Short/Long Music Review: Tennis Court & Team

Hello and welcome to the first Short/Long Music Review of 2014. I listen to a song, review it, and share it with you guys in a short, semi-neat package. Got it? Good. Now without further adu, let's get it started.

As you've heard, the ultimate success story came last year, when this artist became a huge success when he released an album independently with no label or no outside help and that album ultimately reached #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and #1 on the Hip-Hop and Rap Album charts, with one song reaching the Billboard Hot 100 after a steady 16-week climb on the chart and later winning for Grammy Awards.

If you're just thinking that I'm talking about Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, then...yes, those aren't their songs, and that's not who I'm going to talk taking about here. Another person also has become a huge success story last year.

A little girl from New Zealand, Ella Yelich O'Connor, began a career by singing in various drama classes and and later won a talent show singing covers of songs by Duffy and Pixie Lott, with the father of a friend sending a video of the performance to several talent scouts with one of them, A&R scout Scott Maclachlan, signing her to Universal Records. After meeting writer and producer Joel Little, he and Ella would write three songs, one of them being a monster hit song about being poor, lower-class, middle-class, and even upper-middle-class with a dream to live life like a pop-star, rap-star--hell, any music star with sucess. At least that's what I think it is because all I hear is her mocking and destroying rap and pop stars on a nice minimalist beat. That song gave Ella a huge hit, massive media attention, and a Grammy Award.

But I've already talked about Royals. Today I give my review on two other Lorde songs; something you may have never heard of, unless you go to Pitchfork.
Two songs completely different from it that I think you'll like better, depending on your tastes...or social status.
It's "Tennis Court" and "Team" by Lorde.

Tennis Court is about Lorde's newfound fame and success after "Royals" and criticizes the high life rich people live. I hear "class clown", which I think she looks like in the video, and "beauty queen", but that means they're different from everyone else, and that they won't care about the rich. The beat is good, slower than Royals but really good, with this little beeping noise sounding like it's coming from Asteroid or Pong or whatever; an arcade game. One of the lyrics is "Don't you think that it's boring how people talk/Making smart with their words again, well I'm bored", meaning she hates how people talk about themselves and the things they want (but not need), and she wants to stand up to them and make her voice heard. Her own voice; her different voice; her "I hate rich life" voice.

This seems ironic, because Lorde is now living the high life along with the rest of them. I wonder what Lorde is like now that she's famous and rich and living the high life.

"Team" meanwhile features poor teenagers wishing for prosperity and happiness. While the rich and ritzy live high and mighty, the down and out are stuck in their small homes looking for work and to make end's meet, but find themselves close to friends and family in their small towns. Lorde hates being told what to do and wants to be her own self. (Does that sound familiar?) Here we don't know more than rich women wearing hundreds of jewels on throats; I don't know if it's their throats or some cut off of other people's heads, or whatever (shiver), so we're treated to what the normal people are and do for once, and that's a good thing. The beat here is better than Tennis Court; It's more sped up, more jaunty and more danceable than "Tennis Court" or even "Royals" I think I'll like this one better.


Hey, you know what?
I just noticed this. These songs and Royals are about Lorde's probable hatred of rich people and the life they all live. I believe this is probably a mission of hers. Make every other song a "I hate snobby, uppity, saditty, rich people and everything about them" song. It's like Taylor Swift, but just replace "Boys" with "People", and you've got Lorde's career on a pedestal. I really like that, though. Anyway, if she keeps doing this, people will get tired of her and go to the next hit sensation, whether a black girl who hates white people "because they is white", although she's near white people a lot; or a masked man writing electronic music, even though he hates it with a passion and even does video blogs about them; or a latino dude singing about his love of being a Scotsman, despite the fact that he has no clue about Scotland at all.

The point is, I really like these songs, and I really like Lorde as the now-quintessential anti-pop-star, but this might be a gimmick that might not last any longer, and people might get tired of it. But I hope she doesn't quit on this; we don't have many artists that DON'T talk about money and riches and cars and bitches, and does it in a very nice, near-indie, very awesome package. Keep it going, Lorde. Never stop.

And there they are: two songs I didn't have to review but I did (and wanted to), because-well-someone had to. But it's up to you if you want to listen. And it's also up to you like this girl (but you SHOULD), but if you don't, you've certainly made a wrong choice.
Next time I will be back to find another song to review (I hope it's good; who am I kidding, it's probably bad).
See you next time.