Tennis Court Lyrics
Making smart with their words again, well I'm bored
Because I'm doing this for the thrill of it, killin' it
Never not chasing a million things I want
And I am only as young as the minute is full of it
Getting pumped up from the little bright things I bought
But I know they'll never own me (Yeah)
I'll be the beauty queen in tears
It's a new art form showing people how little we care (Yeah)
We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
I'll see the veins of my city like they do in space
But my head's filling up with the wicked games, up in flames
How can I mess with the fun again, when I'm known
And my boys trip me up with their heads again, loving them
Everything's cool when we're all in line, for the throne
But I know it's not forever (Yeah)
I'll be the beauty queen in tears
It's a new art form showing people how little we care (Yeah)
We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
I fall apart, with all my heart
And you can watch from your window
And you can watch from your window
I'll be the beauty queen in tears
It's a new art form showing people how little we care (Yeah)
We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
And talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
And talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
And talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (Yeah)
THis song refers to a pre- French Revolution phenomenon. Congress of France could not find anywhere to hold a political meeting, and so they locked themselves in a tennis court and talked about a new constitution.
Great insight. I now know more about the 'Serment du jeu de paume' than I'm sure I'll ever need to know!
Great insight. I now know more about the 'Serment du jeu de paume' than I'm sure I'll ever need to know!
While this is a popular interpretation and she has her hair styled in a similar way to what courtly women of the pre-revolutionary period in France in the video. I see little else that has to do with that.
While this is a popular interpretation and she has her hair styled in a similar way to what courtly women of the pre-revolutionary period in France in the video. I see little else that has to do with that.
Although, she is widely read and is well informed about the period (Marie Antoinette, etc.) she also styles herself as a goth in the video. She also has garbled (demonic?) voice responding with "yeah" responding to her lyrics. It sounds as if it is mocking her as much as affirming her sentiments.
Although, she is widely read and is well informed about the period (Marie Antoinette, etc.) she also styles herself as a goth in the video. She also has garbled (demonic?) voice responding with "yeah" responding to her lyrics. It sounds as if it is mocking her as much as affirming her sentiments.
Perhaps this is her way of still...
Perhaps this is her way of still "fucking with the fun when she is known?" She is obviously aware of some of the extreme "conspiracy" theories around her and she has on some occasion directly taken them on such as in the video "The World According to Lorde" and a recent tweet about the Denver airport.
Yes this is so true. It took me so long to realize this, but I finally did in my 9th grade history class
Yes this is so true. It took me so long to realize this, but I finally did in my 9th grade history class
It's about putting on faces to act like they fit in with the lifestyle of people that go to country clubs and play tennis (typical WASPy rich people), but in actuality, they're masking their emotions with joyful faces - "we're so happy, even when we're smiling out of fear" in order to promote the idea that their day-to-day is something to be admired and desired, i.e., pretending to be have direction and purpose in their ritzy lives, but in reality, they have no idea what the fuck they're doing.
My Interpretation:
"Don't you think that it's boring how people talk. making smart with their words again, well I'm bored"
- talks about the media and celebrity gossip and how she finds it dull and unimportant.
"Because I'm doing it for the thrill of it, killin' it, never not chasing a million things I want"
- Is about her fame and that she's making her music and living her life simply for the thrill of it and chasing her dreams and ambitions instead of any idle gossip and fame (mentioned before)
"And I am only as young as the minute is full of it, getting pumped up on the little bright things I bought"
- She's basically saying that she's only news or fresh in people's attention for a moment while people are still talking about it and talking about every idle thing she does. (fame)
"But I know they'll never own me"
- no matter how much she's talked about or how famous she is she is her own person and not a puppet.
~
"Baby be the class clown, I'll be the beauty queen in tears. It's a new art form showing people how little we care."
- she's possibly making a comment on how false faced people are and how much people throw around doing things ironically and feel the need to fit certain labels and be certain ways in order to show how much they don't give a shit about anything.
"We're so happy, even though we're smiling out of fear" - Another comment on the falseness of people and maybe event a comment on how people continue to live unsatisfying lives and do as they're "meant to" even though they're empty and pretending that that's how it's supposed to be and that they're happy instead of admitting they're afraid.
"let's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like yeah" - Someone in the over comments talked about the french revolution and how they used to gather at tennis courts to discuss the new constitution or something and that sounds like it fits. She's saying she wants the way things are (as the she talked about in the first verse and chorus) to change.
~
"Pretty soon I'll be getting on my first plane, I'll see the veins of my city like they do in space"
- talking about how she'll be going on tour overseas and getting on a literal plane.
"But my head's filling up fast with the wicked games, up in flames. How can I fuck with the fun again, when I'm know?" - her head's filling up with fears and anxieties and it's not good. Pondering how she can be herself and fuck around when she's famous.
"And my boys trip me up with heads again, loving them." - reference to her friends or brothers or something and possibly saying that they trip her head up, therefore stopping her from thinking all the bad things and make her feel better.
