Vertimus

And mine, as a LOVER of BB except, ironically, for the title track: 1) IYLDWM 2) VFR 3) Arcadia 4) WFWF 5) BBS I have to exclude the leaked tracks, which I love, but which I have been listening to for years and years. I do like the original version of 'Thunder' much better.

Thank you kindly. I appreciate your saying so. I have older siblings who listen to a lot of 70s music, and so I became acquainted with Carly Simon's work from all periods, and while she's always been dismissed by the critics as 'coming from a NYC upper middle family who bought her a career, who writes about the middle class'--does some of that sound familiar?--it's true her father was the Simon of 'Simon & Shuster'--but I consider her a genuine artist, though she did, later in her career (much of which is still brilliant) churn out some would-be hits that were clearly just concoctions. Look at Blondie--they've written songs about aliens (twice), 'the Palestinian/Israeli' conflict, the Beatles, an interstellar space race, bank robberies, suicidal young lovers, hoboes, juvenile delinquents, ESP, gay mafia members, 'sex offenders,' etc.--nothing is off the table in terms of subject or theme for them. And the same is true of Kate Bush, who shared several subjects with Blondie and wrote about secret government sound experiments, bank robberies, inter-country theft in Europe, Houdini, ghosts and hauntings, Aboriginal bush traditions and myths, spreading her mother's ashes, suicide, an act of incest leading to pregnancy (and then suicide), 'making deals with God,' budding psychopaths being sheltered by their mothers, Wilhelm Reich, drowning witches, the earth being destroyed by an asteroid as the planet waits and watches and the seas rise, etc. So any subject is worthy and 'on the table.' Nothing should be off limits. Bush even wrote 'The Infant Kiss,' suggested by the 1962 film, 'The Innocents,' about two young children possessed--or not possessed--by ghosts (is it only in the governess's mind?), and Bush sings about a young boy kissing her romantically and her initial attraction and then her comprehension of what was taking place and her rejection of the act. So I don't care what Lana sings about, theoretically, which is why I love 'Live or Die' in the original--to me it's one of the great songs of all time, at least in the rock tradition, as Lana, or the narrator/speaker/singer, a cheerleader of death and carnage, cheers while slaughtering people randomly--to me, it's a brilliant look into a psychopathic mind, and a female one. In the past, she steps into other skins a lot more frequently than she does now. So 'OB' could bring us anything and hopefully does. It seems like Lana's wheelhouse is emotions, relationships, feelings, disappointment, frustration, longing, etc., but there was a time when people thought that that was all that Kate Bush could sing about too.

I don't relate to TS at all and don't understand the mania of her Standom, but it's there, people enjoy her, and I leave it at that.

It's only a matter of 'is it good or is it bad?", 'do I like it or do I not like it?,' 'Is it saccharine or deeply felt?" I gave a lot of examples of songs by Carly Simon that are beautiful and universal even though they're about her family, parents, and siblings, and 'Danny's Song' too, by Kenny Loggins. Obviously, Lana can write about whatever she wants to, and then find some love it, some like it, some don't care for it, some dislike it intensely. And I agree 'not everything is relatable,' which is why I stressed that 'Dance 'Til We Die' and 'For Free' are not, at heart, about children or careers in the music industry.

Well, the astrological and psychological slant is that Lana's A Cancer, and Cancer is the sign of the home and of parenting. Plus she's in early middle age and grew up listening to another Cancer, Carly Simon, who made several great albums in the 70s which focused on her family, children, her own childhood, and her husband (James Taylor) as much as they did on her lovers and love life. Some of these were really beautiful and reached a sort of universal lyricism so that almost anyone, anywhere, could and can relate to them ('The Carter Family,' 'Grownup,' 'Forever My Love,' 'Boys in the Trees,' 'Sons of Summer,' 'His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin,' and her acknowledgement of a romantic lesbian relationship, 'Libby.') If you give these tracks a listen, you might see a little influence on Lana's more recent work. and most Simon songs are piano-based. As I've mentioned here before, I've observed that when writers start having children, or get married, they often lose a lot of angst, temporarily or permanently, and start writing sometimes sappy declarations of parenthood, happiness, and marital bliss. Tori Amos did this with 'Jackie's Strength,' about her wedding day, and the saccharine 'Ribbons Undone,' about her young daughter. Kate Bush impressed no one with 'Bertie,' about her young son. Male songwriters have done this too, if, in my experience, less often. The songrwriter want to write about and share what's taken over their lives, but they don't realize almost every parent loves their kid, is impressed by her or him, or thinks them special, and this is not necessarily what their fanbase is waiting for. Kenny Loggins of Loggins & Messina wrote 'Danny's Song' about his young son early in their career, and it became a huge radio classic in its day, and it's not sappy, but touching. Personally, I don't think 'Dance 'Til We Die' is predominantly about children or the desire for children; the overall point is, as I see it, just reject the bullshit that is no doubt going to keep coming and keep living to the fullest until your last breath, just as 'For Free' is not about performing, but about humility and being humbled. That's clear in the grimmer Mitchell original, which doesn't add the happy little fillips at the end of the lines the way Lana's half-baked version did. It's as if Lana could not bear to really sing the song as written and had to lighten it up so it could have something resembling a happy ending. Had she sung it as Mitchell did, it would have been the perfect compliment to 'Yosemite.' I, too, worry that we might be getting more 'Sweet Carolinas' with 'The Grants,' though I didn't mind 'SC' but don't want to see much more of. As you both said, it's a personal song, it's Lana's song to a beloved family member, and she could have saved it for some kind of giant career retrospective full of unreleased rarities, etc., which is no doubt bound to come, or sung it at a birthday party. I certainly didn't mind the family romance (Freud) outlined in 'WFWF.' But who knows? 'The Grants' might be some sort of satirical masterpiece, and musically, it could go anywhere. Since BOZ and others have us primed to expect some really unusual instrumentation, songwriting, and production on the new record, that's what I'm anticipating, with some hesitancy. I'm still waiting for Trip Hop Lana to show her face again. My favorite two songs of this year are the Trip Hop 'If I Were A Butterfly' and 'Thunder Sound' by Rayland Baxter.

