On 26 November 2013, Lorde performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman, backed by a drummer and a keyboard player.

On 24 September 2013, she performed the track at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and at a concert at the Warsaw in Brooklyn on 3 October 2013 along with other material from her album Pure Heroine. She also performed the song during a free concert on 7 September 2013 at the 5000 seat Vector Arena. Lorde first performed 'Ribs' and '400 Lux' at the Greenwich Village club Le Poisson Rouge. Consequence of Sound noted how Lorde's minimal production allowed her to sing in any melody, layering them over one another to create a choral effect. 'Ribs' is a deep house-influenced electronica and electropop song, which starts ambiently and, according to Jason Lipshutz of Billboard, features an 'exhausted-sounding Lorde growing more frantic with each passing second,' with lyrics that include the singer discovering her maturity and 'grown-up problems.' In 'Ribs', she references Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Scene's 2002 song ' Lover's Spit'. Lorde's vocals span a range of B 2 to G ♯ 5 and its chord progression follows a sequence of A–E–F ♯m 7–C ♯m 7. 'Ribs' is composed in the key of E major with a tempo of 128 beats per minute. 'Ribs' was written on the day of the January 2013 Auckland Laneway Festival. Lorde said ageing, which she described as 'a big stress' of hers, and 'this big party I had when my parents went away' inspired her.

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A 25-second sample of 'Ribs', a deep house-influenced electronica and electropop song.

Ribs lorde lyric