Team

Supposedly, Lorde has said this is about her early years growing up in New Zealand. Seems to be summed up pretty well in:

"We live in cities you'll never see on screen Not very pretty but we sure know how to run free Livin' in ruins of the palace within my dreams And you know we're on each other's team"

This implies some disconnect with the rest of the world, and a unity between everyone who experiences it. It makes a pretty logical foundation for themes in other songs, like Royals, where she sings about being confused and bored by the empty opulence that the world worships. Growing up she found fulfillment in other things.

Seems like a pretty simple song to me, unless I'm missing something. Can't wait for the album!

"Now bring my boys in, their skin in craters like the moon The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room"

As someone who struggles with acne/acne scars, this line is beautiful!

She's basically acknowledging guys (or gals) with acne scars and saying how she "loves them, like a brother" and showing how beautiful they can be with imperfections "while he glows through the room".

Which ties perfectly with the songs meaning about being imperfect but loving being imperfect.

This is about teenagers coming of age and finding out that portrayals of life & love in the media are prettier and shinier than reality... and also (hopefully) finding out that real life isn't necessarily bad compared to a constant struggle for an unattainable ideal.

"Wait til you're announced... send the call out" refers to teenagers coming of age and starting to gain access to experience the real world. "Ladies... in finery... [with] jewels on throats.. [and] between teeth" are teenage girls dressed up but still wearing braces. "Boys.. their skin in craters" are pimply teenage boys. "We love like a brother... while he glows" refers to the teenage girls trying to figure out their feelings for boys who they had previously thought of as just friends. "Dancin' round lies we tell... with big eyes" refers to the awkward teenagers trying to pretend to be the cool adults they admire in the media, but also seeing clearly that every other teenager still just as awkward as they are. "Even the comatose... don't dance and tell" means nobody calls out anyone else for having gone through that awkward phase... but it also implies that we should eventually leave the pretending behind and grow into our own skins.

"Cities you'll never see onscreen" and "ruins of a palace within my dreams" both refer to a reality that is not as pretty as life as portrayed in the media. "But we sure know how to run things" and "you know we're on each other's team" means that reality -- for all its warts -- can still provide happiness and true friendships / love.

"I'm kind of over... older" means she understands that the ideal life that the media told her she should live just created unnecessary jealousies, finger-pointing, bickering ("all the cups got broke", "it's not my fault", "everyone's competing for a love they won't receive"). And guess what? The media ideal changes over time ("what the palace wants is release"). In some ways, maybe that ideal is even shifting to reflect the new generation's reality?

The last chorus "we're on each other's team... and you know, and you know, and you know" means that she's found friends and happiness outside outside of the path that the media had laid out for her... and she knows that you know that you can chart your own path to happiness, too.

"I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air, so there" I just love that line because it's how I feel about most of the popular songs being played that are all about clubbing and partying Most of them even do say, "put your hands in the air". It gets boring because that act is so overplayed and not everyone relates to that type of lifestyle. I really love Lorde, she's a breath of fresh air.

I don't think it is that easy that it is about a disconnect because she was on an island. Take the first part, where she clearly tries to tell something to 'you', and she has a message for 'us'. I believe Lorde sees herself like a truthteller about lower class civil life in this song/her songs in general. I think she 'sends the call out' and sings about it truthfully while even 'the comatose' don't. And then, what she IS actually singing about, is about that simpler life, and things we do wrong and the infinite imperfections. But with all of that, we can still 'glow', 'run free' like no other and then 'look upon our greatness'. Though we'll never be royals with 100 jewels between our teeth, the first part tells us to "wait till we're announced, and we have not yet lost all our graces (so there is hope)... so we should keep the hounds chained...." and Lorde will take up the fine task to send our message ;)

Wait 'til you're announced We've not yet lost all our graces The hounds will stay in chains Look upon your greatness and she'll send the call out Send the call out (Here I take it her and her boys are in line at a club, out of their league maybe they are from trailor parks or poorer neighborhoods) (the hounds will stay in chains, they've not yet lost all their graces, meaning, they came to dance and have fun even though they stand out)

(below, is them entering the club and the dance floor, call all the ladies out, they're in their finery, meaning jewels and fancy heels, clothing, etc.)

