Valentino

I don't understand. Are you saying you served me humble pie? I did the best I could with the Catalan translation and trying to hear Lana underneath it. I missed the "summer with the windows open" part, but other than that I did surmise that she listened to a soundtrack or classical music and that she was out on the terrace. EDIT: Is this a response to mickos57 "eating humble pie are you"? I'm not sure who you're aiming at with the humble pie comment and I don't want to get all defensive if it's not even aimed at me.

I don't speak Catalan, but I do speak Spanish which has some similarities, so I could kind of understand the translator at times. She was talking about how she needs a special atmosphere to write. The guy then asks her if Barcelona inspires her to write. And she says that last night she was out on the terrace. I'm pretty sure she said "something that I ???( like?) like a soundtrack" and the translator mentioned something about classical or classic music, so I guess she listens to that for inspiration. After that, something about "I wrote three new songs that I love" at 6:11, "I Sing The Body Electric" and "In The Land of Gods And Monsters." The guy asks her if she writes the music and lyrics, and she says "yeah, last night I wrote a song called WYSLMWINLY&B." I think she said "last night I wrote the chorus" right before the guy asks her to sing a piece of it. She doesn't mention if they're for any specific project, just that she wrote them. Being that Y&B is mentioned alongside the early titles for Body Electric and Gods & Monsters, I imagine it was probably intended for Paradise. When did she start working with Baz for the film? I recall an interview with him where he said that Lana only had the chorus written and they worked on all the rest. Trying to find it now. That would mean that until she started working with Baz, she only had the chorus of Y&B written, not the whole song.

I recall an instance of a company claiming it had the rights to a song that it... actually didn't have. It was a long time ago and I read about it on a forum, not a big incident, but it kind of stuck with me. Googling youtube copyright infringement fake complaint got me this, about someone who had fake complaints lodged against them (and was apparently put at risk for entering their personal information), and this one where a guy got a video that was just him taken down and another one where the title of the complaint supposedly was "This DMCA claim is bogus." If the google forums are anything to go by, the process is automated and you don't need to provide proof that you own whatever you say you own. In addition, you can have multiple fake claims filed against you and they'll count as different strikes, which terminates the account. The DMCA claim has been used against the original Nyan Cat video (someone pretended to be the guy who made it) and Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. Although these happened in 2011, it seems the copyright infringement report is still totally automated. As such, I wouldn't put too much stock into the fact that Gallegos got the videos removed. The HappyCabbie guy said someone posing under his own username managed to get one of his videos taken down. It also appears that filing a false DMCA claim is against the law... so count me out of testing whether the automated copyright thing is true.

Pretty sure it didn't. I wonder if anyone's been able to find anything else about From The End or Rock Me Stable/Young Like Me, or that rumored third one? If I go to university in Washington, I'll spend my scholarship money on listening to old Lana stuff and laughing at all you guys being unable to hear it. I wonder if there's a way to know what these consist of? $165 to hear what, a song? The album?

Two females singing below their comfortable voice range over hip-hop beats who are praised more for their lyrics than their music and either have or had cred among the "indie"/hipster scene. Often liked by people in order to appear to be intellectual and different from those other stans who like "basic" pop stars (Marina falls into this bandwagon category too but doesn't meet the musical/lyrical/vocal requirements to be directly compared to Lorde and Lana). Had one song they're known for (Lana: Video Games, Lorde: Royals) and wrote/recorded music for a film (Lana did Gatsby, I think Lorde did Catching Fire). They're both relatively polarizing figures. Also their names both start with an L.

