Best Songs of 2013 – #2
New Zealand teen Lorde came out of nowhere to dominate the pop conversation in the latter third of 2013. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, was an unlikely smash, driven by minimalist beats, secret journal lyrics and smoky vocals.
First single ‘Royals’ was a deserving mega-hit — it’s perfectly crafted and executed — but it isn’t the best song on the album.
That honor goes to the hypnotically beautiful ‘Buzzcut Season.’ Driven by haunting piano noodling and ramshackle percussion, and featuring some of Lorde’s most provocative lyrics, this song is unlike anything I’ve heard in years.
Lorde isn’t one of those teenage savants whose work masks her age. Her lyrics are very much about the experience of modern adolescence.
I love the second verse in particular, with its image of riding the bus “with the knees pulled in” and shutting her eyes while listening to music. From Walkmen to iPods, kids have been living out that scene for generations.
Elsewhere she contrasts scenes of war on TV with the willful oblivion of poolside lounging. And in her repeated refrain “I live in a hologram with you” she references the disconnectedness resulting from our increasingly plugged-in world.
I’m not sure what to make of the story that lends the song its title, but the surreal image of somebody’s hair catching fire somehow feels just right.
Lorde is very much of the moment, but I suspect she has the chops to last. It won’t surprise me at all if in a year or two she’s placing another song high on this countdown. I look forward to it.
I remember when your head caught flame
It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain
Well you laughed, baby it’s okay
It’s buzzcut season anyway
(Well you laughed, baby it’s okay)
[Chorus]
Explosions on TV, and all the girls with heads inside a dream
So now we live beside the pool, where everything is good
[Verse 2]
We ride the bus with the knees pulled in
People should see how we’re living
Shut my eyes to the song that plays
Sometimes this has a hot, sweet taste
[Chorus 2]
The men up on the news, they try to tell us all that we will lose
But it’s so easy in this blue, where everything is good
[Post-Chorus]
And I’ll never go home again (place the call, feel it start)
Favourite friend (and nothing’s wrong when nothing’s true)
I live in a hologram with you
We’re all the things that we do for fun (and I’ll breathe, and it goes)
Play along (make-believe it’s hyper real)
But I live in a hologram with you
[Bridge]
Cola with the burnt-out taste
I’m the one you tell your fears to
There’ll never be enough of us
[Chorus + Post-Chorus]
Meet Me In Montauk 
We all knew Lorde would appear on your list, and you previously said it wouldn’t be “Royals,” so we were all trying to guess what your pick would be. I wasn’t familiar enough with the entire album to make an educated guess, though Daniel was guessing “Tennis Court” and I thought that would have been a sound pick. Maddie was not sure, but she was thinking possibly “400 Lux.” Once your choice was revealed, Maddie understood the selection immediately and said she might have guessed that had she been looking at the track list.
Anyway, I think I have heard your choice once before. It is a good one, though not as immediately as accessible as “Royals” or “Tennis Court,” my personal new favorite had become “Tennis Court” as well. I find that opener to be completely infectious. I agree that Lorde is a major talent and hope she does sustain beyond her debut album.
I really like this song… I just started listening to this album a few weeks ago and have picked out a few favorites… Some of those favorites might have been in my top 25 as well… This was one of them and this was a great choice for the 2nd best song of the year…
I love this song off the album too, and I probably find myself playing this one more than any of the others. Every time it comes on in the car my mom starts to become uncomfortable by the opening lines and haunting melodies, but we end up listening to the whole song anyway. I am happy to see Lorde make her way to your top two and can’t wait for number 1 🙂 (guessing Hannah Hunt by Vampire Weekend)
“I remember when your head caught flame” is a rather dramatic way to start a song, so, yes, I amuse the children with my equally dramatic reaction to the song each time Maddie plays it. 🙂 This is a wonderful album by a great new artist, so I’m pleased to see any song off the album make your top 25.
I thought you might be interested to hear some of the acts lauded by the British critics in the latest issue of The Independent. Rather than rank their favorites in countdown fashion, they simply discuss them all in a few paragraphs. They also separate their “bests” by genre. You’ll be pleased to know that mentioned in the “Americana” category are Kacey Musgraves (the “Nashville breakthrough act of the year”) and Caitlin Rose, along with Bill Callahan, Mettew E White, Mount Moriah, and Shovels & Rope (they played at Lauderdale Live, though we missed them! 😦 For “Pop,” Tegan and Sara, MIA, John Grant, Disclosure, Frightened Rabbit, Rudimental, Franz Ferdinand, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are given the shout out. For “Rock,” David Bowie, My Bloody Valentine, Daft Punk (which gets nod for song of the year over here), Arcade Fire, Suuns, Teeth of theSea, These New Puritans, Factory Floor, Julia Holter, Savages, Anna Calvi, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (clearly the rock critic couldn’t stop at 10!!)
I never heard of half of these acts, but I thought you might be interested to see what’s being loved here in London 🙂