Lorde Says Her Breakthrough Single ‘Royals’ Is “Disastrous And Awful”

By Greg Moskovitch

Music is rife with tales of songwriters who come to hate the tune that gave them their big break, like late Warrant frontman Jani Lane who cursed the day that he became “the Cherry Pie guy,” but Lorde says that while she’s not the biggest fan of her hit Royals, it’s for purely musical reasons.

According to The Edge, Lorde recently told UK paper The Daily Record that listening to covers of the song performed by other artists or almost anyone with an acoustic guitar and a webcam, has forced her to reexamine the composition of the track, which she’s labelled “disastrous” and “awful.”

“I listen to people covering the song and putting their own spin on it, and I listen to it in every single form except the original one I put out, and I realise that actually, it sounds horrible,” said the NZ songstress. “It sounds like a ringtone from a 2006 Nokia. None of the melodies are cool or good.”

“It’s disastrous,” she added. “Awful… But for the same reason, in the context of the way I released it, it just worked out.” Despite Lorde’s own estimation of the track, Royals has been a hit with fans and critics, taking home a Grammy and recently a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Song.

Speaking recently to Stylist, Lorde revealed that she’s not bent on having a huge follow-up to her massive 2013 debut Pure Heroine, saying, “To be honest, if the next record I make is really cool and I like it, I can handle it being really big and I can handle it being small… if I love it that’s okay.”

Gallery: Laneway Festival 2014 – Sydney, 02/02/14

Photos by Annette Geneva

Watch: Lorde – Royals

Laneway Festival - Sydney, 02/02/14

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Greg Moskovitch
Greg Moskovitch

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