Dave Grohl on Lorde’ ‘Royals’: A Revolution in a Sea of Bulls---
Lorde’s “Royals” is a standout in a “sea of bulls---,” Dave Grohl said. The Foo Fighters frontman thinks the New Zealand teen’s award-winning track isn’t shallow like the “stripper pop” songs that dominate the charts today.
In an interview with Red Bulletin, the 45-year-old rocker explained why Nirvana chose an all-female line-up to sing Kurt Cobain’s parts when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. At the induction ceremony in New York, the surviving members of the band – Grohl and Krist Novoselic – performed a four-song set with Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, St Vincent and Lorde.
“Because Kurt was a feminist,” Grohl said. “And someone suggested Joan Jett. I mean, Joan Jett she’s the first lady of rock ‘n roll. She’s the one. Then it was like: ‘What about Kim Gordon?’ She and Kurt were great friends, they loved each other and Sonic Youth were our heroes. ‘Yeah, let’s get Kim.’”
As for Lorde, who has just turned 18, Grohl said, “Lorde is my idea. Her song ‘Royals’ is its own little revolution in the sea of bulls---.”
He further explained why pop music in America is “so superficial now,” saying that although they are fun to listen to, the songs have no substance at all.
“It’s devoid of any meaning. I’m not just saying that as a 45-year-old rock musician, I’m saying that as a human being. If the number one song is about your butt, that’s a problem. So when I heard ‘Royals’ in the middle of all these other songs, I thought, ‘Thank God! Someone’s singing something that actually has a little bit of something.”
This isn’t the first time Grohl had high praise for the young industry newbie. In an interview with the Rolling Stone in April, he said that Lorde gave his kids hope to grow up in a better environment than the one reared by “stripper pop” songs.
“When I met her I said, ‘When I first heard your song on the radio and my kis sang along I felt like ther was hope for my kids to grow up in an environment which is more than just superficial,” he told the magazine then. He also thought Lorde was the perfect artist to sing Cobain’s song.
“There’s something about her that represented or resembled the Nirvana aesthetic,” Grohl continued. “She has an incredible future ahead of her as a writer, performer and vocalist.”
Read: Dave Grohl Praises Lorde, Says She Gives Hope for the Future of Pop Music
