Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Lorde's rendition of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' offers a haunting and atmospheric take on the 1980s classic originally by Tears for Fears. The song's lyrics speak to the universal desire for control and the inherent human ambition to be in a position of power. The opening lines, 'Welcome to your life / There's no turning back,' set a tone of inevitability and resignation, suggesting that life comes with certain unchangeable truths, one of which is the competitive nature of human beings.

The chorus, 'Everybody wants to rule the world,' is a straightforward expression of this theme, encapsulating the idea that the quest for dominance is a common, if not universal, aspiration. The song also touches on the ephemeral nature of power and pleasure, with lines like 'Nothing ever lasts forever,' reminding listeners of the transient nature of all things, including authority and happiness. Lorde's version, with its darker and more introspective sound, emphasizes the weight of these realizations, contrasting the more upbeat original.

The song's bridge, 'There's a room where the light won't find you / Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down,' could be interpreted as a metaphor for the isolation that often accompanies positions of power, as well as the eventual downfall that can occur when one's grip on control slips. Lorde's cover, featured in the soundtrack for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,' adds a layer of dystopian distress, aligning with the film's themes of rebellion and the corrupting influence of power.