The song “Ribs” by Lorde has been a popular song since it came out in 2013. Lorde Released the song when she dropped her album, Pure Heroin, and “Ribs” immediately became the albums hit. When you first listen to it, you might think that it’s a cute summer song, but if you really pay attention to the lyrics you will quickly realize it has a deeper meaning.
The song is about the bittersweet feeling of growing up and accepting change as you shift from being a child to a teenager to an adult. This song is a perfect song to relate to at our age; we are growing up and many of us are close to the end of high school and preparing to move out of our house. Personally, I have lots of friends who graduated high school last year and I have known them since I was in middle school. I grew up swimming with them and watching them graduate and finish their swimming careers reminded me of how fast we are growing up, which is a big part of the song “Ribs.” When my junior year swim season started, I quickly realized that I was now where I had always imagined myself as a swimmer; I was one of the upperclassmen and would be the next on the team to graduate and end the sport I have dedicated my life to since I was in elementary school. The thought of leaving a sport and the community around it is scary, and before I know it, this will all just be a part of my past, which is very scary to me. A key lyric in the song that summarizes this is, “It feels so scary getting old.”
This lyric in the song is the artist explaining how eventually you will leave your hometown friends even though you may not want to. I am very close to my friends, and I have been since kindergarten. The thought of leaving my friends when I go off to college is so sad to me for many reasons. I cannot imagine having a different group of friends. Lorde mentions the same feeling in the lyrics “You’re the only friend I need.” The following lyrics are “sharing beds like little kids, and laughing til our ribs get tough, but that will never be enough.” In these lyrics, Lorde is referencing how as you grow older your bones get stiffer which causes you to laugh less; this symbolizes a shift from youth to teenager as your moods change and you laugh less and how you will wish to be young again because of the simplicity and happiness of being a child.
In the lyrics “I want ’em back, the minds we had,” Lorde touches on how nostalgia causes her to miss all of her fun memories as a teenager and all the rash, and sometimes stupid, decisions made. These lyrics also remind us to not take our high school years for granted. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do after school or on the weekend or in the summer, but the song “Ribs” reminds us to live in the moment more because eventually these years will be the years you miss most.
The final lyrics say “This dream isn’t feeling sweet, we’re reeling through the midnight streets.” In these lyrics, I think Lorde is talking about how as a child you imagine your teenage and adult years to be euphoric, but in reality they aren’t as great as you imagined. I always dreamed about being in high school and getting to do whatever I want, whenever I want, but that isn’t how it is. High school is hard, staying on top of school work while balancing time with friends and family is difficult, and not how I always imagined high school to be. There’s drama at school and growing up is bittersweet. Whenever we talk about college at school and leaving our hometown, it stresses a lot of people out. Don’t get me wrong though, being a teenager is also fun. Being able to drive to Starbucks, high school dances, and going to sporting events is always fun, and not having many responsibilities is something to never take for granted.
The feeling of growing up is both scary and exciting which is why the song “Ribs” by Lorde is perfect to reminisce on all of the memories from our childhood. “Ribs” is also perfect for this specific time in our lives as we are transitioning from our teenage years to young adult years.
