Has your opinion on a song ever just suddenly changed? I mean, have you ever just heard a song that you have listened to maybe a million times, and something clicks? It can be a case of a song that you previously thought was good and now you have realised that you dislike it. It can be a case that a song you previously had strong feelings for is now just one that you are as likely to skip when it comes on shuffle as you are to listen to it. Or, as is the case for the song that is at the centre of this post, it can be a song that you previously thought was grand and now you think is actually excellent.

Back in 2015, Swedish pop star Zara Larsson would release the song that would prove to be her breakthrough hit, and the song that would catapult into the realms of pop superstardom. At the time the song received a lot of radio play due to it’s catchy lyrics, fun chorus, and summery feel, and would be one of the standout songs of 2015.

At the time of first listen I remember thinking that this was another fun pop song that would become a massive hit from the year and would be a key part of radio and night club playlists for the foreseeable future. This latter prediction would come to pass with many nights in the renowned Dublin nightclub of Copper Face Jacks featuring the Swedish star’s single. But, apart from these fairly surface level thoughts, I didn’t pay much more heed to the song.

Then something changed.

Lush Life is a phenomenal pop song, akin to songs like New Rules by Dua Lipa and You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful by One Direction. Across the song, the vocals from Larsson are impeccable – it is clear that she is an excellent vocalist and there is something infectious about how she delivers her lines throughout the song.

But I think it might actually be the message at the heart of the song that started to echo with me more than anything else. The idea at the centre of Lush Life is that each of us should try our best to experience as much as we can while we are on this earth. A sense that everyday has the potential to be the best day of your life and you need to seize that opportunity when it presents itself, and not wait for the next time, because it might not come. It’s a message that seems all that more pertinent these days as we find ourselves in a space when we don’t know when we’ll get that next big night out.

“Second time is one too late.”

It also sounds deadly played acoustically…

One of the best pop songs of the last ten years, if not longer.

MK