First of all, I want to say thanks for responding. I think it's great that you're shedding light on Mr. C who truly is an ignored Lana love (if a lover at all; I still want to think it's one-sided because the implications otherwise... and it could jeopardize his career if even a whiff of it got out). You did some great investigative work! Are there any songs that place K's age? In "For K Part 2" she says "the way your hair come down and make you look older," which suggests she liked him because he seemed older than he really was. Other than that, it's hard to tell anything. "Off To The Races" calls her lover her "old man," but that feeds into the whole "daddy" dynamic (old man is another way to refer to one's father) and her desire to be infantilized. However, I see your point that she sees his true youth and she doesn't see age or whatever. She seems like one of those types. Dear lord! Mr. Kampbell! D: Real life Walter White! But he's not dead, and I'm gonna refrain from making allegations of drug dealing on top of the implied inappropriate relationship. I haven't looked at her whole discography either. 100 songs is far too much for my poor mind. 1949 and EMGHW are tentatively K songs ("we're forever young in paradise," the golden grill to match his gold chain, "before he says goodbye") and they're about seeing it all before some kind of deadline (whereas Damn You implies the relationship was broken off due to Mr. C going back to his wife). However, you make a good point for EMGHW being Mr. C ("you said I'd never make it out alive," "you'll never grow old in my eyes"). And both mention two different cars, a Chevrolet and a Pontiac. Pontiac = Arthur Lynn (from Diet Mountain Dew? Maybe? idek). Chevrolet = ??? I think Mr. C had one? Honestly I don't keep track of her cars. It is a tricky song but it could be relevant in explaining the inconsistency in themes. Although "mistake or design" is a common phrase, I wouldn't underestimate the importance of it in the context of Born To Die which makes the important 'when I die I'll be reunited with you' (continued in Bel Air). It's also important when you consider "Off To The Races:" "But I trust in the decision of the Lord to watch over us, take him when he might if he may." Was K's getting caught by the police a mistake or the decision of the Lord? She clearly believes very strongly in a divine plan and has talked about it in reference to K before. Further complicating the matter is the choice of Bradley in the video which "reminded her of a former boyfriend." I think it was discovered she never really dated Gnecco as much as stalked him, so that further complicates things (unless she believes they were really dating and omg creepy factor at level 5). Reviewing the thread, I saw that theory about each member of the trilogy being a different lover and am on the edge about it. "Blue Jeans" is probably the most obvious, with the gangsta punk rock reference as well as lining up with the timeline in "For K" ("drive by Sunday night," "headed out on Sunday"). The theme of reuniting with a dead lover in heaven is repeated in Dark Paradise and Bel Air, and the only lover associated with death (besides being dead) is K. Born To Die should is therefore definitely a contender for K. Video Games is a hot mess because Lana is so contradictory about it. She says it's about a relationship where both she and her lover are sober, then says it's about how things are in one relationship while fantasizing about another. She also said in the Brazil concert it was "one of the first songs she wrote" so I don't know what to believe anymore. :v By extrapolation, I'd very tentatively link VG to BTD and BJ (but maybe that trilogy thing was BS, too). Then again, she said Yayo was the "prequel" to VG, and Yayo is probably about Gnecco what with his blue drag- I mean snake. Then again, Gnecco never reciprocated Lana's affections and she talks about getting engaged and running away and being saved from a trailer park. So we see the return of the "got to get out" theme seen in some of the Mr. C songs, maaaaybe K, but linked to... Gnecco? wat While I think the link to Lucky Ones is significant, the fact that we really can't link Video Games to anyone or anything (or rather the opposite: you can argue for it being three different people and they'd all have the same amount of evidence, that is to say very little) means it's hard to use as evidence in any direction. Which is frustrating; I feel it would be enlightening to know who Video Games was about. We know the guy has a "fast car" (American: "drive fast," hell this dude is so fast that "they can't compare") and we know she puts his "favorite perfume on" (Off To The Races: "Glass film, perfume, cognac, lilac fumes, says it feels like heaven to him"). He has "big arms" and he also has a favorite "sundress" (contrast American: "honey put on that party dress," Smarty: "put me in a party dress"). Clearly this guy is super important to her. But who? Drinks beer and plays video games is an accurate descriptor for most young males. I don't know, but she has something in mind: "Because I'm crazy, baby, I need you to come here and save me" in Off To The Races. She says at the end "who else is gonna put up with me this way?" Save her from loneliness? Maybe the "crazy" that she mentions in Lucky Ones: "You told me that it was good to be crazy." I think the nearly identical syntax makes it significant. She uses the baby theme in Put Me In A Movie/Little Girls, Lolita, Yayo (although "like a baby" shows up here, the syntax and context is not the same; "I need you like a baby," she is being active whereas she is passive in American, Y&B, LO), Smarty, probably a ton more I don't even know, but she uses this same syntax for three different songs. That's a deliberate choice, much like coloring her party dress red (Smarty also puts her in a party dress! And he "beats her and tells her she's just a baby"! And get this: American guy says "Honey put on that party dress." AMERICAN = SMARTY?!?!?!?!?!??!? Not even joking, wat). Physical beauty is a generic refrain, I agree. But it has been associated with K (just remembered "For K Part 2:" "how'd you get so handsome, my boy? [...] the way your face is shaped, I wonder if you know?"). idk if any, say, Mike or Arthur or Gnecco songs are associated with beauty. It would eliminate a lot of the contenders. 