Greenlight, Grammy winner Lorde's upbeat single from her newest album Melodrama, is more than just a good song. The album as a whole is a total coming-of-age piece, which explains choosing Greenlight, a breakup song, as the single.

The song tells a not so original story, but a relatable as hell one, with a new and fresh twist. With verses you could scream at the top of your lungs on an empty road at night with the windows down, the song is spot on in expressing the emotions of heartbreak. The lyrics deserve a Pulitzer Prize in literature because yes they're that good and someone needs to make Pulitzer Prizes for song lyrics a thing. So now, in my own extended version of Lyric Genius, which I should totally be hired for, I'm gonna break the lines down for ya:

If we take a closer look at the double platinum song, it begins with what can be presumed as Lorde heading somewhere for a night out, doing her makeup in "somebody else's car." Lorde sings about hearing “brand new sounds in my mind,” which can be interpreted as anything from a new love, a new perspective, or simply the new music/noise she is hearing during her night out. But, because her newfound single-ness is still fresh, thoughts about her ex make their appearance in the evening.

She begins to think about her former man and his new woman, saying "she thinks you love the beach you're such a damn liar." I would imagine that these thoughts come in response to Lorde seeing him at the beach with another girl, or lurking on Instagram and coming across a photo of them on sandy shores. This line is riddled with anger, and her fury over his actions on something so trivial reveals this reaction doesn't necessarily lie in his choice to go to the beach, but rather the fact that he is not going alone.

Her imagination gets the best of her, running wild with vexation, and she sings about hoping sharks from the ocean, "those great whites," attack her ex... and I mean, which of us haven't secretly imagined the same post breakups. Lorde's use of the term "great whites," is also double entendre, an allusion to the term "little white lies," as she hopes her ex pretending to enjoy the beach for his new girl, a little white lie to some, will come back to bite him (like a shark), or in clearer terms have negative consequences for him later.

She then counters the "new sounds" line by singing about how despite the going out and the new sounds she sees her ex wherever she goes thereby tainting all her present experiences.

Next, is where the first reference to the chorus comes: “I'll be seeing you down every road." And thus the metaphor of a driver at a stoplight, just itching for the light to turn green like a desperate broken-hearted ex desiring to move on, is introduced. Lorde connects the sadness and the struggle to move on with a simple, daily activity, because in reality, getting over someone is just a waiting game, as is driving amongst street signals.

She goes on to croon, “Cause honey I’ll come get my things, but I can’t let go, I’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it." Well, excuse me while I wipe the tears off the keyboard I'm currently typing on, but wow. In these lines, Lorde expresses the gutwrenching feeling of having to move on physically, i.e. going out, having to drive, having to get your stuff back, along with the utter torment of your emotions not being able to follow your body’s lead.

As the song continues, the singer tells us at this point she has severed all tangible ties with her ex, even retrieving her personal items as mentioned in the earlier verse. Yet it seems that on the drive home she realizes she is unable to move on. As she is waiting, perhaps at a stoplight (which would explain the choice in metaphor), on the road back from getting her stuff or on the way to the bar mentioned at the start of the song, she yearns for the light to turn green, for more reasons than one.

Greenlight's lyrics are a projection of Lorde's emotions, her feelings compared to that of a common driving scenario. Lorde feels to be at a stagnant point in her life, waiting and wanting for a red light to turn green, desiring that driving away could be the catalyst she needs to help her finally get over her former significant other. The representation of her anxiety and longing to move on like a tired and persistent driver trying to get somewhere is truthful for every person who's been through heartbreak.

Lorde, in this popular radio hit, conveys that the act of letting go of your past, despite a new environment, going out with friends, and getting your stuff back, isn’t as easy as waiting for a stoplight to turn green. But hey, at least she gives us some amazing music to cope with on those long, red-lit roads we must endure from time to time.