Lorde - Royals Official Video, Lyrics & Review

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I've never seen a diamond in the flesh
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not proud of my address
In the torn up town, no post code envy

[Pre-Chorus]
But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tiger's on a gold leash
We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

[Chorus]
And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of lux just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler), you can call me Queen Bee
And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule...)
Let me live that fantasy

[Verse 2]
My friends and I we've cracked the code
We count our dollars on the train to the party
And everyone who knows us knows
That we're fine with this, we didn't come from money

[Pre-Chorus + Chorus]

[Bridge]
(Oooh ooooh ohhh)
We're bigger than we ever dreamed, and I'm in love with being queen
(Oooooh ooooh ohhhhh)
Life is great without a care
We aren't caught up in your love affair

[Chorus]

Review

If Adele was still a teenager and she was hanging out with Grimes, she might sound a bit like Lorde on "Royals." However, a unique element about Lorde is that her song sounds like it's seeking to gather together a movement of fellow teens that are being raised outside the realm of wealth. This is a brilliant song of solidarity for a new generation.
Pros

    A different way of seeing the world for teens
    Spare production surrounding the clarity of Lorde's vocals
    Powerful lyrics

Cons

    One of the best releases of the year

Description

    Written by Ella Yelich O'Connor and Joel Little
    Produced by Joel Little
    Released March 2013 by Universal

Guide Review - Lorde - "Royals"

And along comes the anti-Rihanna. 16 year old Ella Yelich-O'Connor, aka Lorde, has one of the strongest pop debuts in recent history. Her debut single "Royals" casts a sidelong glance at wealth, living in the right neighborhood, and conspicuous consumption to champion young people who, "Crave a different kind of buzz." The production is stripped down to such a minimalist level that it highlights Lorde's deadpan vocals as she clearly enunciates every word of the powerful lyrics. Despite the lack of ornamentation, ultimately there is something powerfully romantic about Lorde's fantasies of being, "Queen Bee."

"Royals" comes from the direction of alternative radio. However, the song's structure and melody are pure pop. It makes sense for Lorde to be embraced first by the alternative community because she places "Royals" in direct opposition to a vision of the pop mainstream as obsessed with diamonds, jet planes, and gold teeth. She sings, "We aren't caught up in your love affair." In the tradition of rock musicians of the past becoming champions of outsider groups, Lorde has placed herself as a voice for teens who do not value a current image of pop glamour.

Lorde's "Royals" not only depicts a different understanding of what it means to be successful as a teen in life, but also, as a female solo artist, she runs counter to the most successful alternative pop artists of the most recent generation. She is the first solo female to top the US alternative songs chart in 17 years. As simple as this song may seem on the surface, it is in actuality one of the most powerfully subversive pop hits in recent memory...and that sounds very, very good.

Lorde - Team - Official Video, Lyrics & Review

   

Lyrics

Wait 'til you’re announced
We’ve not yet lost all our graces
The hounds will stay in chains
Look upon your greatness
That you’ll send
The call I'll send

Call all the ladies out
They’re in their finery
A hundreds 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

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

I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air, so there
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

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

I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air
So there
I’m kinda older than I was when I revelled without a care
So there

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

We're on each other's team
And you know, we're on each other's team
We're on each other's team
And you know, and you know, and you know

Review

Ten months after floating out her debut EP online for free in her native New Zealand, Ella Yelich-O'Connor, the teenage singer-songwriter known as Lorde, has conjured an immense amount of stateside interest in her first full-length. Fortunately, "Pure Heroine" (note the silent E in both the title and its author's stage name) delivers on the promise of Lorde's Top 10 hit "Royals," and then some.

Built around producer Joel Little's deep bass rumbles, lilting loops and programmed beats, the album evokes the shadowy sonics of Massive Attack and the XX. In the center of the heaviness, however, is a 16-year-old with a dynamic voice and an even better pop sensibility: "Ribs" finds Lorde waxing poetic about the scariness of getting older, while new single "Team" fashions a commanding hook out of the singer's disillusionment with modern pop music.

"We're dancing in this world alone," she concludes on the finale "A World Alone." Even if that's true, "Pure Heroine" has provided an immaculate soundtrack to that solitude. This 16-year-old's first album is so smart that it begins with the line "Don't you think that it's boring how people talk?" and ends with the statement, "Let them talk." In between is an exploration into the soul of a quiet girl in the Internet age, trying to feel something and not envy everything.

