The third single from Lorde's debut album, Pure Heroine, finds the teenage singer touching on disconnection with modern pop music and the difference between on-screen portrayals and reality over a clap-along synth-heavy beat. She told Billboard magazine: There are a few lines which are kind of me being the 'realistic' pop star: 'We live in cities you'll never see on-screen,' which is like, no one comes to New Zealand, no one knows anything about New Zealand, and here I am, trying to grow up and become a person. I've been countering that with going to New York and seeing this place that's in every movie and every TV show. Part of me wanted to go back to writing for me and for my friends, and write something that I felt related to us a little bit."

Lorde told The Fader there are two lines on the song that are particularly important to her. She said: "One of them was: 'We live in cities you'll never see onscreen.' Because I like in Auckland, which is definitely not New York. It just felt important for me to be speaking for the minority. Coming from a small city, somewhere that feels unimportant, you just wanna get out of there. You're whole teenage life The other line is: 'I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air.' Because, there's been so much of that in pop music, and I'm like, this is the stupidest thing. Being told to put your hands in the air? That's the last thing I wanna do right now. I just wanted to be a bit more realistic. I don't if that's relating to young people in general, or just people who listen to pop."

Lorde sings: I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air The biggest culprit in the hands-in-the-air movement was the omnipresent Taio Cruz song "Dynamite," where he sings: I throw my hands up in the air sometimes Saying A - O, gotta let go This part of Cruz' song was written by Bonnie McKee, who was a bit tweaked when she heard "Team." "I was insulted by that, definitely," McKee told Billboard. Clever, though.