A hundred jewels on throats, a hundred jewels on teeth. (Clearly, fancy jewelry necklaces, and grills on teeth, fancy diamonds, etc.)

Now bring my boys out, their skin in craters like the moon, (obviously acne, pimples, very stand outish)

Dancin' around the lies we tell, Dancin' around big eyes as well.. ( they made it to the dance floor, eyes are big, they stand out, they are not from around here, they are poor, people are staring with big eyes)

We live in cities you'll never see onscreen Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams And you know we're on each other's team

"Call all the ladies out, they're in their finery. A hundred jewels on throats. A hundred jewels between teeth. Now bring my boys in, their skin in craters like the moon. The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room."

My interpretation was that girls wear there finest clothes, and all these jewels and diamonds to be able to try and glow through a room and look good. And then bring in the boys with nothing fancy on but yet we still love them like a brother and even though he has no jewels, yet he glows through the room. Ironic.

"And you know we're on each other's team. I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air. And everyone's competing for a love they won't receive."

In my opinion, picking sides and inequality are overrated and an illusion. She is trying to say were all on the same team. She's tired of getting told to throw her hands up in the air and rooting for a specific side. Because she realizes that everyone is competing for a love they won't receive.

I have this strange feeling that the song is about a group of people who aren't at the top of the social class, but it's as if they run a whole city because they know it like the back of their hands. They party and they have fun, and when they finish up with the night, they have to lie to protect themselves from their parents who know nothing about their adventures. They're sick of being told what to do, and they just want to go have some unstructured fun, without felling crowded. She wants everybody to know that what they do is fine, but it's really cool to just go with it sometimes and not listen to anybody.

I think this song is very obvious in it's relation to the awkwardness of teenage years, and trying to figure out who you are as an individual as opposed to who you are in association with other people. However, I feel like this line, "and you know, we're on each others team," really pulls the whole thing together. I think she's saying that at the end of the day, no matter which clique you're a part of, we're all going through the same thing. Even the most popular kids feel awkward about themselves. I think that it may even be a subtle call to arms for all teenagers to put aside their petty differences (such as fashion sense, music choice, etc.) and instead come together from a place of mutual understanding...that mutual understanding being, "Being a teenager SUCKS! It sucks for everyone, but don't feel bad, because we're in this together."

Well, to start with, the name Lorde is referring to Lucifer as being the ruler of this world. "Wait 'til you're announced. We've not yet lost all our graces.The hounds will stay in chains. Look upon your greatness and she'll send the call out Send the call out." means that Satan will call upon u through his music artists like Lorde. He and his fallen angels still have powers even though God bound them in chains in the Earth. "Call all the ladies out, they're in their finery.A hundred jewels on throats.A hundred jewels between teeth.Now bring my boys in, their skin in craters like the moon.The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room.Dancin' around the lies we tell.Dancin' around big eyes as well.Even the comatose, they don't dance and tell" is talking about the illuminati and their fancy parties and how they keep secrets, etc. "I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air. So there.I'm kind of older than I was when I reveled without a care. So there." means that Satan is tired of people telling him to give up cuz he will ultimately lose to Jesus. Satan recognizes that he was pretty wild and harsh and that he has matured since his younger days when he first reveled with rebellion against God. "We live in cities you'll never see onscreen.Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things.Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams.And you know we're on each other's team." means that you won't ever see where Satan and his fallen angels are locked away and that even though they won't have a palace of their dreams, they can still run things effectively and live vicariously through evil men with what his wicked dreams are for us and that they are on each others team until the end.. "So all the cups got broke.Shards beneath our feet.But it wasn't my fault.And everyone's competing for a love they won't receive Cause what this palace wants is release." means that Satan is saying it isn't his fault but Gods fault that he is against us humans. And that you won't ever receive Satan's love, because he wants to release his wrath on us. He hates us... Just so you know, I am NOT a Christian and I am bullshitting about this interpretation. haha. I was trying to look at this from a Christian conspiracy theory perspective. hahaha. Got ya!