September has been a profoundly great month for new female vocalists in popular music, but Lorde is easily the most vocally striking and lyrically thought-provoking. "Pure Heroine" is honest and addictive. Welcome to the age of Lorde.

 

Passenger - Let Her Go Video, Lyrics & Review

Lyrics

You only need the light when it's burning low,
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow,
Only know you love her when you let her go.

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home.
Only know you love her when you let her go,
And you let her go.

Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast
You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why
Everything you touch surely dies

But you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause Love comes slow and it goes so fast

Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
Cause you loved her too much and you dived too deep

Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go ooooh ooooh oh no

And you let her go
ooooh ooooh oh no

Well you let her go

ooooh ooooh oh no

Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Review

'Dreams come slow'; a defining statement made by Brighton and Hove born folk singer Michael Rosenberg, more commonly known as Passenger, featuring on his latest single, 'Let Her Go'.

10 years after forming folk-rock band 'Passenger' and four years after continuing as solo singer/songwriter by the same name, the UK have finally embraced and acknowledged the talent and vocal versatility of Passenger. After playing many open-mic nights in England, Passenger found deserved acknowledgment busking in Australia, making it no surprise that 'Let Her Go' topped the charts there, however few could have predicted it's international success topping the charts in 16 countries. So far! Passenger has finally received the notable success he was working for 10 years prior.

The instantly distinguishable yet controversial (many have criticized his delivery style in the past) vocals of the 29 year old is complimented by an orchestra of acoustics consisting of guitars, violins, bass and a piano which harmonies with the acoustic guitar, particularly in the simple yet memorable introductory high pitched riff, which is followed by the equally as gracious vocals. Despite the folk influences, don't expect the same lyrical inspiration or moving honesty of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger; unfortunately, like the majority of pop songs, the lyrics are repetitive and generic with a simple message relating to love: 'Only know you love her when you let her go', but this is what makes the song so catchy and successful. Despite the slow and simple start, the tempo and amplitude changes, producing a more substantial sound with a simple percussive drum beat suitable for dancing.

Thanks to the likes of modern acoustic artists such as Ben Howard and Ed Sheeran (who Passenger recently toured with), the demographics of the charts has been broadened making Passenger a contending artist for a future number one.

Talk Dirty Jason Derulo Featuring 2 Chainz - Video, Lyrics & Review

 

 Lyrics

 

"Talk Dirty"
(feat. 2 Chainz)

Jason
Jason Derulo
Get jazzy on me

[Jason Derulo:]
I'm that flight that you get on, international
First class seat on my lap girl, riding comfortable
Cause I know what the girl them need, New York to Haiti
I got lipstick stamps on my passport, you make it hard to leave

[Jason Derulo:]
Been around the world, don't speak the language
But your booty don't need explaining
All I really need to understand is
When you talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Get jazzy on me

[Jason Derulo:]
You know the words to my songs
No habla inglés
Our conversations ain't long
But you know what is
I know what the girl them want, London to Taiwan
I got lipstick stamps on my passport
I think I need a new one

[Jason Derulo:]
Been around the world, don't speak the language
But your booty don't need explaining
All I really need to understand is
When you talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me

[Jason Derulo:]
Uno, met a friend in Rio
Dos, she was all on me-o
Tres, we could ménage à three-o
Cuatro, ooh

[2 Chainz:]
Dos Cadenas, closed the genius
Sold out arenas, you can suck my penis
Gilbert Arenas, guns on deck
Chest to chest, tongue on neck
International oral sex
Every picture I take, I pose a threat
Boat or jet, what do you expect?
Her pussy so good I bought her a pet
Anyway, every day I'm trying to get to it
Got her saved in my phone under "Big Booty"
Anyway, every day I'm trying to get to it
Got her saved in my phone under "Big Booty"

[Jason Derulo:]
Been around the world, don't speak the language
But your booty don't need explaining
All I really need to understand is
When you talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Get jazzy on me

What? I don't understand!
 

Review  

 

During his international travels, Jason DeRulo often finds himself unable to converse with locals in their native tongue. When it comes to spitting game to beautiful women, however, the R&B/pop singer always manages to make himself understood. On new single Talk Dirty, the Warner Bros. crooner celebrates the power of lust to transcend national, cultural and linguistic borders. Producer Ricky Reed looks to Israeli-American pop group Balkan Beat Box for inspiration on the production tip, flipping a woodwind-driven sample from 2007 album inclusion Hermetico. 2 Chainz caps the record off with a raunchy closing verse.

