It came out at the right. Lana came out after Adele help shift music away from dance but alternative music was not fully taking off yet. So she had some success. Royals come out after fun., gotye, imagine dragons, etc. and alternative music became more mainstream.

Lana is basically a persona that's out to remind people of the Golden ages back in the 1950s of America. She's not praising the country of what it is today but rather criticizing. I guess that bugs the Americans in some way or they're not quite interested in that kind of nostalgia these days. However, Lorde is not focused on that topic so I guess that's why this song is smashing there. It makes her less interesting to me nonetheless. Yet, Lana's album will soon pass its 90th week in the BB Top 200 and it's still perched on #40 on iTunes right now.

I don't know, the song is horrible...

It's more radio-friendly/relatable to US tweens.

"Born To Die" was a much better song with a much better video, but it wasn't the type of song that could be universally consumed by the GP in America. I remember a lot of pop fans calling it "boring" when it came out.

Sadly, debut singles need to be dumbed down for most Americans to "get it."

Lana is an old bitch.

It's catchier and more relatable.