slang

She took it last year, so just maybe at that time (if she decided not to post it), she would have agreed with you. However, now maybe it's "I don't give AF", which is fine by me. Also given how some people are reacting to her cuting, I wonder how people would have reacted had she been reading this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidget instead of a male-oriented, historical-period fiction.

So the person singing in the background is Robert Plant? I didn't recognize him as such, so I figured "Other than Bob..." referred to someone else.

"Other than Bob, his voice is the only voice that completely transports me." I interpret this to mean that she really likes the person singing in the background. So I'm wondering who/what band it is.

The fact that she states it's her Bday (her 30th one, I believe) on the HM instagram yesterday makes me think she's trying to be contrastive to Gaga just a bit, although who knows what she did in the evening of that day. Based on the frame with the clearest letters, The King's Jackal by Richard Harding Davis, as @@bummersummer pointed out, is the book. I've never heard of it prior to this, but it seems to be like a thriller in which the players are kings and the stakes kingdoms. It's available at Gutenberg.org (i.e. public domain) and customer reviewed on Amazon. I don't get any cringeworthy vibes from her, as her emotions don't seem forced at all to me.

Why is Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood a great LDR cover or even an interesting one relative to all those other covers of that song (i.e., the unpopular opinion)? What I've noticed is that it's mostly males (and male bands) that cover it, with Cyndi Lauper, being a notable and excellent exception. But aside from that, what strikes me as possibly novel about LDR's version is that she sounds more like an old-time *male crooner* than the other covers, imo. Think Frank Sinatra's When No One Cares (or A Cottage for Sale, or Only the Lonely, if you want other examples). I'm not trying to say LDR sings it as well as Frank would, but just that had Frank sung DLMBM, it would have sounded closer to LDR's version (and probably even slower).

The weird thing about Marina "flopping" is she didn't do anything "wrong" musically (i.e., the singing and songwriting were strong relative to the usual suspects). Froot is a better pop album than HM, though HM is a better alt-indie (or traditional vocal?) album than Froot, so I'm not really competing them. And while Froot didn't outsell HM, it probably sold better than Art Angels, which was arguably better than Froot (and most everybody else) at pop. And while we're at it, lets stan a little for Enya, who released an album the same day as Adele's 25 ... and managed to outsell HM. I'd certainly be there for an Enya/LDR co-tour just to see if their fanbases were additive or annihilative. https://twitter.com/chartnews/status/692498237945712646 https://twitter.com/chartnews/status/692855679426523136 #takeMoreRisksInPop #supportDiversityInPop

The Trailblazer award is directed specifically towards females, which makes it an odd award*** from the get go, imo. I see no problem with LDR getting it. At least if Hayley Williams can get the (first such) award for showing a female can front and lead a high-octane pop-punk band, then LDR can get one for blazing a path back to the slower songs of yesteryear, idk. However, I think what @@graham4anything is suggesting is that it might actually be her achieved popularity despite the lack of radio/tv airplay (although she streams quite well) that motivated the award. Her relationship to music critics, i.e., being freakishly good according to fans but being berated by critics, might factor in as well (as you suggest). At any rate, it will be interesting to see who the next recipient of the award is. As for her live voice: I prefer to think of her as variable. She sometimes delivers quite big, good, and controversial (experimental) performances, in all sizes of venue. I'd also tend to be thankful for what we get tour-wise. Things could be much worse (*cough* Kate Bush *cough*). *** edit: What I mean by "odd award" is that there is no male version of the award (correct me if I'm wrong), which makes the award seem a bit patronizing. However, recognition is recognition and should always be appreciated.

24 is an interesting case. Does the song have cringeworthy lyrics because she put little effort in them (although if it were freestyled like PWYC, I'd be impressed, tbh), or did she just intend to make a lot of people cringe over it, perhaps as a satiric response to all that Bond song speculation about her in the media? It's pretty clear she didn't intend to go all Gustave Flaubert on us; however, I find it a decent warm up for Swan Song and quite amazingly sung. Finally, I wonder if the "bad guy" in this "bad guy song" is related to the male in Swan Song, and whether their both the same bad guy as in title track. This would be one interpretation of her first Honeymoon instagram, where she introduces the Honeymoon track: "Here it is, the first and title track off my record – Honeymoon. In some ways I feel it's where the record begins and ends..." (I don't really count DLMBM as the end, more an encore).