Say Something A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera - Video, Lyrics & Review

 

Lyrics

 

[Chorus]
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

[Verse 1]
And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl

[Chorus 2]
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

[Verse 2]
And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye

[Chorus 3]
Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
And anywhere, I would have followed you
Oh... say something, I'm giving up on you

[Outro]
Say something, I'm giving up on you
Say something...

 

Review

 

 You know it seems like you’ve never heard of an act and then, in a flash, it seems like they’ve everywhere? So it is with A Great Big World.

The New York duo composed of Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino first caught people’s  attention with their viral hit “This Is the New Year,” which was covered on “Glee” earlier this year.

Then on Nov. 4, they performed their fragile, sad piano ballad, “Say Something,” with Christina Aguilera on “The Voice.” A studio version of the tune, also featuring Aguilera, was released that night on iTunes and sold enough copies for the song to soar to No. 2 on the ITunes Songs chart, according to Billboard.

And now the video of the song, released last night,  takes its anguish to a new level. If you’re not reduced to tears by the elderly couple, your last name is clearly Grinch and your heart needs to grow three sizes immediately. While Aguilera over-emotes a little in the video, she shows admirable restraint vocally, beautifully pairing with Axel’s vocals. The tune, which is No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100,  could have the sustaining success of Pink’s “Just Give Me A Reason,” featuring fun.’s Nate Ruess.

Following a self-released, Kickstarter-funded EP, A Great Big World has since signed with Black Magnetic/Epic Records, and will release its full-length debut album, "It There Anybody Out There,"  early next year.

As for Aguilera, she seems to be having more success as a featured artist right now than as  the main attraction. She and Pitbull took “Feel This Moment” to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year and it topped Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Songs.

Timber Pitbull Featuring Ke$ha Video, Lyrics & Review

Lyrics

 "Timber"
(feat. Ke$ha)

[Ke$ha]
It's going down, I'm yelling timber
You better move, you better dance
Let's make a night you won't remember
I'll be the one you won't forget

Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it's going down)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it's going down)

[Pitbull]
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
These big-iddy boys are dig-gidy dogs
I have 'em like Miley Cyrus, clothes off
Twerking in their bras and thongs, timber
Face down, booty up, timber
That's the way we like to–what?–timber
I'm slicker than an oil spill
She say she won't, but I bet she will, timber

Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it's going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it's going down
Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it's going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it's going down

[Ke$ha]
It's going down, I'm yelling timber
You better move, you better dance
Let's make a night you won't remember
I'll be the one you won't forget

It's going down (it's going down), I'm yelling timber
You better move (you better move), you better dance (you better dance)
Let's make a night you won't remember
I'll be the one you won't forget (you won't forget)

Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it's going down)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it's going down)

[Pitbull]
Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane
Nah, it's just me, ain't a damn thing changed
Live in hotels, swing on planes
Blessed to say, money ain't a thing
Club jumping like LeBron now, Volí
Order me another round, homie
We about to clown. Why? 'Cause it's about to go down

Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it's going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it's going down
Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it's going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it's going down

[Ke$ha]
It's going down, I'm yelling timber
You better move, you better dance
Let's make a night you won't remember
I'll be the one you won't forget

It's going down (it's going down), I'm yelling timber
You better move, you better dance (you better dance)
Let's make a night (let's make a night) you won't remember
I'll be the one (I'll be the one) you won't forget (you won't forget)

Wooooah wooooah (hey), wooooah (it's going down)
Wooooah wooooah (timber), wooooah (it's going down)

Wooooah (timber), wooooah, wooooah (it's going down)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (you won't forget), wooooah (timber) 

Review

No current top pop artist does mindless dancefloor fun better than Pitbull.  Yes, "Timber" would be impossible without the influence of Avicii's boundary pushing "Wake Me Up," and it's not as artful, but this song is an outstanding party track.  Ke$ha joins the party singing the chorus, and she brings along Dr. Luke and Cirkut to help produce.  The relative newcomer for mainstream pop is British producer Sermstyle.  He's only 25, but he's already worked with top level rappers Wiz Khalifa and Kendrick Lamar.