1949 and the debatable EMGHW mention getting out of town one last time, and there's evidence to point to K being at the very least an inspiration for these songs. I do believe the divinity is significant because she's clearly set on the idea of a divine plan. She "trusts in the decision of the Lord," so why wouldn't they meet by that same decision, by "the grand design?" "Save me" has been used in OTTR in relation to crazy ("because I'm crazy, baby, I need you to come here and save me" and "I thought no one could save me [...] you told me that it was good to be crazy"). I am certain the choice of syntax in "scooped me up like a baby" is significant when you consider that the other songs it occurs in point to K ("Young & Beautiful") or at least would not be nonsensical if interpreted in the context of K ("American"). None of the other baby songs really make sense when you look at them in the context of K except maybe Smarty due to the violence, party dress, "who has a face like Smarty." As for the careless con and careless liar, "bad guy" and "dangerous man" don't really compare to "double homicide," do they? Plus he's a "thief," "gangsta," has a "cocaine heart," is clearly manipulative and charming ("I don't know how you convince them and get them, I don't know what you do, it's unbelievable," plus in MDM Lana appears let down by how his appearance doesn't match his emotional availability "you look like a million dollar man, so why is my heart broke?" which fits pretty well with "careless liar" as well as her amazement at how easy it is to charm people... suggesting she may have been one of many), and, by Lana's words, is just screwed up ("someone as dangerous, tainted, and flawed as you," "you're screwed up and brilliant." Brilliant, compare with "he was a nice guy, really bright." Possibly abusive, as demonstrated in Bel Air: "You've got a flair for the violentest kind of love anywhere"). However, I will say that the "we'll never leave if we don't get out now" line is important when you consider Prom Song Gone Wrong. There's Cola with "I gots a taste for men who are older," "I know your wife and she wouldn't mind" and "we made it out to the other side." Escape from the teenage wasteland, I assume. She repeats it a lot in the verses, so I do think you have a point there. "Feels like falling in love for the first time" could be useful if it didn't suffer from the same ambiguity "like an American does." It could be that she thinks she is falling in love, and this is the first time (which points to Mr. Campbell as an early love) or that this is "like" falling in love for the first time because it's so intense, but not the first time (which points to K as probably a later love). Kill Kill is, personally, one of the most frustrating songs for me to look at. Ray is mentioned in "Raise Me Up," originally "Rayse," so there's some credence to Ray being some kind of important figure unlike the throwaway boys names she can come up with. I tend to be wary of "this pronoun doesn't refer to whom you think it refers" theories (very wordy but idk how to explain...). Like that first theory about Video Games being about a hooker who's thinking of her son. That one was convoluted and could be explained much better by a simpler theory (Occam's Razor is helpful in analysis, too). It is true that she appears to have some sort of relationship (platonic or romantic?) with Ray, or at least desiring one (she uses the imperative when talking to "you" in the last verse: pick me up in a pickup trick, roll down, let me talk on your CV, let me play with your new shotgun). She's also a homewrecker or fantasizes about being one (Cola, Next To Him, Brite Lites), so maybe she was cheating on K with Ray and he was cheating on her with Ray's girl. Unfortunately the lack of information about Ray makes it hard to decipher and Kill Kill is just so damn cryptic hdfaiuonhdsuifnhvadiu. Just looked at TV In Black & White, super cool! I need to check all her stuff out. Okay, here's the line: "Though you can't hold me, pick up and phone me Use your one phone call on your ex girl, boo" I parse this as "though you can't hold me, pick up and phone me, [you can] use your one phone call on your ex girl." She does say "no one has to know our love's alive," suggesting it's current. Someone on rapgenius suggests "ex girl" could be a way to distract the authorities; give them a red herring so they think K's into his ex when he's really into Lana. Perhaps Ray's girl was K's ex, and Ray is helping Lana by... potentially putting his girlfriend in a sticky situation. uh. So whether K was involved in infidelity or not is unknown. Curious that she talks about Coney Island in such specific relation to K. I wondered if Mermaid Motel might be about K due to that last "God bless the ocean" line, but dismissed it because "you call me lavender" is linked to some other guy. "Maybe we could go to Coney Island," "maybe I could sing the national anthem," and "you salute me, Miss America, because I am" are starting to make more sense now... although there's that pesky chorus. Let's face it, Lana's exes are all pretty... interesting characters. What does it say about me that I want to know about Lana's MURDEROUS ex? Thankfully Barrie doesn't seem to be so... colorful. Summertime Sadness is quite hard to place. All we know is this guy is leaving in the summer "kiss me hard before you go" and she'll "miss [him] forever." And she's going to "drive," i.e. keep moving forward? So his loss is important. This is a huge stretch, but "I'm on fire" links to Body Electric "I'm on fire," although that one is not a surefire K song. idk if her beauty queen hairstyle means anything either, perhaps she associates it with a certain lover (Yayo: "fifty baby doll dress for my I do"). "They way you play for me at your show" definitely invokes the musician from "For K Part 2." "Pretty face" could maaaybe be a reference to her interest in his face in FKP2 and "pretty baby." The bridge is super K. The chorus, though... much like Summertime Sadness, it doesn't help at all. "Diamonds, billions, and Bel Air now" are suggestive of K because he's clearly got "them gold coins," is a "million dollar man" (dammit k, gotta step up your game and be a BILLION dollar man), and Bel Air appears to be heaven for her for some reason and that's where K's gonna be? She speaks about her lover here in past tense. You make a good case for summer being linked to Mr. Campbell, so it's interesting to note that she specifies mid-July nights (Summertime Sadness might have a time frame, but might not too)... I'm actually thinking of organizing the songs in a way that makes it clear which ones are "obvious" K songs and which are not. You have first degree, which is mentions K by name: For K, For K Part 2. 2nd degree is basically has some unique feature of K (went to jail, is dead, involved in illicit activities) so you get songs like Blue Jeans, Dark Paradise. 3rd degree is starting to rely on circumstantial evidence quite a bit, things that could apply to other lovers, ex. his face is hot, infantilism, so you get songs American and Body Electric. 4th degree would be total speculation based on the 3rd degree speculation, lol. And this system could apply to any other lover too! Prom Song would be a 1st degree Mr. C song (incontrovertibly referring to him), Jimmy Gnecco a 1st degree Gnecco song. It could make it easier to see what songs we're arguing about and what the consensus is referring to her huge back catalog. I wanted to do a web for each one but I can't find any good diagramming software *tears*.