So I remain confused about all this. My understanding is that the judge has not allowed her to break with Sony, because Sony has given her the option to record with another producer and she doesn't have to interact with DL. If DL is blocking that, I would expect Sony to come down hard on DL any way they could. I also find DL's claim of 60 million invested in Kesha's career (usatoday's story) highly preposterous, and that kind of a claim, unlike Kesha's rape/abuse allegations, should be something that can be meticulously verified. That level of investment seems more like a career income for a pop star, which is why I find it preposterous. I'm sad that the music industry is so pro-money and anti-art that it would have contracts and/or laws that allow situations like this to arise.

Yup, you're right about subjective. HM is in my top tier and 24 is mid. DLMBM I didn't get a strong negative reaction for, but I did get more familiar with the Animals and Simone's cover. I think she's usually pretty faithful to the original(s) in her covers. I suppose the lyrics are different in HM and UV than some of her earlier song phases, but hopefully she'll get back to her roots (Dylan?, Cohen?).

OK, I'll bite. Unless you say what the (obvious) weak songs are, it's impossible to know the sense in which you think she is possibly declining. Not counting BN and DLMBM (which are extras), I would consider AD and GKIT as weaker than other songs on the album, but I can still listen to both with some enjoyment.

Decline artistically, no. But I wonder about her sources of inspiration, now that her life is sort of stabilized into a career. I wonder if her song-writing is as much cathartic now as in the past (as most seem to think it is), or whether she's moving on to more abstract music-loving reasons for being a writer/performer. I guess in particular I wonder about her still being able to play guitar (and whether she's getting better at it), whether she is vocally coached (even though I know she got better at it), and whether she's generally inquisitive and acquiring with regards to musical skill (which, hopefully, she is, given her recent co-producer status). To me a decline would be most indicated by a decline in ambition in writing, not sales, and maybe also ambition in performance. For performance, I want her to sing comfortably but also courageously, as she seems to like experimenting with her voice. Everything else I would view as a change in priorities and not a decline, possibly including videos and lyrics. However, videos are complicated as they vary in agenda (some are more personal than others) and budget; however, I think she puts thought into all of them, because they don't seem very repetitive to me. Lyrics I'm less certain about. I'm unsure how lyrics are supposed to vary with the emotionality and tempo of the song. So, for example, Marina has a lot more on her philosophical plate to sing about (and her lyrics sound correspondingly a lot more intelligent); whereas Lana has a lot more on her emotional plate to sing about (so she takes 5 syllables to sing the word "pink" and has enigmatic lyrics like "Hoes with lies akin to me"). Despite hoping she remains ambitious in her writing, I would still like her to revisit her unreleased work just to more formally preserve it and also mine it a bit more. Her unreleased writing also defines a breadth-of-style "bar" from which to measure decline in her released writing. Like many others here, I'm hoping her future is as varied as her past, which would be a "tall order" for any artist.

Actually, maybe her feature on Abel's album is enough to get her into the Grammys. Also she could be a presenter. Still wondering about that parallel universe where Lorde and Lana Del Rey presented the Oscar for best song last year.

Not only do I want a new album soon, but I want some "Greatest Leaks" CDs to come with it.

Well she's not nominated for anything, but possibly as Abel's date?

She likes symbols that are rife with possible interpretations, and I have no doubt that she likes baiting haters. But it seemed to me that koolaid is also associated with acid, so I googled koolaid and acid and found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test I didn't read much about the plot, because if I ever find the book, I may want to read it. It may or may not relate to the video. However, my point is that koolaid also relates to acid, and in the video the "trust no one" is around the time when she drinks the koolaid but it mostly flows out of her mouth. This, to me, provides "plausible deniability" that she has a primary interest in Jonestown.

