Giving the song Buzzcut Season a hauntingly nostalgic tone, Lorde uses melancholy allusions, eerie symbolism, and industrial metaphors to explain how “[She’ll] never go home again.”
First, Buzzcut Season contains multiple lyrics that allude to Lorde’s past. For example, in the lines, “Cola with the burnout taste / I’m the one you tell all your fears to / And they’ll never be enough of us” Lorde references her past friendships. Lorde alludes to her and her friends sharing exclusive information with each other and how they use to have one-of-a-kind personalities. Also, Lorde showcases her past through the lines, “We ride the bus with our knees pulled in / People should see how we’re living.” These lines give a look into Lorde’s pre-fame life in the sense that before she found success through music, her life was anything but glamorous. Finally, through the line, “And all the girls with heads inside their dreams,” Lorde gives insight to her dismal past by showing that people were so displeased with reality that they started to live in their dream world.
Next, Lorde incorporates eerie symbolism to enhance the tone of the song. First, in the lines, “The men upon the news / They try to tell us all that we will lose,” Lorde uses TV news anchors to symbolize the sudden loss of hope. Additionally, in the line “Shut my eyes to the song that plays,” Lorde uses a song to indicate how during the loss of prospect, all she can do is listen. Lastly in the opening line, “I remember when your head caught flame / It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain,” Lorde uses flames and fire to describe how bad and unpleasant thoughts took over her friends thinking process.
Finally, Lorde strengthens the tone through the implication of industrial metaphors. An example of this is in the line, “I live in a hologram with you,” which shows how two people who don’t get along are living around the idea that their relationship is healthy. Also, the lyrics, “Place the call, feel it start,” Lorde uses the metaphor of making a phone call to reinstate tell someone what she truthfully thinks, then feeling a sense of uneasiness. Lastly in the line, “Play along / Make believe, its hyperreal” Lorde uses a “hyperreal” world to advise a friend that if they keep living in a made up world, then nothing bad will happen.
To conclude, Lorde infuses her lyrics with spectral phrases that give a connection to her past.
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