Lorde Wins Gov Ball Day One By Covering Robyn's 'Hang With Me'

"I'm not sure you know this about me," Lorde told the crowd early on during her electrifying Governor's Ball set Friday night, "but I think of myself as a witch." She then paused to cast a spell in the direction of the setting sun, a charm meant to ensure two more days of equally perfect weather. The crowd, too, stood spellbound, reeling from the adrenalized anthems coming from this floating gothic sorcerer. At one point, not long after the sun-hex, a flock of geese flew overhead in a distinct L formation, and she seemed to acknowledge them with a slight smile. Such is the magic of Lorde.

The most beautiful moment in a set of a beautiful moments came in the form of a heartbreaking cover of Robyn's "Hang With Me." With Jack Antonoff (fun., Bleachers) on piano, the two re-imagined the dance hit as a moody piano ballad, trading off vocals as they built to the song's perfectly angsty chorus —which Robyn herself has described as "like a sweet and sour bon bon wrapped in melancholy." It was a hell of a bon bon.

The cover was prefaced by Lorde explaining to the very young audience that "Robyn is a huge influence on Melodrama," the long awaited follow up to her breakout debut Pure Heroine. Judging by the throbbing, synth-heavy new tracks we heard Friday night, that Robyn inspiration is no joke. And non-musically, the 20-year-old (!) New Zealander has plenty in common with the effortlessly cool Swedish legend, having both achieved that rare pop star quality in which Not Giving A F*ck actually scans as genuine. (Never forget that Lorde turned down an opening gig on Katy Perry's world tour at the age of 16).

Anyway, the cover was enough to erase any lingering mega-festival weariness, a feeling that was long gone by the time Lorde closed out her set with Melodrama's lead single Green Light—which, for those keeping track at home, is now the pop star's SECOND Song of the Summer in four years. Truly, we don't deserve Lorde.