Lorde Is The Man Of The Year In Brand New Single
Lorde’s “Man Of The Year” serves as the second single from her highly anticipated fourth album, “Virgin.” Described as the “song she is the proudest of,” this look into the new album is the most vulnerable we’ve seen the Grammy-winning artist. The reflection on ego, heartbreak, death, and self-reclamation fused with a dense and rich soundscape bordered with layers of distortion and feedback-laced guitars creates an almost overwhelming environment you don’t want to leave.
Theo Wenner for Rolling Stone
In a recent Rolling Stones cover story, Lorde discussed writing the track after stopping her birth control for the first time since she was a teenager, and coming to the realization that her gender became more fluid than she’d previously realized. The unadorned “Man Of The Year” look was teased at this year’s Met Gala, where the New Zealand singer wore a strapless, grey-colored strip of fabric that she told Vogue was an easter egg that represented where she was gender-wise, saying how she feels “like a man and a woman.”
The chorus feels like a repeated cry, “Who’s gon love me like this?” is both emotional and rhetorical. Lorde sings not from a place of yearning, but from a place of knowing. She has been through it, she knows what the outcome of the situation is. The second verse of the chorus is raw: “Swish mouthwash, jerk off.” It cuts through romanticism with brutal vulnerability. She is not grieving a lover in this song, but instead documenting the unglamorous recovery that follows after losing someone you love.
By the time we reach the outro of the track, “Let’s hear it from the man of the year,” there is a shift from mockery to celebration. With disoriented sounds, the phrase feels like we’re honoring and burying a man who inspired deep into turmoil, but ultimately, this song is not about this “man.” It is about Lorde re-emerging from ego-death with clarity. Lorde is not just reborn, she is ready to let us in on her journey.
Through raw lyricism, Lorde lets us in on a complex meditation on heartbreak and change, perfectly capturing the disorientation that follows when one rediscovers oneself. By the end of the track, it seems like the whole meaning of the song has changed; what started as heartbreak ends with a reflection of turning pain into gratitude.
What makes the singer so unique from other musicians is that she has never been afraid of rawness, and the visual for “Man Of The Year” proves it. We see Lorde stripping down to her clothes, offering vulnerability as she strips off her shirt to cover her breasts with electrical tape, emphasizing the idea of gender expression. In her cover story with Rolling Stone, the singer recalled sitting on the floor of her apartment, trying to visualize a version of herself, where she landed an image of herself wearing men’s jeans, duct tape on her chest, and a gold chain, just as we see her in the music video.
Produced by Lorde and Jim E-Stack, and featuring Dev Hynes on the cello, the song has become a fan favorite just hours after its release and a highlight in the singer’s discography. To coincide with the release of this single, Lorde has unveiled her tracklist for her album. Pre-order the album here!