Personally this reminded me of K because of "Blue Jeans:" "baby, can you see through the tears?" I will say the "Damn You" reference is close; I'll look at the song later (I'm not too familiar with her unreleased stuff). I feel it's very strange to refer to Mr. Campbell as a "kid," though, especially when she enjoys being infantilized and he's definitely older than her. In addition, how can you say he "grew up?" Lana can say that because she's young and immature; can we really say the same about Campbell? "Dark side of the American dream" definitely points to the theme in "National Anthem" about the new, perverted version of the American Dream. "We would dance all night, play our music loud" is generic (we know Campbell liked hip-hop) but it's worth noting that K can be linked to dancing all night as well ("Blue Jeans:" "we were dancing all night," Body Electric: "we get down every Friday night, dancing and grinding in the pale moonlight"). Divinity seems pretty strongly associated with K, though. "Is it by mistake or design?" in Born To Die, "got my bad baby by my heavenly side" in Summertime Sadness, "but I trust in the decision of the Lord," pretty much all of Bel Air. She believes God took K from her for a reason, probably the same reason He put him into her life. In addition, "Lucky Ones" throws some lyrical references to Video Games: "everyone around here seems to be going down," "it feels like all of our friends are lost, nobody's found". Compare to "watchin' all our friends fall in and out of Old Paul's." The use of "fall" and the association with a bar (alcoholic friends?) definitely suggests her friends are engaged in some sort of harmful activity. She's worried about the same thing in "Lucky Ones." While it's hard to conclusively say anything about Video Games, remember that it was included in a trilogy with Blue Jeans (if this isn't a K song I will eat my hat) and Born To Die (less conclusively K but I believe there's enough evidence to point it towards K). "Scooped me up like a baby" is a lyrical theme that can be found in American ("spin me round like a child") and Young & Beautiful ("the way you'd play with me like a child"), referring to her desire to be infantilized and protected. Although American is ambiguous, with many people placing it as a Barrie song, I feel that the bridge is very telling: "Everybody wants to go fast but they can't compare, I don't really want the rest, only you can take me there, I don't even know what I'm saying but I'm praying for you." Clearly she's worried about this guy who "goes fast." Who else would she be worried about? Remember Blue Jeans: "I said no please, stay here, we don't need no money we can make it all work." "Young & Beautiful" was written for Gatsby but still tosses in some old Lanaisms, like the aforementioned infantilism, summer (mid-July, to be precise), a musician (if the K in For K/Sirens is the same guy as in For K Part 2, we can assume he's a musician. Blue Jeans also mentions "you were sorta punk rock"), incredible physical beauty (compare "oh that grace, oh that body, oh that face, makes me wanna party" and "then I saw your face and you blew my mind"), and the idea of death and meeting your lover in heaven ("dear Lord, when I get to heaven, please let me bring my man. When he comes, tell me that you'll let him in, Father, tell me if you can." Compare to "Born To Die:" "I'm hoping at the gates, they'll tell me that you're mine" and "Bel Air:" "gargoyles standing at the front of your gates, trying to tell me to wait but I can't wait to see you"). I don't believe all infantile references point to K, of course - Lolita is probably not about K and idk what Smarty ("tell me that I'm just a baby" + "who has a face like Smarty does?") is about. But I think it's pretty interesting that this "verb me like a infantile noun" formula is repeated in certain contexts. The other infantile references (Lolita, Smarty, I'm guessing a bunch in her unreleased catalog) don't fit into this pattern so easily. A bunch of ambiguous lyrical similarities vs. traits that are definitely K (he was involved in illicit activities and definitely very charming, see Million Dollar Man). We know this line fits K well and assuming it fits Mr. Campbell is speculation, especially when none of the other songs link him to being involved in deceiving people for money or lying often. We don't know precisely what happened with K and I'm starting to think who we call K may well be two different people (a punk rock musician vs. a more hip-hop oriented guy?). Look at Kill Kill: "tell me about Ray and his girl." Why does she ask to know about some other guy's girlfriend? That's not relevant... unless they were involved somehow? "I am going to leave you. [...] I have done everything I can." We know K was taken away to prison and ended with a death sentence (For K/Sirens is pretty clear that we can associate the name K with murder/death), so why does Lana say she's going to leave him and then drop mentions to someone else's girlfriend? I wonder if K was, at one point, unfaithful and that's why Lana refers to leaving as opposed to being taken away in "Blue Jeans" and "For K/Sirens." We don't know precisely what ended their relationship, so we can't say for certain it was prison because "Kill Kill" suggests she's leaving him after learning about his death sentence (so post "For K/Sirens"). In addition, Lana talks about the "new American dream" being gangsters and drugs and all that. "It's a love story for the new age, For the six page, We're on a quick sick rampage, Wining and dining, Drinking and driving, Excessive buying, Overdose and dyin' on our drugs and our love and our dreams and our rage blurring the lines between real and the fake." I think K pretty much personifies this "new American dream" more than anyone - someone who got to the top through illicit means. "National Anthem" is a pastiche of that, hence why she name drops these expensive places and things and says "money is the anthem of success." It doesn't matter how you get the money as long as you get it. Don't worry; my own instinct is to link every song to K and there have been a couple of people who were most interested in Jimmy Gnecco. Everyone has their favorite Lana Lover . I think you bring up a lot of interesting points and provide new perspectives to these songs, which is good! How do you deal with Summertime Sadness, then? "Got my bad baby by my heavenly side," the references to the divine and death, and then the bridge: "think I'll miss you forever." There's only one guy we know is gone forever. This coupled with "I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight." She'd be happy because she wouldn't have to deal with K's death and missing him forever. If we assume the relationship started in December ("Blue Jeans:" "I still remember that day we met in December"), it's not too hard to say it lasted till the summer. Plus "Young & Beautiful:" "hot summer nights mid-July."

