Every Lorde Song Ranked

The dance floor lights come up for this piercing piano ballad about being a little bit much for aye-ah-na-na-na-ev-eryone. “Liability” provides an emotional release and dramatic pause halfway through Melodrama, and it instantly became a fan favorite. “I feel like if I’d had that song when I was 15,” Lorde said, “maybe it would have been kind to me.” —J.A.B.

This electrifying Melodrama cut gave lead single “Green Light” a major run for its money in the pop banger category. Visceral and urgent, Lorde reflects on how she looks back on the memories of her past relationship, replaying all the good parts in her head, she does “everything right.” On an album of larger-than-life dance floor cuts, “Supercut” is the biggest of them all, Lorde channeling her inner Robyn. With its fuzzy synths and vocal production that purposely makes Lorde sound distant and like a memory, the song sounds like a dream. —B.S.

From the first ghostly synths, which immediately pack a nostalgic punch, it’s clear that “Ribs” taps into something tender and magical, full of freedom and longing. Easily her masterpiece, Lorde sings about the passing a time and the desperate desire to hold on to youthful days, referencing spilled drinks and fits of laughter and midnight street runs. At the same time, there’s a sadness as she watches it all slip away. It’s no wonder the song itself has had so many lives, going from a beloved Pure Heroine classic to enjoying a resurgence back on the charts years later. “It’s crazy that it works on people still,” Lorde told Rolling Stone recently. “It’s a mystery to me.” —J.L.