Romy Mars' "A-Lister" Lyrics, Explained

Life on Mars isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. On her pouty pop single “A-Lister,” Romy Mars embraces her nepo-baby image, warping it into an irony-coated eye-roll at the hollowness of fame. “I could reach for the stars, but once I get it I want more,” she muses in the opening line.

In a pre-chorus that could be plucked straight from the Barbie soundtrack, Mars contends with how the glitzy life she loves comes at a price of authenticity (or, at least, the perception of being authentic):

I love this golden sunny West Coast / Scenе-y plastic world / I miss being a real girl, sure / But I’m not a rеal girl anymore

The core of the song is a whirlwind romance that’s equal parts euphoria and ephemera. Mars describes being swept up by an actor who claims to “hate the spotlight,” and makes her “feel like a star.” “Heartless, tasteless, nameless, famous / Never, ever on my wait list / We're judgy and bitter, he flies on my sister / I kiss her and whisper, ‘Look at my A-lister’”

Despite lavishing in the gold-plated world this actor (a representation of the hollow but addictive life of luxury) brings her into, Mars knows she’ll “be miserable after chasing what I don’t want.”

You’ll draw the line there, I’ll sniff it up / I’ll take pictures of a private jet wing / I take a breath, have a movie set fling / Nobody says what they really mean / They don’t stop acting when they’re off-screen / But I’m fifty percent sure he’s the real thing

“A-Lister” is the third song Mars has released, following the success of her first two songs “Stuck Up” and “From a Distance” last year.