Lorde's 'Man of the Year' lyrics explained: How the singer turned lost love into self-acceptance

Cosmopolitan

a day ago

The wait for Lorde's 'Man of the Year' is over. The singer-songwriter teased the track multiple times before fans anticipated its release, from her custom Thom Browne Met Gala look to her bombshell Rolling Stone cover story, where she opened up about expanding her gender identity.
While speaking to the publication, the Grammy winner revealed that a conversation with pop diva Chappell Roan prompted her to address how she viewed herself.
'She was like, 'So are you non-binary now?' And I was like, 'I'm a woman except for the days when I'm a man,'' Lorde explained. 'I know that's not a very satisfying answer, but there's a part of me that is really resistant to boxing it up."
She added, 'My gender got way more expansive when I gave my body more room."
The track is the second single off her upcoming fourth album, Virgin. As we prep for the full body work to drop in a few weeks, it's time to dive into Lorde's 'Man of the Year' lyrics.
Lyrics provided by Genius
[Verse 1]Glidin' through on my bike, glidin' throughI knew from my recent ego deathSilencing overnight, violent sweet musicYou met me at a really strange time in my lifeTake my knife and I cut the cordMy babe, can't believe I've become someone elseSomeone more like myself
Riding bikes is a common theme throughout Lorde's music, but especially during the Virgin era. Her 'What Was That' music video sees her riding through New York City, drawing parallels to her first verse on 'Man of the Year' (perhaps it was another Easter egg). She details a range of emotions in this relationship, where she faced her own internal challenges before this person came into her life.
She alludes to becoming 'someone more like myself,' which could potentially tie back to her personal journey with her gender identity.
When writing the track, she told Rolling Stone that she stuck duct tape to her chest as a makeshift binder because 'that was fully representative of how my gender felt in that moment.
'I went to the cupboard, and I got the tape out, and I did it to myself,' she explained. 'I have this picture staring at myself. I was blonde. It scared me what I saw. I didn't understand it. But I felt something bursting out of me. It was crazy. It was something jagged. There was this violence to it.'
[Chorus]Who's gon' love me like this?Oh-oh, oh, who could get me like this?Let it flow down to meLove me like thisNow I'm broken upMm-mm, uh-huh-uhOn the chorus, she reflects on her self-acceptance and euphoric feelings she's experiencing on her own and asks if anyone else will ever fully understand and accept her in the same way. The revelation could have potentially led to the end of her connection with the person she was referring to in the song's first verse.[Verse 2]Now I go about my dayRiding it like a wavePlaying it any way I wantSwish mouthwash, jerk offUh-uh, uh-uh-uhDays go by in the haze (Uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)Stay up and sleep late (Uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)(Uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)It's giving 'If I Were a Boy' by Beyoncé...in the sense that she's naming things that men do in their day-to-day routines (or lack thereof). There's also some parallelism to her 'What Was That' lyrics: 'Indio haze / We're in a sandstorm / And it knocks me out.'[Chorus]Who's gon' love me like this?Oh-oh, oh, who could get me like this?Way he flew down through meLove me like thisNow we're broken upLet's hear it for the man of the yearMm-mm, uh-huh-uhHear it for the man of the year[Bridge]How I hope that a man could love me rightTouching my shoulders, my face in the light[Outro]Oh, I didn't think he'd appearBut let's hear it for the man of the yearHear it for the man of the yearWell, let's hear it for the man of the year The man of the year? That'd be Lorde.
In a 2023 social media post and during her recent Rolling Stone cover story, she revealed, 'I'm a woman except for the days when I'm a man.'