Those black things with blue circles in the center were def UFOs to me. They'd be weird-ass clouds. Plus during Bel Air (and a bit before) you hear a bit of a high-pitched whining noise that for some reason always accompanies UFOs (at least in the cheesy kids movies I used to watch).

I thought the aliens represented that they needed a different force to take them to "Bel Air," that they couldn't rely on the God(s) they had offended/betrayed/idk. Finding a new sort of spirituality, I guess. The whole part between G&M and Bel Air where they're throwing their stuff away and exchanging their black clothes (sin!!!) for white ones (purity!!!) shows abandonment of old ideals. The water scenes = baptism (into a new religion? hence the aliens?). It was very choppy on my laptop so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. I found myself getting frustrated by some of the poetry and pretty scenes because at times it felt like nothing was really going on and she wanted to fill the space with pretty words and pictures. Overall, it was okay. The aspect ratio... Elvis's reactions were gold, though. I know it's not supposed to be a comedy but someone give that Elvis impersonator a high five.

I like a lot of your analyses, but I'm not convinced on Lucky Ones. The "careless con and crazy liar" part pretty clearly describes K, whom we've established to be involved in illicit activities. The mentions to the great design and the stars are reminiscent of Born To Die (is it by mistake or design), which I believe to be a K song. A lot of K songs are related to heaven and things beyond (Dark Paradise, Bel Air, Y&B, OTTR) so I'm inclined to believe that this is more a reference to K than anyone else. To be fair, a lot of her songs are ambiguous. Is K a punk rocker musician or a hip-hop styled gangster? Who the hell is Video Games about? What's up with all the "violent love" imagery (Smarty, Diet Mtn Dew demo, Bel Air)? And why does she only have one (red) party dress? As such, I've actually been thinking that it's possible a lot of her songs are amalgamations of various different characters (it's hard to believe K is a real person when we have no evidence he existed beyond her songs) and confirmed/rumored lovers. Really enjoyed your work, by the way! Especially since you delved into songs I didn't really know too well.

There's diversity in opera, though. o: Every opera singer certainly does not sound the same. But I understand you want diversity beyond the scope of opera. Dylan's gruff, talk-singing style was part of his appeal. Obviously operatic technique won't suit every singing style, but what good technique does is help you do what you want to do in a less unhealthy way (ex. belting and growling) so you can keep doing it longer. Some people prefer the sound that an unhealthy technique gives and it's a tradeoff with longevity. Personally, I think people who want a career in singing should take voice lessons just to understand how the instrument works and how to keep it running for as long as possible... and then they can make their own stylistic decisions. You want to sing heavy metal? Go ahead! But maybe you'll sing in a healthier way and then you can sing heavy metal for 10 years instead of 5 (apparently there's a "right" way to scream and growl, which I need to find because it always leaves my throat feeling incredibly sore). Someone here mentioned liking her high girly voice, and I like it too... on some songs. It suits Lolita very well, for example. The new Yayo, however, has it too and I feel like it just doesn't belong, as well as that fluttery thing she does where it sounds like she's lost complete control of her voice. I wonder if she's lost that ability to sing clearly in a natural, unaltered voice. Her voice just sounds so beautiful on Sirens and you don't really hear that in her post Sirens work. I can hear it at times during the verses of Lucky Ones and a couple of other songs, but she slips into her girly Lolita voice before long. Her low voice sounds nice when she's not forcing it like on Ride, and vocal coaching could probably make it easier to reach those notes live. Lana is lucky enough to have a nice voice with many distinctive sounds, and I just think with training she could basically use all the tools in her box. It'd give her a wider vocal palette to play with, which is usually a good thing.