The optimist in me just interprets the obvious name faux pas as Billboard stanning for Lizzy Grant and suggesting a re-release of "Lana Del Ray".

Just being the devil's advocate a bit here: To say Interscope has been messy about her promotion implies they actually directed her promotion, but when she says "perfect" I think she means "they let her do what she wants", which is something LDR has often said about her label. Whether they actually intervened on the original UV video is conjectural, by which I mean I don't remember any hard evidence for it. The fact that they brought in a third party to give an opinion about UV may have miffed Auerbach a bit, but we all know how that story turned out, and in the end that's what I took it to be, an amusing story.

Here's the randomness that I get from yours: What I like about this is the idea that Freak could be intended as something like the UV video with a shifted perspective. In UV, LDR is more or less haunted by a memory which she occasionally gets fleeting images and interactions with (well a memory of Fran's hand at any rate interacting with her face). With Freak it's the male character that is haunted, this time by a whole body image of LDR ("my boyfriend's really cool but he's not as cool as me", lol). FJM at the beginning of the video, walks behind LDR but can't seem to touch her, which is where I get the possible interpretation that the LDR character is not real. I also like the fact that if the theory that the released UV was about Pam's relationship with Jim Morrison were true, then the fact FJM looks so much like Jim Morrison (let's say) also shifts the perspective from Pam to Jim (and also away from Charles Manson). If FJM is more representative of Morrison, that he takes drugs and possibly dies is somewhat motivated. What's a little unmotivated is that he can only interact with her (Pam/LDR) after the acid, and that she gives him the acid.

Freak, wherein we learn: Interscope probably only budgeted for 2 videos, and the third is yet another personal vblog of LDR-style ambiguity that will never be broadcast outside of Youtube (because of obvious drug references). FJM probably participated as a friend, and it seems he is a little drug sympathetic too (or at least admits to dropping acid recreationally at Taylor Swift concerts). As for LDR's relation to FJM in the video, there are lots of things uncertain for me. I don't know if she's real to FJM or whether FJM imagines her; it's interesting that he can only dance with her after he takes the acid (and it's interesting that only LDR can give him the acid, and she takes none?). If she is real, then one can speculate on whether she is trying to kill FJM (giving him acid in an initially high place--as with her left-hand tattoo, which gets airplay), or whether she is abstaining from the acid and other drugs (flash to koolaid dripping down her chin, and maybe it's just koolaid) in order to be a "designated" acid tour guide. As for the beautiful dancing underwater girls, my only criticism here, is that, as perfect as Debussy's Clair de Lune is for background music, it's such an easy solution for background music, that I wouldn't have minded her trying to compose something herself for that (or maybe hiding another video within Freak, e.g., Life is Beautiful might have been an ironic twist). It would have made the video more personal and informative, imo. But I still like the Freak video as non-redundant with her other work (even given the visual overlap with MTWBT). Now I wonder if she'll ever release the video for Honeymoon she's mentioned. Finally, I dislike the heaven interpretation for the "floating girls" segment, because people like Mark Dice have already condemned the Freak video on youtube, saying in effect it promotes satanism (aka suicide) and cultism as false paths to heaven. I do think people are "garden pathed" into thinking about Jonestown and Manson, but I don't see any strong suggestion on the part of either FJM or LDR about suicide, satanism, or cults being desireable. I haven't taken (or recommend) drugs, but I'm knowledgeable enough to understand people don't take drugs to go to heaven but to attempt heaven-like experiences on earth. So maybe the POV of the video is that, in this particular case, Father John Misty got lucky with respect to his trip and had a nice time, which is the most straightforward interpretation of the floating girls I can think of (and if you watch till the end, you see FJM get inserted into their slo-mo frolics).

