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


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.

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Royals song meanings
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    You're on the right track. I think these lyrics indicate a willingness to accept what you have rather than to accept materialism. Not only that, Lorde dramatizes mediocrity. She is overly content with what she has and believes that she has more than a music industry/pop culture simply because she isn't materialistic.

    First of all, I think the stage name "Lorde" is very much symbolic of this song. The word "Lord" references authority, control, and power, and Ella (her real name) uses the name Lorde almost as satire- she creates the name to treasure the normal everyday life. It's like the expression "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Lorde finds treasure in living a regular traditional life, not a dramatized materialistic life in society.

    Lorde says, "We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams." This line references a willingness to look beyond materialism and realize that materialism isn't really treasured. I will coin Train's lyrics from their song Calling All Angels, "In a world where what we want is only what we want until it's ours." This is basically Lorde's premise. She dreams beyond materialism.

    Lorde contradicts herself but within reason. She mentions "we'll never be royals," but later mentions in the same syntax "let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen Bee." Lorde wants people to see her as a lord who advocates non-materialistic attributes. In other words, she wants to be a queen, but she doesn't want to be a royal queen. She wants the responsibilities of a queen, but she does not want want the extra materialistic incentives.

    Lorde says "We're bigger than we ever dreamed," indicating that she believes in herself and believes in being a non-materialistic queen. Basically, she implies that she is very royal not because of materialism, but because she admires the duties of a queen and a successful society aside materialism. Unfortunately, everyone else is blind to the fact that Lorde is a ruler and would rather have these materialistic incentives, which is why she states "But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece."

    In a nutshell, Lorde knows she will never be royal, but she believes she is royal in her own parameters. She says "And we'll never be royals" and follows this up with "Let me live that fantasy." She may not want to be materialistically royal, but she certainly takes royalty in her own values and willingness to lead aside from materialistic qualities. In an ironic kind of way, Lorde is very royal, just not the typical royal everyone longs for.

    And ironically, her lyrics have become part of a materialistic music industry. It's become a popular song even against her willingness to accept royalty. Quite ironic, but the song sells. And I'd bet most people think the song means more about being materialistically royal than it does about being yourself and finding out what is royal in your personal life. Typical royal society that adds to the overall irony the song portrays.

    costumedancepartyon July 18, 2014   Link

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