- [2014, on her song "Immortal"] It's a really universal issue discussing how you leave your mark and how it's really important to preserve memories and remember people. I started writing that song when I went to a war memorial in Poland. Something that somebody I was with just struck me... they said 'It's not a very beautiful memorial, but it deserves to be visited to keep their memory alive.' That's how the song - well, the lyrics - started.
- [2014] It was almost like I had been burdened by something my whole life and then suddenly that went away... I can't even describe how amazing it is... you suddenly realise why people are happy and why people enjoy things. I think I used to believe that being depressed was part of my personality or that I was born like that, but it's quite shocking to realise that perhaps that isn't the case.
- [2014] I feel like the songs I identify with most - not the ones I think are the best, but the ones that speak to me - are "I Am Not A Robot", "Mowgli's Road" and "Hollywood", which are kind of like these fusions of alternative and rock music. I don't think there was a concerted effort to go back to that... that is just my sound. That's what I'm interested in. It's not about being pop or not pop, or electronic or not electronic, it's more about feeling the groove in the music and knowing there are real musicians playing it. I think it's something that I've been trying translate for a long time.
- [2014, on her songs "Immortal" and "Are You Satisfied?"] They're not consciously related, but it's a good point. I guess both are talking about that need to feel fulfilled or live that kind of life that you would want to. It's hard. It's hard to be happy all the time - it's not natural - but that's what people want to be.
- [2014] I felt like I hadn't changed between 18 and 27, which is a really long fucking time to not grow up or not deal with certain issues. I feel lighter now. I feel very different. The weirdest thing was that it was almost overnight. I'm 29 and I've not experienced this in my life before. I think it was something that I was looking for. The previous years when I was projecting cynicism, or when I was being snarky or whatever, I was myself all the time.
- [2014] When I was 21 I was an idiot, I remember wanting Brody Dalle's voice so I started smoking and shouting all the time... but it never worked, and now I'm just stuck with a bad habit. I think when you're young the image you have of yourself is sometimes different to who you actually are, so what you want to be is perhaps not what you are going to be. Plus, because I was really ambitious at the time, I saw pop music as a way to expand upon those desires and plans. I'm a huge pop fan, but it's more that those big influences are the earliest ones. When I started listening to music properly I was around 19 - I was quite late - and those were the big ones around at the time. People like Fiona Apple, Dresden Dolls who I really liked, The Distillers obviously and PJ Harvey.
- [2014] It [Electra Heart] was an American-produced album, all of the imagery was referencing American culture... it made complete sense that it would be received better there, but let's not forget I pretended to be a completely different person. If I hadn't done that and I'd still done a pop album it might have been easier to digest for the UK. I can't control what people think of me and what people are going to think of anything I do in the future. I think for the first time, I feel comfortable. I know I've struggled in certain parts of the past five years, as most artists do when they're starting out, and I know I'm always going to want to experiment with production and with sound so everyone had better get used to the fact I'm probably going to change with each album!
- [2014, on her album Froot and its visuals] I guess it's an alternative pop record. Visually I've definitely been interested in the '70s, for sure. I really like jumpsuits, I'm really liking suits at the moment. I suppose still being feminine but maybe dressing in a way I didn't before. I used to be a lot louder, a lot more 'pop art', but now I'm 29 I feel different, and I want to dress differently. In the beginning, when I did my first photoshoot, I was trying to describe it as like blending neon with nature. It's like a cyber La Dolce Vita, or a sci-fi Sophia Loren, or a futuristic Liz Taylor. It's about taking these iconic figures, these feminine icons, and interpreting them an a modern way. I wanted a '50s or '70s look but with something that's artificial.
- [2014] I'm okay writing alone, I have a lot of discipline for that, but with production... [she laughs] it's never been my favourite thing in the world.
- [2014] Shit still goes down in life whether you're happy with yourself or not. Happy is the wrong word. It's more to do with being at ease with yourself as a human being; liking who you are. Being truthful with who you are as a person and understanding that. If there were no troubles, I don't know how I would write.
- [2014, before the release of her album Froot] I'm used to planning everything to sweet fuckery, and I'm not planning anything this time. I'm just happy to let everything happen.
- Hollywood infected your brain / You wanted kissing in the rain, oh, oh, ooh / Living in a movie scene / Puking American dreams, oh, oh / I'm obsessed with the mess that's America
- You say Y-E-S to everything / Will that guarantee you a win? / Do you think you will be good enough / To love others and to be loved?