The most obvious unique element to "Timber" is that wailing harmonica.  Avicii has taught us that country and folk sounds are not incompatible with today's electronic dance music.  Pitbull adds a, "Swing your partner round and round" refrain to turn the whole record into some sort of dance pop hoedown.  Lyrically, there is not a lot new here.  Ke$ha carries the call to the dance floor, while Pitbull continues to enjoy talking about himself.  He does mention twerking and Miley Cyrus and then delivers one of his best self-celebratory lines yet.  "Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane. No, it's just me, ain't a damn thing changed."

Pitbull is gearing up to deliver an eighth studio album sometime in 2014.  With the massive worldwide success of "Feel This Moment" fresh in the minds of pop fans, "Timber" finds himself merrily continuing on his international party pop path.  Ke$ha is the one who has a lot to gain from this track.  Her commercial success has trailed off badly with her last two singles failing to sell a million copies.  Ke$ha sounds great here, and the song is as much hers as it is Pitbull's.  Get ready to be yelling, "Timber!" in the club.

katy perry dark horse Video, Lyrics & Review

Lyrics

"Dark Horse"
(feat. Juicy J)

Oh, no.

[Juicy J:]
Yeah
Ya'll know what it is
Katy Perry
Juicy J, aha.
Let's rage

[Katy Perry:]
I knew you were
You were gonna come to me
And here you are
But you better choose carefully
‘Cause I, I’m capable of anything
Of anything and everything

Make me your Aphrodite
Make me your one and only
Don’t make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine
There’s no going back

Mark my words
This love will make you levitate
Like a bird
Like a bird without a cage
But down to earth
If you choose to walk away, don’t walk away

It’s in the palm of your hand now baby
It’s a yes or no, no maybe
So just be sure before you give it all to me
All to me, give it all to me

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine
There’s no going back

[Juicy J - Rap Verse]
Uh
She’s a beast
I call her Karma (come back)
She eats your heart out
Like Jeffrey Dahmer (woo)
Be careful
Try not to lead her on
Shawty’s heart was on steroids
Cause her love was so strong
You may fall in love
When you meet her
If you get the chance you better keep her
She's sweet as pie but if you break her heart
She'll turn cold as a freezer
That fairy tale ending with a knight in shining armor
She can be my Sleeping Beauty
I’m gon’ put her in a coma
Woo!
Damn I think I love her
Shawty so bad
I’m sprung and I don’t care
She ride me like a roller coaster
Turn the bedroom into a fair
Her love is like a drug
I was tryna hit it and quit it
But lil' mama so dope
I messed around and got addicted

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for (you should know)
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse (like a dark horse)
Are you ready for, ready for (ready for)
A perfect storm, perfect storm (a perfect storm)
Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine (mine)
There’s no going back

Reviews

There is a reason why Katy Perry continues to sidestep the usual trappings of pop diva stardom. She doesn’t come off as gratingly contrived as Lady Gaga. You never get the sense that she’s part of some brazen look-at-me, culture vulture science project like Miley Cyrus. Perry doesn’t carry the same mean-girl baggage as Taylor Swift nor is she a prisoner of her own bad girl making as is Rihanna. No, Katy Perry is content with cranking out grandiose, we-can-change-the-world, female empowering anthems. For you Wikipedia heads, the bubbly California girl can be summed up as the millennial Helen Reddy who can stop traffic just by sporting an Elmo T-shit.

But on the surface, Perry’s latest offering, “Dark Horse,” seems like the antithesis of the singer-songwriter’s usual hopeful material. A break from fist-pumping sing-alongs like “I Kissed a Girl,” “California Girls,” “Firework,” “Last Friday Night,” and her current official single “Roar,” the Dr. Luke produced track is dark and sleazy without the morning after guilt. Perry cleverly takes on the role of an addictive drug as she warns her lover that he will undoubtedly become hooked: “So you wanna play with magic/Boy, you should know whatcha falling for/Baby do you dare to do this/‘Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse…”

As if the love-equals-crack nod didn’t get through enough, Perry enlist the services of Mr. Trippy himself, Juicy J, who is amid an improbable hip-hop comeback as you read this review. The former Three 6 Mafia frontman, Wiz Khalifah affiliate and resident vice-king actually plays the good cop (imagine that!), warning Perry’s hook-up to take it easy on the girl-next-door: “Be careful/Try not to lead her on/Shawty’s heart is on steroids/Cause her love is so strong.” Yes, Perry is toying around with her safe-to-take-home-to-mom image by jumping on the Trap Pop bandwagon. But when you have a groove this infectiously sexy and a good girl willing to go all the way, what’s to complain about?