Lorde holds nothing back on her long-awaited fourth album Virgin, out June 27, from her life-changing breakup to her recent health issues. With her new song “Broken Glass,” the singer gets candid about her struggles with an eating disorder, making it clear that her biggest enemy is the mirror.
Lorde first alluded to this issue during her verse on Charli xcx’s “Girl, so confusing” remix, before confirming that she developed an eating disorder while touring her 2021 album Solar Power, in a May interview with Rolling Stone.
“I’m having this really amazing, rich experience of playing the shows and meeting these kids, and I’m also looking at the pictures afterward and feeling deep loathing at the sight of my beautiful, tiny tummy, thinking it was so unforgivable what I had allowed it to become,” she said.
While she mentions her eating issues on “Girl, so confusing,” Lorde confronts them on “Broken Glass,” where she poetically expresses regret about what she put her body through. “Felt great to strip, new waist to hip,” she sings. “I hate to admit just how much I paid for it.”
Over sharp, pulsing synths, Lorde lays bare all of the unhealthy habits she acquired and the physical and emotional turmoil she went through as she faced the symptoms of her disordered eating. “Did I cry myself to sleep about that?” she asks. “Rot teeth about that? Did I sweat hours a week about that? Compete about that? Lose my freak about that? Huh, all of the above.”
However, she expresses her desire to get better in the chorus. “I wanna punch the mirror to make her see that this won’t last,” she sings. “But what if it’s just broken glass?” Rather than give the song a happy ending, Lorde suggests that her recovery is still ongoing. “Keep the faith,” she sings in the succinct bridge. “Same mistakes, just a phase.”
Lorde’s “Broken Glass” Lyrics
Read the full lyrics to Lorde’s new song “Broken Glass” below.
Mystique is dead
Last year was bad
I let myself get
Sucked in by arithmetic
Felt great to strip
New waist to hip
I hate to admit
Just how much I paid for it
Did I cry myself to sleep about that?
Cheat about that?
Rot teeth about that?
Did I sweat hours a week about that?
Compete about that?
Lose my freak about that?
Huh, all of the above
I wanna punch the mirror
To make her see that this won’t last
It might be months of bad luck
But what if it’s just broken glass?
I spent my summer getting lost in math
Making weight took all I had
Won’t outrun her if you don’t hit back
It’s just broken glass
I’m scared to quit
Loosen my grip
It’s tough to admit
Just how much I get from it
When I cry myself to sleep about that
Cheat about that
Get in too deep about that
When I sweat hours a week about that
Competе about that
Lettin’ her treat mе like that
I think that it’s love
I wanna punch the mirror
To make her see that this won’t last
It might be months of bad luck
But what if it’s just broken glass?
I spent my summer getting lost in math
Making weight took all I had
Won’t outrun her if you don’t hit back
It’s just broken glass
Keep the faith (Broken glass)
Same mistakes (Broken glass)
Just a phase (Broken glass)
Just a phase
I wanna punch the mirror
To make her see that this won’t last
It might be months of bad luck
But what if it’s just broken glass?
I spent my summer getting lost in math
Making weight takes all you have
Won’t outrun her if you don’t hit back
It’s just broken glass
The post Lorde’s “Broken Glass” Lyrics & Meaning, Explained appeared first on Bustle.
