavy on Lorde that she wants to give up: “better on my own.” Another chorus slices through and we hear the surrender in her voice. What’s the point fighting it? “You’re all gonna watch me disappear into the sun.”
Hard Feelings/Loveless
Lorde returns to the grandiose in a track that builds and falls without control. She’s not ready to let go and begins reminiscing on the good times in the first verse. We hear an attempt to hit the brakes on this downfall: “Let’s give it a minute before we admit that we’re through.” But Lorde doesn’t get to decide the pace at which things end. The rhythm picks up, and instead of trying to keep up, she submits to the hard feelings: “Well I guess I should go.” The chorus breaks away, as if Lorde is choosing to get out of the car now. The rhythm picks recovers and it feels like the waves are pulling her back in. Lorde realizes that she’s doing this to herself: “When you’ve outgrown a lover/ the whole world knows but you/ It’s time to let go of this endless summer afternoon.” Near the break, you hear the screeches of twisting metal. It’s as if Lorde wants to roll everything up into a ball and throw it away. But this love isn’t paper—it’s reinforced with all of the strings and obsessions. Lorde calmly falls back to reflect that she doesn’t need to throw it all away at once. “I’ll start letting go of little things ‘til I’m so far away from you, far away from you.” We break from this release to end with a manic confrontation. Lorde is in our face, grinning while she throws a few punches back: “Bet you wanna rip my heart out/ bet you wanna skip my calls now/ well guess what?/ I’d like that.”
Sober II (Melodrama)
Sober II is dark, menacing and upset. And suddenly, as Lorde sings, it’s vulnerable. The party is over, “they’ve gone home, but who am I?” Everyone had their fun, but Lorde has to sit and clean up more than just her house. Her thoughts are racing. Why does this person she trusted have an aversion to her? They knew what they were in for: “we told you this was melodrama…our only wish is melodrama.” What more did they expect? The beat gets heavier and kicks at all the questions. This person knew what they signed up for, right? “All the terror and the horror…All the glamour and the trauma and the fuckin’ melodrama.” The darkness grows. The added snare hits and bass drum are more aggressive as Lorde continues describing everything she offered. Why is this person so afraid of her now? “We told you this was melodrama/ you wanted something that we offer.”
Writer in the Dark
Lorde softly confronts her lover’s departure head-on. This track begins with just a piano backing her jaded, tired voice before she hops to a more confrontational tone. The piano is heavier and darker before we reach the chorus. In full catharsis, all of Lorde’s echoes carry the piano and string sections over her triumph. Despite feeling the remnants of such a strong love, she realizes that “in our darkest hours, I stumbled on a secret power/ I’ll find a way to be without you, babe.” Coming back down, Lorde isn’t afraid of her emotions. Images and thoughts of this person still linger in the cityscape they shared, but Lorde doesn’t need to hide from them anymore: “I love it here since I stopped needing you.” With one more chorus, Lorde takes back control for herself. The strings and the ringing of the strongest lines fade away to the promise that tomorrow might bring.
Supercut
A supercut is a compilation. It takes moments from a larger body of work into a short clip that captures its essence. They are tokens and memories of something larger. In this track, we hear raw regret and dismissal. Every line is carefully crafted on missing the past. As much as Lorde has grown to bravely face the world in the previous track, the supercuts are still replaying in her head. There is still a desire to reach back and replay all the good things. The pulsing beat gains momentum as Lorde is at the edge of trying to rescue what’s gone: “I’m someone you maybe might love/ I’ll be your quiet afternoon crush/ be your silent overnight rush.” No, those things are gone and Lorde snaps back into the chorus: “it’s just a supercut of us.” She sings and stretches this thought, letting go of what used to be. The beat suddenly drops and it’s just her voice and the rushing beat of her heart: “In my head, I do everything right…when you call, I’ll forgive and not fight.” The thoughts try to come back, but Lorde is strong in letting it all go into a supercut in another chorus. Once again, all of the music drops to her final plead and four of the most powerful lines in the song: “in my head, I do everything right/ when you call, I‘ll forgive and not fight/ because ours are the moments I play in the dark/ we were wild and fluorescent, come home to my heart.” It builds and builds until she lets go with one last “in my head, I do everything right.” Synthesizers and a piano walk us through the same four lines over and over until the last drop is gone.
Liability (Reprise)
Originally an a capella track, Lorde lets the synth from “Supercut” push into an epiphany that all her thoughts are worthy of meaning and expression. She mumbles, “I’m a liability,” from her earlier track before accepting it and challenging people who think that about her, asking “Watcha gonna do?” Lorde dives into accepting that it’s all a struggle, but “all of the shit that we harbor” is worthy of being expressed and enjoyed by others that sing these lyrics (“make all of the kids in the choirs sing woo-hoo”). All the “tears and the highs we breathe” are part of “the party.” By the end, Lorde is accepting that she can be more than what others made her feel: “But you’re not what you thought you were” covers up whispers of “liability” and “much for me.”
Perfect Places
The drums are upbeat and there is promise in the air. Lorde alludes to “the party” and all of its drama. No big deal, “it’s just another graceless night.” There are so many expectations and worries (“I hate the headlines, and the weather”), so you might as well “have another drink, get lost in us.” Lorde was so fixated on perfection and finding the right image in her earlier tracks. But who cares? She’s learned to be herself and forget about being what others want. That ‘perfect place’ doesn’t exist. All of the dancing, drinking, and smoking, was it to get away to somewhere better? The chorus rings this out loudly: “ All of these things we’re taking/ ’cause we are young and we’re ashamed/ send us to perfect places.” In this track, Lorde has learned to enjoy the party as it is, knowing that “all the nights spent off our faces” are just that. “What the fuck are perfect places anyway?”