Life is tricky. The ups and downs that come with it require more than just our own strength to get through it, a support system, if you will.
People who let us know that we are not alone, and that they are always there if we need them. The tricky part begins when you feel as if you need them too often, sometimes more than they realized they bargained for.
Lorde describes this feeling in her song “Liability,” which reached No. 1. Billboard + Trending Twitter 140 in 2017. Since then, Lorde has explained the emotion behind this lyrically strong ballad on many occasions.
“It’s kind of not really about anyone. It’s about me and just feeling the pressure of people finding it difficult to be friends with me- to be close to me,” she said, “It was very much a product of me sitting alone in taxis and alone in my living room, and working out how to be my own best mate really.”
The 22-year-old singer/songwriter from New Zealand describes what it’s like to realize you must learn how to be there for yourself, more than depending on others, a feeling people Lorde’s age feel more often than expected.
This single is different than Lorde’s usual love melodies. Lyrics such as, “They say, ‘You’re a little much for me / You’re a liability,'” and, “I know that it’s exciting / Running through the night, but / Every perfect summer’s / Eating me alive until you’re gone / Better on my own,” showcase her facing the fact that she is who she can depend on, and everyone else will eventually leave when she becomes too much.
Whether someone is a 22-year-old attending college in Alabama figuring out what to do after graduation, or the youngest pop star since 1987 with multiple No.1 Billboard Top 100 hits and grammy nominations, it is okay to feel like you are too much. It is even better to realize that at the end of the day, you can count on yourself.
Lorde goes, and grows, through it, and so can you.
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
― Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
The Found of Music 