Babe, wake up—Lorde is singing about being 17 again. The Grammy winner’s fourth album cycle has officially commenced after an accidental sighting and a deliciously chaotic park pop-up previewing her latest track, “What Was That.” After getting shut down by police and dancing to the song with fans at Washington Square Park in New York City on April 22, the artist decided to drop the single a day early. (Praise the Lorde.)
On April 9, she teased the release with a TikTok clip of her pacing around that very park, where she lip-synced the lyrics in a snippet: “Since I was 17 / I gave you everything / Now we wake from a dream / Well baby, what was that?”
Anywho, Lorde Summer is nearly upon us, which means it’s time to tap in, analyze, and learn Lorde’s “What Was That” lyrics.
Lyrics provided by Genius.
[Verse 1]
A place in the city, a chair, and a bed
I cover up all the mirrors, I can’t see myself yet
I wear smoke like a wedding veil
Make a meal I won’t eat
Step out into the street, alone in a sea
It comes over me
Oh, I’m missing you
Yeah, I’m missing you
And all the things we used to do
She opens the song with descriptions of a solo night in. In the mundane day-to-day tasks she completes, she finds herself longing for a past connection and the activeness of their relationship dynamic.
[Chorus]
MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up
We kissed for hours straight, well baby, what was that?
I remember saying then, “This is the best cigarette of my life”
Well, I want you just like that
Indio haze, we’re in a sandstorm, and it knocks me out
I didn’t know then that you'd never be enough for me
Since l was seventeen, I gave you everything
Now, we wake from a dream
Well, baby, what was that?
Upon hearing the snippet, listeners pointed out that Lorde’s latest track sonically calls back to her 2017 album, Melodrama, and the lyrics are also reminiscent of the fan-favorite era. The chorus seemingly continues the narrative from tracks like “Sober” and “Homemade Dynamite,” where she details the buzz of an ongoing party with drugs and “the best cigarette of my life.”
Also, important to note: following her surprise appearance during Charli XCX’s Coachella set for a performance of “girl, so confusing,” Lorde teased some of these lyrics with a photo dump on Instagram. She captioned the post “Indio haze,” referring to the city where the famous festival takes place. Unbeknownst to us, she was also referencing “What Was That.”
[Post-Chorus]
What was that?
Baby, what was that?
[Verse 2]
Do you know you’re still with me
When I’m out with my friends?
I stare at the painted faces that talk current affairs
You had to know this was happening
You weren’t feeling my heat
When I’m in the blue light, down at Baby’s All Right
I face reality
I tried (I tried)
To let (To let)
Whatever has to pass through me, pass through
But this is still a problem, I know
It might not let me go
In the second verse, she lets her subject know that a piece of them remains with her as she moves forward with her life after their relationship. She distracts herself with outings and conversations with other people but still harps on the past connection fizzling out. She also references one of Brooklyn’s beloved bars and music venues, Baby’s All Right.
The “blue light” potentially calls back to her track, “Green Light,” or perhaps it means the only place she truly feels free is online, likely referring to the blue light from her phone or computer screen. This can also point to her Pure Heroine standout, “A World Alone,” where a 16-year-old version of herself sings, “Maybe the internet raised us / Or maybe people are jerks.”
[Chorus]
[Post-Chorus]
[Outro]
’Cause words are just like that
Do you regret me? I don’t
What was that? (I remember when they were around)
Baby, what was that?
Even after all the reflection and yearning for the past relationship, she shares that she doesn’t regret how it went down—or that it went down at all.
