"What Was That" lyrics

"What Was That"

A place in the city, a chair and a bed
I cover up all the mirrors, I can't see myself yet
I wear smoke like a wedding veil
Make a meal I won't eat
Step out into the street, alone in a sea
It comes over me

Oh, I'm missing you
Yeah, I'm missing you
And all the things we used to do

MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up
We kissed for hours straight, well baby, what was that?
I remember saying then, "This is the best cigarette of my life"
Well, I want you just like that
Indio haze, we're in a sandstorm and it knocks me out
I didn't know then that you'd never be enough for–
Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything
Now, we wake from a dream
Well, baby, what was that?

What was that?
Baby, what was that?

Do you know you're still with me
When I'm out with my friends?
I stare at their painted faces
They talk current affairs
You had to know this was happening
You weren't feeling my heat
When I'm in the blue light, down at Baby's All Right
I face reality

I try (I try)
To let (To let)
Whatever has to pass through me, pass through
But this is staying a while, I know
It might not let me go

MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up
We kissed for hours straight, well baby, what was that?
I remember saying then, "This is the best cigarette of my life"
Well, I want you just like that
Indio haze, we're in a sandstorm and it knocks me out
I didn't know then that you'd never be enough for me
Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything
Now we wake from a dream, well baby, what was that?

What was that?
'Cause I want you just like that
When I'm in the blue light, I can make it alright
What was that?
When I'm in the blue light, I can make it alright
Baby, what was that?


Lorde teased "What Was That" on TikTok on the 9th of April, 2025, when she posted her first video on the social-media platform. In the clip, she is seen walking at New York's Washington Square Park where she later performed the song at a fan meeting. This song is the first taste of Lorde's alleged fourth studio album. It was released on the 24th of April, 2025, accompanied by the music video which contains a footage of her debuting the song at the said fan meeting.
Lorde co-wrote "What Was That" with Jim-E Stack and co-produced it with Jim-E Stack and Dan Nigro. She posted the following about the creating process, "Late 2023. Back in New York. Deep breakup. Stopping birth control. Every meal a battle. Flashbacks and waves. Feeling grief's vortex and letting it take me. Opening my mouth and recording what fell out. Jimmy shouting in the background. A thousand hours of audio embroidery. Dan telling us where the moog bass should go. Andrew giving it teeth. The night we finally got the drums right. The sound of my rebirth."
The line "Indio haze, we're in a sandstorm" mentions the city where the Coachella Music Festival takes place in California.
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