Lorde’s Green Light wins NZ’s Silver Scroll

Lorde’s ’Green Light’ won the prestigious Silver Scroll award last night.

The event, organised by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) to mark excellence in New Zealand songwriting, made history for two reasons.

It was the first time in the awards’ 52-year history that they were held in Dunedin (at the Town Hall before 400 guests), to mark that city’s music legacy - and it was also the first time that all the finalists were women.

The other finalists were Bic Runga (’Close Your Eyes’), Nadia Reid (’Richard’), Aldous Harding (’Horizon’) and LA-based Chelsea Jade (’Life Of The Party’).

Lorde accepted her win via a pre-recorded video speech from the UK where she is touring, and shared the award with the song’s co-writers Jack Antonoff and Joel Little. 

It was her third nomination and second win, after ’Royals’ in 2013, also co-written with Little.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I really wanted to win the Silver Scroll award.

“I just feel like it’s so prestigious and important. I always love and respect the songs that end up in the Silver Scrolls.”

She described ’Green Light’ as a “bizarre little song” and “a song that I love so much and I’m so proud of.”

The track was the lead-off single from the Melodrama album, and was inspired by a break up. 

At the time of its release in March, she told Zane Lowe in a Beats 1 interview, “The song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate towards.

“It sounds so happy and then the lyrics are so intense obviously. I realized I was like, ’how come this thing is coming out so joyous sounding?’

“And I realised this is that drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend who everyone thinks is a mess. That’s her tonight and tomorrow she starts to rebuild. And that’s the song for me.” 

’Green Light’ went on to chart in 25 countries. It reached #1 in New Zealand where it went Platinum, and peaked at #4 in Australia where it received double Platinum certification.

It was a Top 10 smash in Israel, Canada, Iceland, Latvia and Scotland.

In the US it climbed up to #19 on the Billboard Top 100 and #20 in the UK according to the Official Charts Company. 

Other winners last night included:

Best original music in a series award: Claire Cowan for ’Hillary’

Best music in a feature film: Tim Prebble for ’One Thousand Ropes’.

The Maioha (Maori language) award: thrash metal band Alien Weaponry for ’Raupatu’

Sounz Contemporary: Salina Fisher

The Clean, prime exponent of the Dunedin Sound received the Legacy award and were inducted into the NZ Hall of Fame. 

Co-founder David Kilgour explained their change of mind: "I think the last time we were offered to be inducted, we joked ’only if you did it in Dunedin’. So this time around ... it is in Dunedin."