“…it might do all right.”

Royals by LORDE. Well?

Yes, the 17 year old ‘outsider’ has become the youngest artist to top the US Billboard in 25 years and has become a definite favourite in the UK, but why?

“I had a sneaking suspicion that it might do all right” were her words in June, 2013, and it did just that.

What is so striking about the fact that it has reached number one though? Not only has a 17 year old managed to enter the charts at number one, but she’s managed to release her music outside of New Zealand.

Now, I would not say that it can’t be done — because clearly, it can, but it’s not done often. There are some good artists in New Zealand, some fantastic artists in fact; but they never really hit it big over here in the UK or in the US for that matter. There’s a good reason for this, though.

Fashions change, along with trends and tastes — and they change ridiculously quickly. In the same way that I get inspiringly bored in a short period of time, people move from one thing to another expeditiously; and that’s unfair — but it’s nothing that will get any better.

People are impatient as it is, especially with how instantaneously things in their every day lives can change nowadays; the last thing they want to start doing is holding on for another artist to come their way.

Why wait for music to come to you when there are millions of songwriters and artists out there who can give you something now?

This is why music from New Zealand and Australia and many other large and well established countries doesn't do that well.

The UK, and especially the US, can pump out a multitude of new up-to-date songs that appeal to anyone and everyone, and no — they’re not all great, but that’s okay, because something new will be out within the next couple of hours. This is why it is so hard for countries like LORDE’s to get out to an audience in the UK or the US, because they simply can’t keep up with the turnover other’s can.

So what makes ‘Royals’ different?

Everything. As I've just said some of the detritus we come out with isn't what people want but they don’t mind, they’ll give it a listen because just around the corner is something new — and even that is probably some plebeian, spiritless, leftovers that nobody is interested in — and this is where Royals plays its aces.

It doesn't have a target audience, like the superiority of other tracks and artists do. It is a song that applies to anyone and anything, in a sense.

The weight the song carries is translated and illustrated into one’s own perspective. No one has really agreed on a set meaning for the song — but what us listeners do agree on, is that it is a song that portrays the effort and hardship of travelling into unknown waters.

LORDE’s lyrics depict the difficulties of starting over in a new world, a different country and culture; yet it applies to so many elements of life, it’s hard to target; and this is the reason it has taken so many by storm.

As I wrote earlier, the adversity LORDE had to overcome to become a key player within the British and American music scene was a feat of its own, along with the struggles many other artists have when entering new territories, and this song is about that.

It’s also about the diversity of its listeners, from the rich to the poor. I don’t necessarily mean wealth either — I mean the differences in her listeners. It doesn't really carry a genre, it doesn't appreciate ‘rockers’ more, neither does it apply to the ‘underground’ any less — it is a song that can be recognised and heard by all who care to listen.

It’s about going from nothing, to becoming everything you've ever wanted to be — and feeling alienated once you’re there; it’s about feeling like you’re nobody, to becoming the most talked about person in town — and letting it feel unwelcoming.

Another way to look at it: Everyone dreams of hitting the jackpot at least once in their lifetime — and I don’t mean gambling for it either. Apart from some of the deep and recluse tribes somewhere in the middle of nowhere, people don’t tend to go through their daily lives without wishing they had just that little bit more money, that paper stuff that supposedly brings happiness and joy. What if it didn’t though? What if, once you’d hit it big time, and made all the money you could ever wish for, you didn’t enjoy it as much as you thought? What if you actually didn’t like having all that money, and resented the fact that you had wished for it at all in the first place? This song illustrates that, too. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side — it’s most probably just a different shade of green and you might not like it as much as you think you might.

This is a song that applies to everything, and everyone — and for that, it should be heard.

Its appetisingly attractive musical content, with its harmonious chords and body-wrapping vocals gives this song a really deep texture and I really do believe it is something that I seriously cannot explain in words.

As you can probably tell through the space in your eyelids that are actually left open, I could talk about this song for a whole lot more, but I think it’s time I left you guys to it. Seriously, give it a listen; you will find meaning in its lyrical context, somewhere.

I appreciate your eyes,

J.