"Everything's cool when we're all in line for the throne" - not too sure but possibly another reference to fame.
~
~ "it looked alright in the pictures, getting caught up in half of the trip though, isn't it?" - perhaps talking about paparazi and getting caught doing things but having fun doing it anyway
"I fall apart with all my heart and you can watch from your window" - first part may be sarcasm or simply the notion of falling apart and people watching her from behind glass or screens. Basically saying that they're not living, just pathetically watching her live. fame, media, etc.
and so yeah. The song seems to be about fame and the falseness of society.
@wildlilac On the everything's good when we are all in line for the throne, it is referring to being fake also. Everybody will be your friend now because you can do something for them now.
@wildlilac On the everything's good when we are all in line for the throne, it is referring to being fake also. Everybody will be your friend now because you can do something for them now.
@marisakregel. I think you're absolutely right about this song relating to the French Revolution and the Tennis Court meeting. I think in this song, Lorde plays the role of Marie Antoinette, who didn't really care about the lower class. When the lower classes revolted, she casually said "let them eat cake." Anyway, back to the song, "Baby, be the class clown, I'll be the beauty queen in tears It's a new art form showing people how little we care, yeah We're so happy even when we're smiling out of fear Let's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah, yeah" The class clown is the underage King Louis who didn't know what he was doing, resulting in him being a bit of a joke. Marie Antoinette was having a great time in her palace, not caring about anything at all. She was foreign and was only married to ally two countries, so why would she care about France? "Everything's cool when we're all in line for the throne But I know it's not forever, yeah" SPOILER ALERT: The royal family was guillotined, starting the Reign of Terror, so being on throne is "not forever."
(Btw, I learned this stuff at school only a few weeks ago. If only I heard this song before the test.)
A small caveat: she never said "let them eat cake."
A small caveat: she never said "let them eat cake."
Wow. Thanks for the correction. I should've known I couldn't trust the newbie history teacher I have.
Wow. Thanks for the correction. I should've known I couldn't trust the newbie history teacher I have.
@pandaninja123 and how does "getting on my first plane" relate to 18th century France?
@pandaninja123 and how does "getting on my first plane" relate to 18th century France?
I think this song is basically criticizing modern individuals in their inability to live the truth (especially regarding emotions). Boring how people talk-- chit chat has no meaning class clown vs. crying beauty queen-- humor a way of denying emotions smiling out of fear-- putting on a false expression you could watch from the window-- detachment
No one seems to have argued this yet, so I'll give it a crack. The line, "It's a new art form showing people how little we care, yeah" is a comment on hipsterism, whose dominant characteristic is ironic criticism.
Others have described it better than I have, so I'll let them do the speaking:
Rob Horning's April 2009 article "The Death of the Hipster" in PopMatters, he states that the hipster might be the "embodiment of postmodernism as a spent force, revealing what happens when pastiche and irony exhaust themselves as aesthetics." In a New York Times editorial, Mark Grief states that the much-cited difficulty in analyzing the term stems from the fact that any attempt to do so provokes universal anxiety, since it "calls everyone's bluff".
The tennis court in the song refers to somewhere youth can go in the urban landscape to interact, they can't go to the playground anymore but they also don't belong where the adults go, in other words for a few years they are inbetween and locked out so they have to find their own place in this case its a tennis court. "Baby be the Class clown" is a way guys can be popular because the pretty girls rely on the popular guys to play up and disrupt the class because they are too dumb to learn, "I'll be the beauty queen in tears" is how pretty girls can act to get attention by acting like spoiled brats and having everyone fawn over them like a beauty queen, "its a new art form showing people how little we care, yeah" is a cynical attack on headonism in popular culture. "You could watch from your window" is the popular kid telling the less confident kid that they don't belong because they're not cool enough.
a cynical attack on headonism? Could you elaborate your point...
a cynical attack on headonism? Could you elaborate your point...
THe shallowest song ever, but relevant because it gives an insight into young people's obsessionwith the surface of things. GReat melody and bass though!
Interesting, I read the exact opposite of this song. Seems more like a criticism of that type of attitude/life, much like Royals. Seems to be a theme in this talented young artist's music.
Interesting, I read the exact opposite of this song. Seems more like a criticism of that type of attitude/life, much like Royals. Seems to be a theme in this talented young artist's music.
This Song Can Pertain To Two Things:
1) The Perspective Of A Popular Teenager (Girl) 2) The French Revolution
@MsSStar12 I don't see any connection with the French Revolution, other than the mention of a tennis court. There are no other allusions to the 18th century France, especially such comments as "going on my first plane" seem to dispel any notion of anything in the 18th century.
@MsSStar12 I don't see any connection with the French Revolution, other than the mention of a tennis court. There are no other allusions to the 18th century France, especially such comments as "going on my first plane" seem to dispel any notion of anything in the 18th century.
This song is so underrated, everyone is obsessing over Royals (which i guess is an OK song) but this was released before it and is better