Royals

Judgment is a part of our daily lives. Judgment, in a myriad of cases, ends up creating stereotypes about an individual or a group of individuals. They, the victim of this social crisis, receive unexpected and inappropriate "notes" about themselves without any grateful attitudes in response. Many “inappropriate” individuals endeavour for a different and a better look at them. However, success can never be ensured. “Royals”, performed by Lorde, is about the feelings of these victims, who just desperately give up fighting against the stereotypes.

The benefit of the stereotypes, the general knowledge about a group of individuals, might help us expect the characteristics of the people we are about to interact. On the other hand, it decreases the self-confidence of many individuals in the community. The chorus of the song “Royals” states that the dream of being a ruler doesn’t “run in our blood” to the people who are not “proud of their address” in “a torn up town” which has no “postcode envy”. A place with “no postcode envy” is a place which is poor and fancy is always a dream. The next clue, “torn up town”, reveals not only the view of the people from the higher class but also reveals the acceptance of the sad reality of the people in the town about their own identities. However, the acceptance here is not a choice. Growing up in such a place, these people never receive envy from others, neither of the living qualities or the characteristics. The lyrics also add phrases “but every song’s like” and “but everybody's like” after revealing the real life behind the listed “fantasies”. The word “but” shows the failure of bringing out the best in the people mentioned in the song. Moreover, it also their sigh, their desperation toward the false images sticking with them. What is the consequence of this? Stereotypes result in the incomplete view of an individual. Consequently, the ascribed statuses, which describes where an individual comes from and his or her culture, accidentally make the achieved statuses, achievements of an individual, less important and considerable.

In conclusion, the stereotype is a kind of information that one individual acknowledges about another. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a mistake to have those ideas, it would be more likely to be seen as a narrow view of the world. Therefore, the more stereotypes we have, the less we see the world. Through the song “Royals”, Lorde has demonstrated a sociological perspective by emphasizing the "notes" which are stuck on us. Especially, the people in the song who are expected to have “cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece; jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash” while living in the "no postcode envy" place. To the problem that remained unsolved in our current society, the stereotypes, perhaps we just try to focus on our own goals and lives. Hence, “we don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams”. 

Eurus Thach