Green Light Lyrics
I do my makeup in somebody else's car
We order different drinks at the same bars
I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth
She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar
Those great whites, they have big teeth
Hope they bite you
Thought you said that you would always be in love
But you're not in love no more
Did it frighten you
How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor?
On the light up floor
But I hear sounds in my mind
Brand new sounds in my mind
But honey I'll be seein' you 'ever I go
But honey I'll be seein' you down every road
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
'Cause honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
Oh, I wish I could get my things and just let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
Sometimes I wake up in a different bedroom
I whisper things, the city sings 'em back to you
All those rumors, they have big teeth
Hope they bite you
Thought you said that you would always be in love
But you're not in love no more
Did it frighten you
How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor?
On the light up floor
But I hear sounds in my mind
Brand new sounds in my mind
But honey I'll be seein' you 'ever I go
But honey I'll be seein' you down every road
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
'Cause honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
Oh, honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
Yes, honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
Oh, I wish I could get my things and just let go
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
To me, this song is about that confusing time right after a breakup. You're angry, you're hurt, and you so desperately want to prove to yourself and the rest of the world that you're moving on. With both the song and the video, Lorde really nails those incredibly conflicted feelings that come in waves. One second you're happy and really feeling like you're moving forward, and then the next second a memory hits and you long for the past. It's about waiting for that "green light" moment when you finally move on, once and for all.
“Green Light” is about those little moments in your life when you stumble out of a Chinese buffet and throw up on the sidewalk and get arrested and throw up in jail too and then someone bails you out but won’t give you a ride home because you stink like Chinese buffet vomit so you walk home and then see a cool bird outside the police station and you chase it up a streetlight and you get up there but the bird flies away so you’re stuck up there and you look at the traffic light dangling below you and then one of the lights is green and so is the shirt you’re wearing and you’re like, “Nice.”
For me this is about a girl whose boyfriend cheated and she knows it. She wishes it were easier to just go to his place and gather her things and say goodbye without any attachment on her part, but she knows that it's going to be difficult to let go.
@ImaLilTpot yeah I think the gather her things from his place is a bit of a metaphor for letting go of the relationship (admitting it is over). She isn't ready to "go" (hence the title green light, although technically a green light means proceed with caution ... which the song could also mean, serving as a warning for others)
@ImaLilTpot yeah I think the gather her things from his place is a bit of a metaphor for letting go of the relationship (admitting it is over). She isn't ready to "go" (hence the title green light, although technically a green light means proceed with caution ... which the song could also mean, serving as a warning for others)
@ImaLilTpot I actually think that this might be about a girl that discovers that the guy she is dating (or considers her boyfriend) is already in a relationship with someone else.
@ImaLilTpot I actually think that this might be about a girl that discovers that the guy she is dating (or considers her boyfriend) is already in a relationship with someone else.
She refers to another woman that he is clearly deceiving and mistreating "I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar" But the singer herself doesn't seem to be taking direct umbrage. She's more expectant and uncertain than angry or betrayed.
She refers to another woman that he is clearly deceiving and mistreating "I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar" But the singer herself doesn't seem to be taking direct umbrage. She's more expectant and uncertain than angry or betrayed.
Like, "I found out you have another girl, and now you need...
Like, "I found out you have another girl, and now you need to make a decision". She'll come get her things, but she's not interested in letting go.
I think it's a scathing attack on people with FOMO (fear of missing out). The green light is an illusion. They are always chasing something, but it's always a little bit out of reach.
This is not a break up song.
There is clearly a guy who has cheated on his girlfriend. But the singer in this song is not the victim, she's the new girl having the affair. She wants permission, the green light, to stop sneaking around together and have a public relationship, after the guy breaks up with his current girl.
I do my makeup in somebody else's car We order different drinks at the same bars
This is sung to the guy. It's his car she's avoiding, because she can't be seen with him. Similarly they want to be in the same place but not anyone to see them as together (different drinks is that they are ordering separately).
I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar
He cheated on his girlfriend with her, when he said he was going to the beach. She hates hiding being with him.
Those great whites, they have big teeth Oh, they bite you
The lying will hurt you at some point (note "great whites" becomes "All those rumors" later in the song)
Thought you said that you would always be in love But you're not in love no more
Telling him he doesn't love his ex any more
Did it frighten you How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor? On the light up floor
She's asking if the guy is afraid of his new passions, is he fearful of being driven by his feelings to leave his girlfriend and start a new relationship.
But I hear sounds in my mind Brand new sounds in my mind But honey I'll be seein' you, ever, I go But honey I'll be seein' you down every road
New sounds; she's smitten with him. It's new love. And she wants him so she's not going to just disappear.
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
She wants permission to go public, she wants a proper relationship.
'Cause honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go Oh, I wish I could get my things and just let go
She's spent the night (after the bar). She'll leave and keep the secret, but this is not the end of things. She wishes she could just forget him, but can't.