Didn't watch the cover but wanted to mention something about singing since I am taking (classically oriented) voice lessons. Voice lessons are basically a requirement for anyone interested in singing seriously. It's very easy to get a "powerful" sound in the short term but lose it in the long term, and you can't support a career on one song (I mean if you want to be known as a one hit wonder and not a singer, go ahead). I disagree that Miley has control over her voice. More than Lana? Yes. Miley has poor technique, though, and whenever I heard her I feel like she's always on the verge of losing control of her voice. Hearing her hit those high notes in "We Can't Stop" is always incredibly painful because she's forcing it so much and it sounds strained. And this is in studio, where she has every modern technology available to make her sound her best. On studio, Lana also has the issue of being off the beat (she's always a little behind in Born To Die, which was absolutely maddening and made me hate the record when I got it), which from I heard from the Brazil concert is also a problem, though thankfully to a lesser extent. Lana is also singing in the part of her voice where she clearly isn't comfortable. She's not a naturally low voiced woman and never will be. She sounds so much more comfortable on For K than on Ride, where you can hear her voice kind of groaning to reach those low notes, and you can notice the lack of ring in her higher notes ("I hear the birds..." "I just Ride). When you have a problem doing your songs in studio, no duh they're gonna be even harder live. In addition, she uses this fake girly high voice that's not her normal voice (think Lolita) which means that no part of her register sounds natural. Add in the stage fright and insecurity (she has no conviction in her vocals) and you get why people say Lana is a bad singer. A pretty timbre can only do so much before poor technique obscures it. With good vocal training (there's a lot of pseudoscience peddled in voice training because it's very hard to actually study the vocal cords; we have no visual confirmation of how the whistle register physiologically works, for example), I do believe Lana could be a much better singer than Miley. She has the timbre, which you can't change, and she can learn to reach the extremes of her range in a healthy manner (no more groaning at the bottom or fluttering at the top). Vocal training can give you the confidence to perform, too. Plenty of famous singers have had stage fright; off the top of my head I can list Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and Agnetha Faltskog from ABBA. Nevertheless, they went on stage and gave it their all (and Agnetha is much like Lana in that she's an inherently private person who is not interested in being super famous and surrounded by strangers. guess what happened to her). Lana can learn to become a better and more consistent singer (yes, both at the same time) if she wants to, but it would take time and effort. Depending on who you go to and how messed up your voice is, you can actually be taught to sing from the very beginning (I'm p sure this is standard in classical but in a more pop-oriented style someone with major fundamental damage would need to do this). It definitely requires good practice (unlike a physical instrument, the voice itself can get tired and so iirc you shouldn't practice for more than an hour straight a day). Don't know if that interests Lana since she wants to see the world and experience life and stuff. I'd love to hear her sound more comfortable on her songs, though. Lana with a vocal coach would be

I wouldn't mind if she re-recorded it. It's her song, ultimately, and I'm curious as to what her ~*real*~ vision of the song is. Yayo and Yayo 2.0 aren't that different except 2.0 sort of removes everything I liked (I kid, I kid, but it has less crazy orchestration and echoes). Maybe we should all e-mail her or however people contact her and talk about how awesome AKA is. Although if that ever did happen, I hope it gets remixed. The volume levels are a little wonky sometimes. Like the orchestral hits on Mermaid Motel start out quiet and then suddenly get super loud. And sometimes Lana is out of time with the backing track, though if Born To Die is any indication, that's just her being Lana. Oh well, AKA deserves to be released and I hope one day Lana will do just that.

??? What is this trifecta album? Never heard of it. I love when artists have failed album concepts... something about it is so interesting. I don't remember the interview but I have heard this a lot, and that she'd like to rework Kill Kill too. I haven't heard any of the "forbidden five" (BB, AFFA, JFK?, Starry Eyed?, Hollywood?) other than Black Beauty and Angels Forever. She has so much damn stuff to hear that I basically just collect her unreleased stuff out of habit now. And Black Beauty doesn't sound like those layered a capellas she said she was talking about. I assume, therefore, that it's a demo. Without knowing the sound she wants for the finished record, it's hard to tell. And her own notorious way of describing her stuff (glam metal surf noir bollywood dance bbq) means it's hard to take her on her word. A spiritual, stripped-down album with layered a capellas. How stripped down? Is the spiritual element very strong in every song or is it a theme that varies in intensity? It's always a mystery with Lana. As such, I just go with the flow and say BB and AFFA were intended for album #3. That seems to be the only consensus anyone can come to. As for any other leaked tracks, I haven't heard them and as such have no opinion on them.

