“Royals” (Lorde cover) by Youth in Revolt, Thursday, November 10, 2022

When a teenager grows up in New Zealand experiencing American culture through Hip Hop music videos, that teenager might have a distorted view of how Americans live. Lorde's breakthrough single "Royals" got some backlash for "overgeneralizing American culture" and misunderstanding Hip Hop. Others have said that Lorde’s take on pop with the  emerging sad girl pop sub-genre helped to usher in a slowness
revolution that we can still hear today in the likes of Billie Eilish.

WE'RE DRIVING CADILLACS IN OUR DREAMS. While Lorde's original version of  "Royals" beats most covers, the version I'm choosing for my playlist comes from the Punk Goes Pop series, performed by the band Youth in Revolt. The New Jersey based pop punk band adds an extra layer of grit to Lorde's song with heavy guitars and bass. Although the screaming at the end is gratuitous, I think that Youth in Revolt's version suffices to cover both the earworm and the need to transition from Rise Against's "Long Forgotten Sons." For me, in 2013, I wasn't listening to much pop music other than discovering K-pop. I first encountered "Royals" when Paper Route covered the song. I didn't actually know who they were covering, but eventually I checked out Lorde. I thought she sounded like another version of Lana Del Rey, but I didn't get into her music. I hadn't listened to her Pure Heroine until recently and only listened to Melodrama because my sister had a copy of the record in her car when I went home to the states. Today, Lorde is an artist I like to listen to occasionally. Solar Power was an underrated record from last year. I mostly skip Melodrama because I find the lack of instrumentals makes her voice a little jarring. 

LET ME LIVE THAT FANTASY.  "Royals" feels like it's the song for the rest of us. I can think of several people who are constantly talking about salaries and material wealth. They're always talking about cars, clothes, and about the things they will buy and the things that are out of their price range. I've pretty much killed my most elaborate dreams from when I was a kid: to be a movie star/director/ rock star, have a two-story house with a swimming pool and a wife and two kids. Instead, I've redefined my dreams, to make just enough to support myself so that I can live in a comfortable house and enjoy a little time off. My jewels are my Apple products, and they're also kind of my kids. My iPhone Pro 14 says he wants a little brother as his big brother the iPad Pro 3rd generation has gone blind in the rear camera and is running out of space. I think that if I can make a small impact in the lives of my students and the people around me, I will be rich in this world. Sure, I want to be able to afford the airfare to be with my family for the big moments. I want to be able to afford groceries and a night out on the weekend. I want a small piece of happiness, and I think I have it. So I'm driving Cadillacs in my dreams and parking it in front of my commodious bungalow. 

Read Lorde’s original lyrics on Genius.

Read the Youth in Revolt cover lyrics on Genius.

Lorde’s original:


Youth in Revolt cover:


Paper Route cover:





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Photograph" Ed Sheeran, Saturday, February 3, 2024 (updated repost)

Image
  Before " Shape of You ," Ed Sheeran was known primarily as a singer-songwriter. His albums + and X took clear influence from The Beatles , Carole King , Elton John , James Taylor , and the ballad writers of yesteryear. But he had a knack for throwing in a few rap bars along the way. With every record, Sheeran gained more acclaim. His sophomore record produced the mega Billboard #2 hit , " Thinking Out Loud ," which won two Grammys including Song of the Year. The final single from the album, " Photograph " was written in collaboration with Snow Patrol 's Johnny McDaid . Sheeran drew inspiration from his long distance relationship with singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt (the featured musician on Kodaline ’s acoustic version of “Brand New Day” ). The two spent five months apart. They would eventually break up, but the song remains a gem on Sheeran's second best-selling record.  LOVING CAN HURT . "Photograph" was the song that introduced m
Read more

“Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (reworked post), Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Image
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood.  YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON .  Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
Read more

"All of Me Wants All of You" (Helado Negro Remix) by Sufjan Stevens, Sunday, February 27, 2022

Image
I've talked about how Carrie & Lowell , Sufjan Steven 's 2015 masterpiece, is a quintessential portrait of dealing with grief and forgiveness when I wrote about the first two tracks, " Death with Dignity ," and " Should Have Known Better ." By the third track on the record, " All of Me Wants All of You ," explores grief in a different way from the previous two tracks. As with most songs on the album, "All of Me" appears to be deeply personal to the artist. But being personal doesn't stop this track's language from being the most obscured with allusions to geography and possibly an allegory from a little-known Spanish play. ALL OF ME THINKS LESS OF YOU.  There's a debate   on Lyrics Genius about the meaning of this song, especially surrounding the identity of the only other character mentioned by name in this song, Manelich. Is he the one the song is about? Stevens has written vaguely about homosexual attraction throughout
Read more