I recently listened to Lorde’s new album Pure Heroine. And I couldn’t help but notice the subject pattern within her songs. Lorde often uses a dental difference to indicate legitimacy, social circle, and wealth class. She implies that seemingly “dirty” teeth show authenticity; contrasting her other signification that “gold” or “white” teeth are bad.
There are quite a few examples of this implication. One is in her hit song “Royals”, where she mentions “gold teeth” on a list the subjects of every mainstream song. In this particular line, she is pulling herself away from a rich lifestyle and the society that Lorde has never lived in. Once again she preaches about the ingenuity of wealth during the first verse of “Team”, when she belts out, “Call of the ladies out / They’re in their finery / A hundred jewels on throats / A hundred jewels between teeth”. In this example she is creating an image of sophisticated women in fine necklaces and sumptuous grillz. She uses this description to distinguish herself from a high class lifestyle, instead giving the impression of an upbringing in a “city you’d never see on a screen”. Once more, she depicts the materialistic features of affluent society as not genuine.
There are quite a few examples of this implication. One is in her hit song “Royals”, where she mentions “gold teeth” on a list the subjects of every mainstream song. In this particular line, she is pulling herself away from a rich lifestyle and the society that Lorde has never lived in. Once again she preaches about the ingenuity of wealth during the first verse of “Team”, when she belts out, “Call of the ladies out / They’re in their finery / A hundred jewels on throats / A hundred jewels between teeth”. In this example she is creating an image of sophisticated women in fine necklaces and sumptuous grillz. She uses this description to distinguish herself from a high class lifestyle, instead giving the impression of an upbringing in a “city you’d never see on a screen”. Once more, she depicts the materialistic features of affluent society as not genuine.
The idea is more tangible in her song “White Teeth Teens”. In this song, she talks of classy, popular teenagers with beautiful pearly whites; people who are fantastically perfect. “I’ll let you in on something big: I am not a White Teeth Teen”. Lorde lets us know she isn’t a White Teeth Teen in such a way that it sounds like a big secret that we didn’t already guess. She then says, “I tried to join but never did”, instead of “never could”. After this line, Lorde contrasts the idea that she chose not to be a White Teeth Teen by saying, “There’s something else / It’s in the blood”. Here she is giving the impression that if it wasn’t her decision to be a White Teeth Teen (she is imply that it was), that it wasn’t the WTT’s either.
It is apparent that the main point of Pure Heroine is that Lorde is distancing herself from social and wealth classes that in her vantage point are not genuine. She makes a point in saying that she has “dirty” teeth, which she views as authentic, and distances herself from people with “gold’ or “white” teeth, because she views them as inauthentic. Overall, the album represents her views on authenticity very well.
It is apparent that the main point of Pure Heroine is that Lorde is distancing herself from social and wealth classes that in her vantage point are not genuine. She makes a point in saying that she has “dirty” teeth, which she views as authentic, and distances herself from people with “gold’ or “white” teeth, because she views them as inauthentic. Overall, the album represents her views on authenticity very well.