But I keep going cuz I'm a pro? yes I knew those were lyrics. I gotta go watch that performance now; I haven't kept up with anything she's performed since the VMAs.

Now we can finally move on to... seventeen. Was listening to Ribs yesterday and ugh it's so good. I still can't into Team though. Maybe it's because I live in a city that's on-screen all the time, idk.

Some Mexicans say Dia de los Muertos is a super sacred holiday only Mexicans can participate in and anyone else taking part in it or using any of its symbols is appropriating it. Others say that it's open to everyone and that as long as the symbols are treated respectfully (you can paint a sugar skull on your face but don't urinate on one) it doesn't matter. With things like this, it's rarely as clear-cut as people seem to think it is. And without seeing Tropico in advance, we have no idea how she will deal with the matter. If Ride is any indication, she'll do something kinda thoughtless (I still cringe seeing the headdress, omg lana why that's like wearing a purple heart as fashion) but common among Americans. So... we'll see So happy this is finally coming out. And I pray it'll be in theaters so I can drag my friends to see it.

I'm actually gonna wait till the 11th to hear it, when my CD should arrive in the mail. What can I say but I like my CDs.

lmfao I actually feel like Glory & Gore, melodically, could be a better single choice than Team. idk I just don't like Team's chorus. May as well list fave tracks: Royals (lel such a bandwagoner) Tennis Court Glory & Gore Ribs 400 Lux A World Alone Buzzcut Season Still Sane Team White Teeth Teens (I never hear this one though so it might actually be better) Pure Heroine is super cohesive, which I can appreciate. It manages to do so while keeping the tracks relatively distinct. Relatively - it's still easy to confuse one for another. I do like some of her lyrics, such as "make believe it's hyperreal, but I live in a hologram with you." Hyperreality is a concept in postmodernism and it's interesting that she'd choose that word. Makes me wonder how much she knows about post-modernism... I feel like a lot of her songs are about the disconnect between the world we see and the world we live in. Like the mythology feels more real than reality (very much an aspect of post-modernist philosophy!). Only she's not falling for it, of course. She's the only sane one left. Still, the concept is interesting and I'd like to look at her lyrics a little more closey in the future. So I've gone from a "hater" (I never hated her, just found her and her fans kind of obnoxious and her music overrated) to... idk, a chiller? A casual fan, I guess. I can appreciate her and her music much more once I detach her from the hype. Hype kills so many things. But now I can say I like her music, which is nice, more stuff I can listen to.

Wow, this thread still exists? It feels so old. Just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that a lot of people seem to think that Lorde lives in the ghetto or something like that (her talk of white teeth teens, "we count our dollars on the train," a torn-up town, etc.) when I've heard a couple of New Zealanders saying she actually lives in a pretty comfortable suburb. Not that living in the suburbs is bad (I live in the suburbs ) but it's ironic that she's talking about the unobtainable opulence of Gray Goose and diamond watches while her biggest monetary problem is that her parents didn't give her enough money for the cab (or that she didn't spend it properly and now has too little left?)... I know she's commenting on American hip-hop culture from a New Zealander's point of view, but it's just sort of cosmically ironic that for some people, the lifestyle she lives (and by extension the lifestyle I live) would qualify as unobtainably opulent. Once again, not a bad thing. I don't think it's her responsibility to speak for the impoverished, especially if she's never experienced that. It's good she speaks from her experience as opposed to trying to represent all the peoples in the world. I've kind of grown to like her music since Pure Heroine was released, so looking back at some of my earlier responses, I feel like I was a bit more judgmental and critical than was necessary. I still find her fanbase to be rather... obnoxious, let's say, particularly how they idolize her as some sort of prodigy wunderkind child genius and, in one instance, couldn't even take a stupid joke that made a pun on "queen Bey" and "queen bee." I guess that's why I still feel very hesitant when talking about her, because I feel like so many of her fans are those type of Tumblr teens who think they're very hip because they use Tumblr instead of Facebook, and I don't want to be a part of the communal gazing. I don't like idolizing people because that usually ends up being dehumanizing (it may sound ironic, but when you turn someone into a god, you are denying them the ability to make mistakes and need others) besides rarely bringing anything of worth concerning their achievements and person. As for Katy Perry... I've actually found her to be an enigma (enigma pop star is fun, she wear Hershey bra for fashion). The fact that she's so reliant on her co-writers and producers makes it hard to discern her actual voice, if it shows up in her music at all. We know she's been a writer and musician - her Christian debut shows this. To what extent has this influenced her Perry music from OOTB to TD(CC) to PRISM? I have no idea. It's bizarre. Perhaps that's why her music is so appealing - it's something that many people can identify with without having to change little words of the song. Even if you've never driven with a lover to Cali, you don't want to throw that away because it encapsulates your feelings. This sort of "generic" approach makes it hard to tell who wrote it because it lacks identifying markers. Bonnie McKee had a huge hand in writing Teenage Dream (reportedly the imagery in the verses and the melody + lyrics for the chorus), but just how much? Did Katy play any role in writing the song? What about the other co-writers? Katy was supposedly the one who started writing Part of Me, but then McKee took over. Another source said Dr. Luke made them start over. It's all strange. As such, I can't comment on Roar.

