Royals
Lorde * Track #3 On Pure Heroine
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Royals by Lorde
Release Date
Performed by
LordeProduced by
Joel LittleAbout
Royals is the lead single off Lorde’s 2012 breakout EP The Love Club. It debuted at #1 in New Zealand, and eventually topped the Billboard Hot 100, outranking Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball”.
The song has been praised for its minimalistic beat and mature lyrics, which detail t...
Royals 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 a torn-up town, no postcode envy
[Pre-Chorus]
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, 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
[Chorus]
And we'll never be royals (Royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe 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]
But every song's like
Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, 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 luxe 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
[Bridge]
(Oh, oh-oh)
We're bigger than we ever dreamed
And I'm in love with being queen
(Oh, oh-oh)
Life is great without a 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 luxe 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
[Produced by Joel Little]
[Video by Joel Kefali]
Royals Q&A
Who wrote Royals's ?
Royals was written by Lorde & Joel Little.
Who produced Royals's ?
Royals was produced by Joel Little.
What did Lorde say about "Royals"?
In an interview for VEVO, Lorde said,
I was definitely poking fun at a lot of things that people take to be normal. I was listening to a lot of hip-hop and I kind of started to realize that to be cool in hip-hop, you have to have that sort of car and drink that sort of vodka and have that sort of w...
What has the media said about the song?
In 2018, NPR ranked this as the #6 greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, saying:
Dismissing materialist luxe and bloody drama, Lorde’s debut single was interpreted by some as a closed-minded critique of hip-hop. Really, it’s more like a love letter to the form. ‘Royals’...
How did Lorde react to the song's massive success?
In a July 2021 interview with Vogue, she recalled:
The first weekend we put it out, I went on the Soundcloud and all these people who I didn’t know were listening to it, and I think I realized this is bigger than just me and my friends. […] [The first time I heard it on the radio] I was in my paren...
Is there a live performance of the song?
Yes! On September 13, 2013, Lorde interpreted the song live at C à vous.