Without the context of the Great Gatsby, I suppose the song could be about a "cougar" relationship (the guy younger). Or it could be about a relationship between equal-aged people and a reference to that (bad) American (?) joke: "When my wife turns 50, I think I'll trade her in for two 25 yr olds". But ageism is not Lolita-ism, per se, and there is nothing intrinsically certain about YAB in its lyrics to suggest an older guy is who she's singing about. Anyway, maybe this upcoming event will give us more info on LDR's perspective on the Ride video: https://twitter.com/LanaDReyCrew/status/695430843234254850

I'd like to re-iterate that what @ implies (for me) is that some people *claim* to be influenced by LDR wrt to engaging in Lolita-like behavior, and that they do so just to darken her reputation. So it is unknown (to me) how many real "Darwin Award" posts there are as versus just malicious posts. Also, I don't like that they are termed "Rays" as they could basically just be Trolls, and I don't like sullying the reputation of the AKA album (which I wish she'd re-release) by referring to trolls as "Rays". I also have a problem with the whole "LDR likes Lolita" situations in her discography/videography (her actual dating history being irrelevant). She is much more ambivalent than people give her credit for. We know there is Put Me in A Movie from AKA which is as much about predation, perhaps; it depends on what kind of spin you want to put on the song. There's the song Cola, whose character says she likes older guys, but there's nothing in the song that suggests she's really that young. The character says "I know your wife and she wouldn't mind" rather suggests she's a peer of the wife. There's the song Lolita, but the female in it "knocks the boys down like dominoes", suggesting she is older than Lolita, the Nabokov character. The Lolita character in OTTR has a Las Vegas past. LDR's videos are balanced for young and older love interests. Ride is perhaps the most problematic, but it doesn't specifically bear on the Lolita issue too much. It's more about running away and being dependent on *experienced* nomads (the type of nomad you want to be dependent on, actually). Even in the video where she has a much older guy in a primary relationship (West Coast), it's completely ambivalent what the emotional valence is with regard to her happiness in that relationship. Sure the old guy survives in WC (and the young guy dies), but the interpretation is basically up to you whether she is happier in the surviving relationship (although being engulfed in flames would suggest not, imo). Ditto for SOC (where's she's visibly happier, but arguably a ghost).

Had I not been scanning LB Entertainment, I would have missed this. Is Acid Bird going to release Cold Coffee, or is he still having release issues? My feelings are generally really positive. I mean, he did go a different route than the EP, I think, and I'm still digesting that. I liked the idea of the lo-fi ambience in songs (prepared piano as primary synth sound, minimal synth and muddy guitars, reverb), liked his falsetto (night burns, angel tears). Liked that he redid Mary to retrofit the CD style (makes the original single a bit more collectible?). He also seems a bit poppier on songs, though in a melancholic way (angel tears, wherever you go, pictures, could be alt-indie hits?). I kind of missed the Art of Horror, which could have headed the album (and the intro for the album would make some sense as the outro for that song). I also missed the Art of Resurrection (only hearable in ScumBag video) that could have ended the album. This might have given the album more cohesion as a "statement-type" album (for me) and showcase more the guitar side of his instrumentality, but my only real agenda in this suggestion is that more Barrie is more Barrie (and I think those 2 songs were on the original track list he released). I don't know if he would have had to retrofit the songs' styles too much given the Chivalry is Alive ... song is included unchanged, but anyway, I hope those two other songs end up later in his formal discography.

I can see Grimes producing LDR on the right selection of leaks, but LDR would have to be interested in doing electronica. Also Grimes produced by LDR would be interesting, imo. I've always found it weird that girls don't pack together as often as boys do into groups and on occasion supergroups. It may have something to do with the greater instrument focus boys have generally (requiring collaboration to get a coordinated sound?) and the vocals focus of the girls, I suppose.

Beautifully disturbing, and I can see why it's not on Youtube (and hopefully the artists involved in making it know that it's on Vimeo and want people to see it). At 52 mins, it's the longest album-oriented music video that I know of. The story is by Mark Pellington, though CW wrote the dialog. Here's an article that talks about the film. http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/lone-wolfe-chelsea-wolfes-surreal-journey-from-music-to-movies/