Sometimes I wake up in a different bedroom I whisper things, the city sings 'em back to you
They can't always be together, but she's still thinking of him
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Most people want to interpret her as the victim here, but this way makes a much more interesting and less cliched song IMO. The "green light" makes no sense from the victim perspective; you don't need anyone's permission to get over someone. The whole vibe "I'm waiting for it, I want it" is all about positivity and hope and excitement; it's clear in the music too (the piano from "but i hear sounds in my mind"...), it's not about the melancholic longing and anger and pain of a break up. The line about being frightened by the kiss is a key one here too, it makes no sense if she was the girlfriend/victim. Why would he be afraid of kissing his girlfriend that he's fallen out of love with.
hm well i read she said about the song in an interview with zane lowe;
hm well i read she said about the song in an interview with zane lowe;
The song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate towards. I say, “She thinks you love the beach, you’re such a liar”. What the fuck, she thinks you like the beach?! You don’t like the beach! It’s those little stupid things. It sounds so happy and then the lyrics are so intense obviously. And I realized I was like, “how come this thing is coming out so joyous sounding?” And...
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The song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate towards. I say, “She thinks you love the beach, you’re such a liar”. What the fuck, she thinks you like the beach?! You don’t like the beach! It’s those little stupid things. It sounds so happy and then the lyrics are so intense obviously. And I realized I was like, “how come this thing is coming out so joyous sounding?” And I realized this is that drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend who everyone thinks is a mess. That’s her tonight and tomorrow she starts to rebuild. And that’s the song for me.
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so i guess my interpretation was not intended, although i still like it. Since I can't edit or retract my last post i'll have another go from the opposite perspective;
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We order different drinks at the same bars
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i guess they hang out in the same circles but not together now
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I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth
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maybe she doesn't scream truth as she doesn't want to seem crazy and bitter to others
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She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar
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explained above
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Those great whites, they have big teeth Oh, they bite you
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this kind of makes more sense, now. double-entendre "white lies" (i like the beach) and the sharks (re: beach)
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Thought you said that you would always be in love But you're not in love no more
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This a bit more too; rarely you'd tell someone that you'll always love a different person.
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Did it frighten you How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor? On the light up floor
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This was the bit i didn't get. but maybe it's due to the crazyness of these immediate moments, some self delusion. Maybe she was trying to "show him what he would be missing" to change his mind type thing.. /shrug
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But I hear sounds in my mind Brand new sounds in my mind
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here she's flip flopping to new positivity and perspective
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But honey I'll be seein' you, ever, I go But honey I'll be seein' you down every road
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hanging in the same circles and not being over it all yet
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I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
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green light to move on conflicts with the last line IMO. but maybe that's the point; a conflict filled mind?
A tiny bit of me thinks my first interpretation fits much better, maybe she didn't want to say she'd made herself the bad girl in the song.. but realistically i doubt it!
@philossoffe Totally agree with this.
@philossoffe Totally agree with this.
"Green Light" is a song that explores the trials and tribulations of the proverbial "other woman" in an affair.
"Green Light" is a song that explores the trials and tribulations of the proverbial "other woman" in an affair.
The nature of the man's relationship is never specified, though I think the song has the most punch when it is interpreted to be a marriage. Either way, it's clear that his relationship is a long-term, well-known cohabitation situation that has a significance comparable to a marriage.
The nature of the man's relationship is never specified, though I think the song has the most punch when it is interpreted to be a marriage. Either way, it's clear that his relationship is a long-term, well-known cohabitation situation that has a significance comparable to a marriage.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses intense inner conflict, ranging from disgust and anger with him at times to ecstatic excitement and hope for what...
Throughout the song, the singer expresses intense inner conflict, ranging from disgust and anger with him at times to ecstatic excitement and hope for what could be.at other times.
This song encourages a little "sympathy for devil" for a typically vilified figure. I see it as being in the same genre as The Scarlet Letter.
Lorde is young but precocious. Her intelligence and maturity, particularly for her age, are apparent throughout her music, and not by accident. With an album titled "Pure Heroine" at 17, a song of this gravity is par for the course at 21. Think of what she will produce over the next decade. Such talent!
It's about not wanting to let go and wishing you cold hold on to what you could, even if it was just a one night stand. She's waiting for that green light, to go, one more time even if it's not forever.
Es una clara canción sobre post-ruptura amorosa, al parecer su novio la engañó con otra y ella no solo se enteró de esto sino de cosas que le dijo a esa chica para seducirla ("I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar")
Ella se muestra dolida, y con un leve resentimiento, y recurre a la metafora de si "esos dientes blancos", como preguntandole si no se arrepiente o si no le carcome la conciencia haberla engañado, a la vez que le cuestiona el hecho de que le haya dicho que la iba a amar por siempre cuando finalmente no fué así. ("Those great whites, they have big teeth Oh, they bite you Thought you said that you would always be in love But you're not in love no more")
Apartir de ahi la canción cambia, entra el piano en un tono mas bailable y empieza el quiebre: ella empieza a experimentar sensaciones nuevas, que quizás cuando estaba en pareja, no habia experimentado ("But I hear sounds in my mind, Brand new sounds in my mind"), y se siente atraída por ellas, pero a la vez recuerda a su ex-novio, simplemente porque no puede evitarlo ("But honey I'll be seein' you, ever, I go, But honey I'll be seein' you down every road"). Y luego grita por la "luz verde" que es una clara referencia a la idea de ser libre, de poder seguir su camino sin él de una vez por todas. ("I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it").
Es una canción hermosa y perfecta sobre una ruptura amorosa y de alguien que, a pesar de estar dolida y aun seguida enamorada de esa persona que la traicionó, entiende que tiene que seguir adelante.