I'm actually starting to like it a lot more now. You can like anything if you hear it enough times. And there are a few lyrical gems in there... "like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer."

It is, I'm quoting it to describe all of Lana's mumbling.

"Take another dragon into ashes" "gimme gimme now, look down and gritty" "baby stoppin at said in a livin" (babbling) "barin is white ponny at evin" (I just hear babbling) - all these Diet Mountain Dew "hafgunhakuhg inside my heart" - Without You "hiles in her hand" - TIWMUG (lana what is hiles) "I don't even know what I'm saying" is a pretty appropriate lyric, now that I think about it.

1: When did you first discover Lana Del Rey December 2011, I'm pretty sure of the year but not month. Def autumn or winter. My friend, who's into underground music and indie-style artists, knew that I had gotten out of a relationships a couple of months earlier and thought I might enjoy Video Games. She posted somewhere on FB a live performance of Video Games, either in chat with me or on her page or on mine. I can't find it, unfortunately :cry: but that was when I first heard her. I thought she was Hispanic and I was like yessss grrrl represent but then it turned out she was white and I was so disappointed :giveup: When will we get awesome Hispanic pop artists that don't just toss Spanish phrases in and exotify themselves? But that's a tangent... Spring of 2012 I went on some kind of trip with some friends and that same friend and I talked about my past relationship and how that song related to me. I didn't even hear it after the first time I played it, but that melody and lyric of "only worth living if somebody is loving you... baby now you do" stayed stuck in my head. Bla bla bla, I joined GGD and the LDR thread was popular. I had by then a boyfriend who bought me the Paradise version of BTD as a gift. I think it was... December? That I heard the album in its entirety. I thought it was okay... 2: What was the first song that made you fall in love with her music ...until I heard Million Dollar Man and I was like YES. It's not even like anything else she's done and it sticks out like a sore thumb. The only other tracks that could match it in not-fitting-BTD are Lolita and Lucky Ones. But it was great and I heard it so many times (my most listened to Lana song if Mediamonkey is to trust). Eventually I came back to the rest of BTD and came to love it. Slowly. I still don't really like Summertime Sadness, the last song that I'm not really fond of. 3: Favorite Lana hairstyle idk, I don't keep up with her hairstyles. The style on the cover of the original BTD where it's dark and wavy, I suppose. 4: Favorite live performance Do you even need to ask? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDh-daZih7g 5: Favorite lyric Hard to say, I generally like them but it's hard to pick one that stands out. Probably "Now the camera's on and you're alive again." 6: Would you make out with Lana if you had the chance to? No. I have no interest in making out with women. 7: Favorite facial feature Probably either her nose or her proportions in general. 8: What's one thing you don't like about Lana? Her shadiness (not in the modern sense but more in the deceptive sense). She's very "mysterious" about things and I wish she'd be more upfront about certain things and not try to hide her past musical work. 9: Have you ever met Lana? No. I'd like to, but not particularly. 10: Who's you favorite artist after Lana? She is not my favorite. I suppose if you wanted to make a list, it could be like... 1. ABBA 2. Pink Floyd 3. The Beatles 4. Lady Gaga 5. The Who 6. Marina And The Diamonds 7. Lana Del Rey 8. I really don't know, Ke$ha? Katy Perry? After Lady Gaga, I really have no sense of hierarchy and it's more like "I just really like these artists." You could probably change Marina and Lana since they switch frequently. Curiously, Mediamonkey says Lana is my most listened to artist and BTD my most listened to album. After Lana comes Lady Gaga, "video game soundtracks" (I just shove them all under the same name), Ke$ha, Marina and the Diamonds, a compilation of Renaissance and Medieval music, and Ariana Grande. 11: Would you say you're obsessed or just a really big fan? A really big fan with moments of obsession. I cannot say I think about her all the time. 12: What if Lana was secretly an evil zombie would you still love her? "Will you still love me when all my flesh is rotten and my brain's dead? Will you still love me when I do not even have my aching soul?" I don't care what kind of supernatural creature she is as long as she keeps bringing the tunes.

Not sure where to put this since there's no Spotify charts thread, but it's interesting to note that BTD Paradise edition is #5 on the top albums list. Not bad at all!