“Solar Power” by Lorde, Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Today, we have another offering from our Lorde and Saviour, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, aka "the prettier Jesus." In January, we talked about the opening track on Solar Power, "The Path," in which Lorde claims not to be, well a lord for her fans and followers. By the next track, the titular track, however, Lorde points to "Solar Power" but admits that she is "like a prettier Jesus." The answer to the singer's problems lies in the sun and ultimately in nature.

NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, ONLY MY FEATURES. "Solar Power" was the summer anthem that never caught on.  Lorde released her third record Solar Power at the end of the second summer (winter for New Zealand) of the pandemic, 2021, with the titular lead single coming out on June 20th before the record's release on August 20th. It's hard for me to distinguish time during the pandemic, and each nation dealt with the pandemic differently, completely shattering any sense of monoculture the entertainment had created before the pandemic. In other words, how New Zealanders, like Lorde, dealt with the pandemic was completely different from how one of the single biggest markets for Lorde's music, The United States, dealt with the pandemic. While America struggled with mis-management of the pandemic, New Zealanders endured lockdowns and were able to contain the virus for a while, which allowed the citizens a certain level of normalcy. While "Solar Power" should be heard as fond memory of getting out in the summer and shaking off the seasonal depression that comes with the colder months, Americans weren't in the mood to be reminded of all the fun they were missing out on. 

AND I THROW MY CELLULAR DEVICE IN THE WATER. Summer fun, though, may not be the only theme of the song. Some authors of the song's Genius annotations (see below) have pointed out that Lorde has hidden ancient "sun worshipping" allusions in today's song. If I were analyzing the song ten years ago, I might have noticed it too, but I don't care too much for the simplistic Christian critique anymore. I was reminded, though, of how a college professor likened tanning to sun worship and made a racist remark about darkening own's skin in the sun. Through reading the Romantics and the Transcendental poets, so-called sun worship and looking to ancient, non-Christian faith traditions was discussed at length in my literature classes. Adventists were much more likely to hold a church service outside on a beautiful day than evangelicals, but it was important to distinguish the difference between worshipping nature and worshiping the maker of nature. For Adventists, nature symbolized a return to the Edenic lifestyle, to which they believe they will one day return to in the new heaven and new earth. There are some who become obsessed with getting used to a Garden of Eden experience, reducing reliance on technology. Just never call them transcendentalists, although the motives may look the same. Lorde, however, is advocating the Eden experience without the Christian background. And it seems that for the singer, it's a season rather than a weaning off of the world. 

Music video:

Rooftop Performance: