Lorde's “Broken Glass” Lyrics Tackle Her Eating Disorder

Lorde holds nothing back on her long-awaited fourth album Virgin, out June 27, from her life-changing breakup to her recent health issues. With her new song “Broken Glass,” the singer gets candid about her struggles with an eating disorder, making it clear that her biggest enemy is the mirror.

Lorde first alluded to this issue during her verse on Charli xcx’s “Girl, so confusing” remix, before confirming that she developed an eating disorder while touring her 2021 album Solar Power, in a May interview with Rolling Stone.

“I’m having this really amazing, rich experience of playing the shows and meeting these kids, and I’m also looking at the pictures afterward and feeling deep loathing at the sight of my beautiful, tiny tummy, thinking it was so unforgivable what I had allowed it to become,” she said.

While she mentions her eating issues on “Girl, so confusing,” Lorde confronts them on “Broken Glass,” where she poetically expresses regret about what she put her body through. “Felt great to strip, new waist to hip,” she sings. “I hate to admit just how much I paid for it.”

Over sharp, pulsing synths, Lorde lays bare all of the unhealthy habits she acquired and the physical and emotional turmoil she went through as she faced the symptoms of her disordered eating. “Did I cry myself to sleep about that?” she asks. “Rot teeth about that? Did I sweat hours a week about that? Compete about that? Lose my freak about that? Huh, all of the above.”

However, she expresses her desire to get better in the chorus. “I wanna punch the mirror to make her see that this won't last,” she sings. “But what if it's just broken glass?” Rather than give the song a happy ending, Lorde suggests that her recovery is still ongoing. “Keep the faith,” she sings in the succinct bridge. “Same mistakes, just a phase.”

Lorde’s “Broken Glass” Lyrics

Read the full lyrics to Lorde’s new song “Broken Glass” below.

Mystique is dead

Last year was bad

I let myself get

Sucked in by arithmetic

Felt great to strip

New waist to hip

I hate to admit

Just how much I paid for it

Did I cry myself to sleep about that?

Cheat about that?

Rot teeth about that?

Did I sweat hours a week about that?

Compete about that?

Lose my freak about that?

Huh, all of the above

I wanna punch the mirror

To make her see that this won't last

It might be months of bad luck

But what if it's just broken glass?

I spent my summer getting lost in math

Making weight took all I had

Won't outrun her if you don't hit back

It's just broken glass

I'm scared to quit

Loosen my grip

It's tough to admit

Just how much I get from it

When I cry myself to sleep about that

Cheat about that

Get in too deep about that

When I sweat hours a week about that

Competе about that

Lettin' her treat mе like that

I think that it's love

I wanna punch the mirror

To make her see that this won't last

It might be months of bad luck

But what if it's just broken glass?

I spent my summer getting lost in math

Making weight took all I had

Won't outrun her if you don't hit back

It's just broken glass

Keep the faith (Broken glass)

Same mistakes (Broken glass)

Just a phase (Broken glass)

Just a phase

I wanna punch the mirror

To make her see that this won't last

It might be months of bad luck

But what if it's just broken glass?

I spent my summer getting lost in math

Making weight takes all you have

Won't outrun her if you don't hit back

It's just broken glass