From the moment you press play, Lorde’s Melodrama album takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the highs and lows of a breakup, symbolized through the concept of one unforgettable house party. Each of the album’s songs, while also able to stand alone, represent events of the party, that feeling of heartbreak, and the ever-changing teen spirit.
In the album’s first track, “Green Light,” the energy of the party is high and the possibilities are endless. This feeling represents the newness of your connection with someone and brings to mind two words: absolute freedom. In “Sober,” a friend whispers “Don’t look now, but…” as you’re faced with an unexpected appearance as they enter the room. Tensions are high – is now the time to make a move? By “Homemade Dynamite,” you’ve let yourself sink into this out-of-the-blue arrival and an explosively fun night follows. The relationship feels new and exciting; you’re riding an endless high.
Reaching “The Louvre,” you’ve danced and laughed for hours and all you feel is pure bliss. That same feeling arises in the ever-transient honeymoon period of the relationship, and you would do just about anything to freeze this moment and frame it in an art museum. Like all things, loving in excess can turn a sweetness into a decay. By “Liability,” you see that this night, and this love, has gone overboard. Love, turned to obsession, has pushed them away, so you find yourself realizing that what you searched for in them was the love you needed most from yourself.
In “Hard Feelings/Loveless,” you sit in the bathroom at the party and feel it all coming to an end. It hits you that your “love is a ghost,” and when they walk in, everything pours out at once. The anger hits and you snap out of the trance you’ve been in all night… and throughout the whole relationship. You leave the bathroom in a rush of emotion and lights come on to “Sober II.” The party is finally over and you feel that you’re finally able to shine a light on what you’ve experienced. That melancholy feeling stays with you, but it puts into perspective how small the room and these problems suddenly feel when the lights come up.