- Elderly stars slide down the morning sky / Slipping away to find a place to die / I wonder when the night will reach its end / The sleep is not my friend / Drinking champagne, meant for a wedding / Toast to the bride, a fairytale ending / Drinking champagne, a bottle to myself / Savor the taste of fabricated wealth
- Look like a girl but I think like a guy / Not ladylike to behave like a slime / Easy to be sleazy when you've got a filthy mind / You stick to your yogurts / I'll stick to my apple pie / Girls are not meant to fight dirty / Never look a day past thirty / Not gonna bend over and curtsy for you / Is there any possibility / You'll quit gossiping about me / To hide your insecurities? / All you say is "blah, blah" / Girls they never befriend me / 'Cause I fall asleep when they speak / Of all the calories they eat / All they say is / Na na na na na
- High achiever don't you see / Baby, nothing comes for free / They say I'm a control freak / Driven by a greed to succeed / Nobody can stop me / 'Cause it's my problem / If I wanna pack up and run away / It's my business if I feel the need to / Smoke and drink and sway / It's my problem, it's my problem / If I feel the need to hide / And it's my problem if I have no friends / And feel I want to die / Are you satisfied with an average life? / Do I need to lie to make my way in life?
- I'm a cloud drifting by / Dripping tears from the sky / I'm a snail without a shell / Leper with a golden bell / I've got nowhere to go / I'm a stray cat on the roam / Choking on a chicken bone / For a home sweet, no sweet home / For a root, for a leaf, for a branch, for a tree / For something, somebody that reminded them of me / Running with my roots pulled up / Caught me cold so they could cut / What there was left of love / I'm rootless
- Primadonna girl, yeah / All I ever wanted was the world / I can't help that I need it all / The primadonna life, the rise and fall / You say that I'm kinda difficult / But it's always someone else's fault / Got you wrapped around my finger, babe / You can count on me to misbehave
- Feeling like a loser / Feeling like a bum / Sitting on the outside / Observing the fun / Don't get on my bad side / I can work a gun / Hop into the backseat baby / I'll show you some fun / These people are weird in here / And they're giving me the fear / Just because you know my name / Doesn't mean you know my game / I look myself in the face / And whisper "I'm in the wrong place" / Is there more to lose than gain / If I go on my own again?
- You don't love me, big fucking deal / I'll never tell you how I feel / You don't love me, not a big deal / I'll never tell you how I feel / It almost feels like a joke to play out a part / When you are not the starring role in someone else's heart / You know I'd rather walk alone than play a supporting role / If I can't get the starring role
- You're never gonna love me, so what's the use? / What's the point in playing a game you're gonna lose? / What's the point in saying you love me like a friend? / What's the point in saying it's never gonna end? / You're too proud to say that you've made a mistake / You're a coward 'til the end / I don't wanna admit that we're not gonna fit / No, I'm not the type that you like / Why don't we just pretend?
- In the valley of the dolls we sleep, we sleep / Got a hole inside of me, of me / Born with a void, hard to destroy with love or hope / Built with a heart, broken from the start / And now I die slow / In the valley of the dolls, we sleep / Got a hole inside of me / Living with identities / That do not belong to me / In my life, I got this far / Now I'm ready for the last hoorah / Dying like a shooting star / In the valley
- Now I got your back up / What do you not like / Do you think I'm stuck-up / 'Cause I'm always picking fights / You might think I'm one thing / But I am another / You can't call my bluff / Time to back off, motherfucker / Do you really want me to write a feminist anthem / I'm happy cooking dinner in the kitchen for my husband / Yeah, yeah / You can paint me any color / And I can be your clown / But you ain't got my number / No, you can't pin me down / Yeah, you can't pin me down
- Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been a teen, teen idle / Wish I'd been a prom queen fighting for the title / Instead of being sixteen and burning up a Bible / Feeling super, super, super suicidal / The wasted years, the wasted youth / The pretty lies, the ugly truth / And the day has come where I have died / Only to find I've come alive
- You're just another in a long line of men she screwed / Just another in a long line of men she knew / And yeah she did, yeah she did what she wanted to do / Like all the boys before / Another dream come true / It's a power, it's a power, it's a power move / And while I'm not quite sure what she's trying to prove / They all say she's got low self-esteem / So, why is she looking like the cat who got the cream / But you, you can do better than / You can do better than that
- I'm forever chasing after time / But everybody dies, dies / If I could buy forever at a price / I would buy it twice, twice / But if the earth ends in fire / And the seas are frozen in time / There'll be just one survivor / The memory that I was yours / And you were mine
- [asked why "Hollywood" was chosen as a single] I'm saying: "This is who I was. Hollywood infected my brain and I really valued the wrong things in life, but I changed dramatically." This obsession with celebrity culture is really unhealthy. I don't want to live my life like that, and I don't want to be a typical pop star.
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