It’s a pop culture trivia treasure that teenage singing sensation Lorde wrote her smash hit “Royals” after seeing a picture of Kansas City Royals legend George Brett when she was a kid. Or as Lorde–as a New Zealand kid who didn’t know George Brett from Wilt Chamberlain– put it, she “had this image from the National Geographic of this dude signing baseballs. He was a baseball player and his shirt said Royals.”
Now the Royals were once among Major League Baseball’s elite–especially when George Brett played. But it’s been a long time since they were in any kind of royal position–until now. (The Wikipedia page concerning the team history includes this category: 2004–2012: Rock bottom.) Did Lorde’s song put something in the air for Kansas City? The team began its move back into contention with a solid 2013 season–just about the time when “Royals” was released. And both have been riding high ever since. This year’s Kansas City Royals baseball team is up 2-0 in the American League Championship Series, after a major upset in the wildcard series. Lorde’s song, which doesn’t have a thing to do with baseball, but which does root for the common man to overcome the privileged “Royals” (that’s Yankees in baseball-speak) suits this team just fine.
