She’s only 17, yet Lorde appears to be the only female artist capable of being a role model in an industry dominated by scantily clad, lyrically challenged and ego seeking divas.
I recently attended her tour in Festival Hall, another sign of smart planning; rather than use a more commercial venue such as Rod Laver Arena, a smaller and more intimate setting was chosen to demonstrate the talents of Ella Yelich-O’Connor.
Lorde has a presence few can claim. She walks onto the stage with such confidence in all-black attire, a face set in stone and fans screaming her name.
Her dance moves are unique; she doesn’t grind up and down on poles, have male back-up dancers or use enough lighting to burn holes into retinas.
But most importantly she is humble and demonstrates an emotional love for fans. This tour was delayed due to a sickness that rendered Lorde unable to sing to the best of her abilities, and she genuinely apologised. Some would be too proud, others simply would not care. They think because they’re the stars that they can do what they want and everyone will follow. This is only true because of the climate set in the industry.
A love of Australians was discussed. It was us who helped thrust her into the spotlight. We aren’t as forgiving as our European and American counterparts; if an artist comes to our shores to promote themselves rather than connect with fans and show appreciation, we lose interest. Rightly so.
The songs from her debut album, Pure Heroine, are a class above the apparent ‘hits’ you’ll hear if tuning in to the popular radio stations of today. Compare Beyoncé’s biggest hit Girls to Lorde’s biggest hit Royals, for example.
Beyoncé (who’s lyrics would puzzle any English student) discusses how girls run the world, how boys shouldn’t try to touch her and that her services need to be paid for: ‘I remind you I’m so hood with this, boy I’m just playing, come here baby, hope you still like me, fuck you pay me.’
Lorde sings about humble beginnings, of the dreams everyday people have whilst listening to tunes about the rich life:
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.
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, tigers on a gold leash
We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair
The message is simple: we don’t care about your highlife, your fame, your financial power or the assets you’ve purchased. Without the fans you’d have nothing, and we’re happy living our lives as long as we can have a fantasy of our own.
Despite this, every other song boasts the same strength.
A World Alone: All the double-edged people and schemes. They make a mess then go home and get clean.
Team: We live in cities you’ll never see on screen. Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things. Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams.
The same message flows.
She doesn’t preach, she doesn’t complain and she prefers not to argue with the opposition, even when they attack her. Months ago various well known artists teased her on social media about her 24 year old boyfriend, a photographer, labelling him ugly. They even dabbled into racism, as he is of Asian descent. Tyler the Creator posted a photo of the pair with the caption ‘hahahahaha’. She didn’t fight back. Ask yourself, what would the likes of Beyoncé, The Kardashians, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have done in response?
It’s is becoming increasingly difficult to find an icon in the industry with integrity, a level head, an individual persona and the intelligence to influence young people in a way that compliments fame.
The respect this young lady warrants should make the others smarten up their act. Her final words on tour: Let them talk.
