Lorde has been one of my favorite artists since I first heard her at a music festival in 2013 shortly after her first album, Pure Heroine, came out. I was captivated by her stage presence and new sound and have always felt connected to her music. As we wait for her next album, I’ve passed some of the time ranking every one of her songs from my least favorite to favorite.
- Ladder Song (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Soundtrack, 2014)
-
To be fair, I haven’t listened to this song a lot.
Best Lyric: Don’t hang around when a promise breaks / Or you’ll be around when the next one’s made
- Homemade Dynamite Remix (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Perhaps my most unpopular opinion, but I just don’t love this song or the original.
Favorite lyric: So let’s let things come out of the woodwork / I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies
- Homemade Dynamite (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Favorite lyric: Dancing with our shoes off/ Know I think you’re awesome, right?
- Yellow Flicker Beat (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Soundtrack, 2014)
-
I remember how excited I was when I heard this for the first time in theaters, but haven’t listened to it much since.
Favorite lyric: This is the start of how it all ends / They used to shout my name now they whisper it
- Biting Down (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
Has anyone else noticed the teeth motif in Lorde’s music?
Favorite lyric: The electronics of your heart / See how fast they fall apart
- Sober (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Many say all the songs Melodrama take place at one party, and “Sober” certainly illustrates that narrative.
Favorite lyric: B-bodies all through my house / I know this story by heart / Jack and Jill get f*cked up and possessive when it gets dark
- Royals (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
Lorde’s breakout song “Royals” put her on the map and made her one of my favorite artists many years ago.
Favorite lyric: “We’re bigger than we ever dreamed, and I’m in love with being queen.”
- White Teeth Teens (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
One of the more pop-style songs on her debut album Pure Heroine, “White Teeth Teens” is still a classic.
Favorite lyric: Their molars blinking like the lights, in the underpass where we all sit / And do nothing and love it
- Glory and Gore (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
A song that I loved when I was 13.
Favorite lyric: But in all the chaos there is calculation / Droppin’ glasses just to hear them break
- Team (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
I love Lorde for her unique sound and this song for how it stands apart from the others on the album.
Favorite lyric: And everyone’s competing / For a love they won’t receive / Cause what this palace wants is release
- Green Light (Melodrama, 2017)
-
“Green Light” was the first single off of Melodrama and sets the scene for the narrative of the album, which many believe tells the story of multiple couples in different stages of their relationships at a party throughout the night.
Favorite lyric: But honey I’ll be seeing you ‘ever I go / But honey I’ll be seeing you down every road
- Perfect Places (Melodrama, 2017)
-
This song hasn’t hit the same since I turned 20.
Favorite lyric: I hate the headlines and the weather / I’m nineteen and I’m on fire
- Bravado (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
IMHO, some of the best songs from this album come from the extended edition.
Favorite lyric: It’s in your bloodstream / a collision of atoms that happened before your eyes / It’s a marathon run or mountain you scaled without thinking the size
- The Love Club (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
Lorde’s music really speaks to the teenage experience, and “The Love Club” is all about what it’s like being friends with people who make you lose yourself.
Favorite lyric: My mother’s love is choking me / I’m sick of words that hang above my head / What about the kid? It’s time the kid got free
- Million Dollar Bills (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
This song is one of my favorite ones of Lorde’s to dance to, perfect for Friday nights in with my roommate.
Favorite lyric: There’s nothing that’s hurt / like letting you go / it’s like a bird’s eyes / in the dark dark dark dark
- Hard Feelings / Loveless (Melodrama, 2017)
-
“Hard Feelings” > “Loveless,” but I love the contrast between these two songs and the fact that they are placed together at the end of the album.
Favorite lyric from “Hard Feelings”: But I remember the rush / when forever was us / before all of the winds of regret and mistrust / now we sit in your car and our love is a ghost / well, I guess I should go, yeah, I guess I should go
- Sober II (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Controversial to rank “Sober II” higher than “Sober”? Perhaps, but I stand firmly behind it.
Favorite lyric: You asked if I was feeling it, I’m psycho high / Know you won’t remember in the morning when I speak my mind / Lights are on and they’ve gone home, but who am I?
- Still Sane (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
About Lorde coming into the spotlight, “Still Sane” speaks to anyone who has had to adjust to a new life.
Favorite Lyric: Only bad people live to see their likeness set in stone / What does that make me?
- Supercut (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Another one of my favorite songs from summer 2017, we love a pop moment.
Favorite lyric: So I fall into continents and cars / all the stages and the stars / I turn all of it to just a supercut
- Tennis Court (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
The first line of the first song on her first album, is “don’t you think it’s boring how people talk” from “Tennis Court” and the last is “let ‘em talk” in “World Alone.” Now, that is musical genius.
Favorite lyric: But my heads fillin’ up fast with the wicked games / up in flames / how can I f*ck with the fun again when I’m known?
- Liability Reprise (Melodrama, 2017)
-
One of Lorde’s most beautiful songs, the simplicity of “Liability” (Reprise) showcases the beauty and range in her voice.
Favorite lyric: Maybe all this is the party / maybe the tears and the highs we breathe / Maybe all this is the party / maybe we just do it violently
- Magnets (Disclosure ft. Lorde, Caracel, 2015)
-
“Magnets” stands out from the rest of Lorde’s music, but I absolutely love it. I also love the A-Trak Remix of this song.
Favorite lyric: I love this secret language that we’re speaking / Let’s embrace the point of no return
- Liability (Melodrama, 2017)
-
“Liability” is a song many people can relate to, about feeling like you’re “a little much” for people in your life.
Favorite lyric: I do my best to meet her demands / Play it romance / We slow dance in the living room but all that a stranger would see is one girl / Swaying alone / Stroking her cheek
- Buzzcut Season (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
My 13-year-old self would’ve put this a lot higher.
Favorite lyric: Explosions on TV / And all the girls with heads inside a dream / So now we live beside the pool / Where everything is good
- No Better (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
For some reason this song isn’t on Spotify, but it’s worth finding a platform to listen to it on. I use YouTube!
Favorite lyrics: And everywhere we go I can feel the subtle taste / Of the deeds outgrown and the welcomes overstayed
- Swinging Party (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
This song is criminally underrated.
Favorite lyric: If being wrong’s a crime, I’m serving forever
- Writer in the Dark (Melodrama, 2017)
-
Even though this song isn’t my absolute favorite, this is arguably her best song.
Favorite lyric: I am my mother’s child / I’ll love you ‘til my breathing stops / I’ll love you ‘til you call the cops on me
- The Louvre (Melodrama, 2017)
-
This is one of my all-time favorite love songs, and really captures what it feels like in the beginning of a relationship.
Favorite lyric: But we’re the greatest / They’ll hang us in the Louvre / Down the back / But who cares–still the Louvre
- 400 Lux (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
Perfect for night drives.
Favorite lyric: I love these roads where the houses don’t change / And we can talk like there’s something to say
- Ribs (Pure Heroine, 2013)
-
Who doesn’t love this song? It’s the masterpiece we’ve all had on repeat for 7 and a half years.
Favorite lyric: This dream isn’t feeling sweet / We’re reeling through the midnight streets / And I’ve never felt more alone / It feels so scary getting old
- A World Alone (Pure Heroine, 2013
-
My favorite song by Lorde, and one of my favorite songs period. She perfectly captures the feeling of being in an all-consuming relationship.
Favorite lyric: Raise a glass,‘cause I’m not done saying it / They all wanna get rough get away with it / Let‘em talk ‘cause we’re dancing in this world alone
I hope this ranking will inspire you to check out more of Lorde’s songs!
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, and read our latest Tweets!