This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I've never seen a diamond in the flesh
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not proud of my address
In a torn up town, no postcode envy
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care
We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like
Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
My friends and I, we've cracked the code
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
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care
We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like
Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
Oh
Oh (oh, oh)
We're bigger than we ever dreamed
And I'm in love with being queen
Oh
Oh (oh, oh)
Life is great without a care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not proud of my address
In a torn up town, no postcode envy
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care
We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like
Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
My friends and I, we've cracked the code
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
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care
We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like
Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
Oh
Oh (oh, oh)
We're bigger than we ever dreamed
And I'm in love with being queen
Oh
Oh (oh, oh)
Life is great without a care
We aren't caught up in your love affair
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy
Lyrics submitted by siliconyoda, edited by quazy_qual, Salador, ClanWarGuyIzu, ninawezzi, TahliaChambers, midnightzone, drueboo, KristenDG, nononsense, pardleo1, hi1323, dushyant1991, negin20, treasurefayee, jayaraj
Royals Lyrics as written by Joel Little Ella Marija La Yelich O'connor
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Lorde stated that baseball hall-of-famer George Brett is the inspiration to this song. As a result, here is my interpretation:
"I've never seen a diamond in the flesh" -- Lorde expresses that she has never been to a baseball game.
"I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies" -- She learned about the glamorous life of major league baseball through watching movies.
"And I'm not proud of my address, in the torn up town...No post code envy" -- Her small-market disposition results in her being familiar with only small-market baseball teams, at best.
"But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece. Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair"
-- Her small-market mindset contrasts with the major league baseball lifestyle, but she is content with her small market disposition.
"And we'll never be royals...It don't run in our blood" -- They will never be a Kansas City Royals, a major league baseball team.
"That kind of luxe just ain't for us...We crave a different kind of buzz" -- They understand the major league baseball lifestyle is not for them. This "different kind of buzz" may be related to the use of sabermetrics to organize the best baseball team using the least amount of money possible, as popularized by the movie Moneyball, the story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics who used this approach, which is used by more baseball teams today.
"Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen Bee...And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule)...Let me live that fantasy" -- She wants to be the general manager or owner of a baseball team. However, given her small-market disposition, she understands that doing such would feel like a fantasy.
"My friends and I we've cracked the code 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"
-- As a result of the successful use of sabermetrics, they are fine with how they are running their organization without the extravagant use of money.
"We're bigger than we ever dreamed, and I'm in love with being queen Life is great without a care We aren't caught up in your love affair"
-- Their organization has reached success due to how they run their organization and she loves being GM or owner. She still remains careless in regards to the major league baseball lifestyle because of the successes of her organization without the traditional means of extravagant expenses.