INTRO
“Ribs” by Lorde, off of her debut album “Pure Heroine”, has grown to become the anthem of Generation Z, whether as background music to film-camera filter montages on Tik Tok or late-night solo karaoke sessions in the bedroom at 1 AM. The masterful way in which Lorde bundles fear, nostalgia, and adolescence in a four minute and twenty second deep-cut track leaves no question as to why “Ribs” has grown to become a cultural symbol of unbridled teen angst. Lorde perfectly encapsulates the universal experience of not being ready to grow up and take the final step into adulthood, leaving behind everything you’ve known once you turn 18 and close the door to your teenage years. And for those who are ready to move on, “Ribs” forces you to wistfully reflect and reminisce about your past with rose-colored glasses, despite how embarrassing it may have been. Some see “Ribs” as a song of the past, a pure rush of nostalgia, best left behind in past years of angsty glory. But the truth is, “Ribs” doesn’t want that. Lorde doesn’t want you trapped in your youth, with the same song on repeat, the same drinks spilt, the same fears, the same suburban streets, and the same friends. She emphasizes that we need to straddle the fine line between the past and future: to move on, keep growing, and embrace the future milestones and fears, all while holding on to the past with fondness. Without change, how could you possibly progress through life? And without the past to compare to, how could you possibly see how much you’ve progressed?
VERSE 1
The drink you spilt all over me / “Lover’s Spit” left on repeat / My mom and dad let me stay home / It drives you crazy, getting old
Lorde wrote this song after she and her friends hosted a giant house party while her parents were gone, “the kind of house party where people eating all the shit out of your fridge and freezer, like, defrosting things in your microwave…” (Lorde). Despite the absolute chaos and disorder the party devolves into, as symbolized through the spilt drinks and the same Broken Social Scene “Lover’s Spit” song playing on repeat, that night was an important milestone: not only was it a rebellious “fuck you” to her parents, but it was also a step into the realm of adulthood and responsibility. As Lorde puts it, “What we just did is cool. It’s cool. This house party? It’s adult. And there’s something scary about doing something that is in a different world than the one that you know” (Lorde). This fear of speeding through adolescence, knowing that one day, you’ll leave behind your entire identity and world of a suburban teenager, is all but enough to drive her and anyone else crazy. Every single act of rebellion and responsibility is met with the strange juxtaposing thoughts of both euphoria and fear. Euphoria for being able to say you’ve done it, and fear that you’ve crossed another milestone in your journey to both independence and responsibility. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve never been to a party, never drunk alcohol and haven’t lived a life straight from a teenage Netflix drama: the fear of responsibility is universal. For those with strict parents, the little stepping stones to adulthood, whether it’s being trusted enough to stay at home alone, going out past 11:00 PM, or sneaking out to Target, can be just as scary, daunting, but ever so “cool” and “adult” as Lorde’s rager.
CHORUS 1
The drink you spilt all over me / “Lover’s spit” left on repeat / My mom and dad let me stay home / It drives you crazy, getting old
Unlike most songs, the 1st verse of “Ribs” is lyrically the same as its 1st chorus. Lorde repeats “The drink you spilt all over me / …. / It drives you crazy getting old”, chanting the lines to the point where it almost becomes a cheer, a mantra for all those who share the same fears. However, despite the repetitive lyrical content, the first verse and the chorus could not be any more sonically different. The first verse is sung in a slow snail-paced drawl, backed only by a synth beat that reminds one of a sickly-hot monotonous summer. One could almost imagine Lorde herself: schools out, she’s enjoying herself in the moment, but at the same time fearful of the future and the responsibilities she must bear once the party’s over. However, once the chorus hits, harmonies appear and the words flow out of her mouth at a breakneck speed: so quick that it sounds like she’s struggling to fit in all the words within a sentence. Lorde has realized that the party of carefree teenage glory will eventually come to an end, sees the conclusion in sight, and just like how she tries to fit all the words into a sentence, she is now attempting to fit as many memories as she can into her teenage years before she’s unable to do so anymore. But no matter how fast she sings, no matter how many parties she throws, time is still ticking and soon she’ll run out of time. Before, she felt so proud and grown up sitting in her car, learning how to drive for the first time. Now, the mere thought of becoming old drives her crazy.
VERSE 2 + CHORUS 2
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
Lorde’s adolescence was once a fever dream, now it’s a nightmare. Instead of carefree nights out, Lorde and her friends are confused and dizzy, reeling through streets and time at a pace they wish they could slow down, but ultimately can’t. Like someone diagnosed with a terminal illness who decides to travel the world in their final years, Lorde tries to rush through experiences and memories, hoping to make the most of her time before she graduates. Despite the fact that she’s surrounded by family and friends, she knows time weakens all bonds. After all, we’ll lose touch with most of our childhood friends and we’ll only see our family during the holidays, all at the expense of responsibility and adulthood. The fact that we’ll have to forge new relationships in strange and uncomfortable environments is what makes us scared of growing old and Lorde and her friends have realized that.
BRIDGE 1
I want ’em back / I want ’em back / The minds we had / The minds we had / How all the thoughts / How all the thoughts / Moved round our heads / Moved round our heads / I want ’em back / I want ’em back
The first bridge is a chant of desperation: a build-up of all the fears and stress of growing old. You can feel her distress, spilling into her burnt-out voice, as she longs for the times of the past. For Lorde, nostalgia is a drug, an addiction forcing her to stay stuck in the memories of the past, unable to move forward. She repeats the same lines over and over again: I want ’em back, I want ’em back”, hoping that if she says it enough times, with enough conviction, her dreams of a simpler past will finally manifest. But it won’t. Back then, as we stood on the precipice between childhood and teen-dom, it seemed like we had all the time in the world to grow. All the time in the world to develop into responsible, independent adults that we looked up to. But now that our teenage years are over, it’s impossible to think of a future where we aren’t teenagers living in suburbia, and are instead forced to worry about taxes, college, debt, full-time jobs. As the deadline to adulthood grows closer, we feel wholly unprepared. We feel cheated out of time to grow and develop. We feel too immature, too stupid, nothing like the adults we look up to. But alas, we’ll all inevitably end up walking through the one-way door to the future, leaving behind our past until it’s nothing but a faded daydream, lost in our minds.
BRIDGE 2
You’re the only friend I need / Sharing beds like little kids / Laughing ’til our ribs get tough / But that will never be enough
Lorde paints an image of childhood innocence and simplicity as she reminisces over her past childhood, a time when the only thing she needed in life was her best friend. All she wants is to return to her youth where her world, brimming with unadulterated happiness, revolved merely around sleepovers, hangouts, and play-dates.
But that will never be enough.
Life is complex. Life is hard. But life revolves around progress and growth. We can’t be imprisoned by our fears of the future and stay within our comfort zones, never venturing forward to experience what a world full of independence and freedom can bring. Sure, the growing pains may hurt, but staying stuck in your youth, with the same friends, same city, same experiences, isn’t a life at all. When the time comes for us to split paths and march towards our own new horizons and responsibilities, hopefully we’ll be able to look back and see how far we’ve come in our journey to adulthood and let go, knowing that the future will always be brighter because the past will never be enough. It’s natural to get caught up in the past and reminisce over simpler times, but it’s important to not get trapped in the clutches of nostalgia.
written by: musebag
Musing About Music 