The thing is, by 'album,' most people in the West, going back 50 years or more, commonly think of 'album' as a music album, unless the word is also qualified by 'comedy,' 'spoken word,' or 'poetry.' That's just the tradition in the West.

I like it more than the original. Thank you. That's just what it needed.

So much authentic vulnerability in that song as well. It's visionary, as all of Lana's best work is.

I do consider it an album in its own right. Thanks.

'Paradise' is of my top three LDR albums (EP or not). 'Cola' and 'G&M' were reasons why I couldn't get that enthused about UV when it dropped. 'Yayo' and 'Bel Air' are amazing in their own right, and of course, 'Ride' is one of her early masterpieces. Songs like 'Ocean Blvd' seem tepid to me compared to the emotional depth and emotional layering of 'Yayo,' for example.

I think we'll get 2 more singles before it drops. She'll need to keep the momentum going through winter and the winter holidays, and the sense that March is three months into the new year. And (to my way of thinking) especially since 'Ocean Blvd' isn't that memorable musically and is too similar to other recent releases.

One thing I liked about COCC and BB, for the most part, was the way many of the songs revealed a stronger, more independent, free-thinking Lana, like the COCC title track, 'NAWWAL,' 'Dance 'Til We Die,' 'IYLDWM,' Arcadia,' 'Violets For Roses,' 'WFWF'--a woman in control of herself and her life. It seems to me that 'Ocean Boulevard' back-peddles on that significantly, though of course it has its own life and is from a different album, and doesn't necessarily, by any means, have to reflect how Lana feels about herself, or about herself now, any more than the singer/narrator of 'Swan Song,' 'Money Power Glory' or 'In My Feelings' necessarily genuinely reflected her life and personality. I'm not saying I think it's a bad message or anything like that--obviously most people feel like that at some point in their lives.

That's what I said a few days ago, if she was still seeing her body as a map of L.A., then what would be the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard? But I was just joking.

Me too, and in a big way. Imagine, creatively, if the original version of 'Live or Die' was created this year, instead of over 10 years ago. Damn the PC critics, it would be a total serve!

That's the attitude.

I understand. Thanks for calling me 'babe.' There are simply more members who don't want anything but agreement than there are those that want to speak freely and civilly. That is the world today. Be very careful with those Grindr hookups--in terms of violence, robbery, STDs, etc.

Very well said. I give it a 'C+.' In my opinion, it was a mistake to release it as the first single, especially for Stans and the global public that heard, and were not greatly interested in, LMLYLAW. I am also cautiously excited to hear the rest, but after the insiders' overpraise of this track, I'm not holding my breath.

Hilarious. Everyone should be civil and considerate here, but 'considerate' doesn't mean reigning in your thoughts and opinions because they **might** possibly offend someone here. If 10% of the people don't like the new track, are they offended by all the 90% of members who love it and express their love and gratitude? No. They just realize they're in the minority this time around. I'm in the minority this time around. No problem. That's life, as Frank Sinatra sings.

Will it continue the trend of writing about her family in some shape or form? Obviously. I'm hoping it won't be sappy or saccharine.

So far, on the new song, I haven’t heard anything of a sustained melody, though maybe one will jump out at me over the next few days or weeks. As I see it, no amount of orchestration or instrumentation could have punched it up as a result.

Hilariously expressed.

Too many people think everyone should have to hide a minority opinion. I’m proud to see all those who defended TLW, me, and others.

Look, not let’s not pretend everyone here always says, ‘I love the new song—-but , admittedly, that’s JUST my opinion!!’ No—most posters just shower a song with a great deal of love and praise and everyone chimes in along the same lines. The only time people get bent out of shape is when someone says something like, “but yeah—the song is a turd,’ instead of what they feel the speaker SHOULD have said—-“but yeah, that song is a turd, but that’s just my little ‘ole backwards opinion.”

Very true. I said that yesterday. To make a total cult figure out of an artist, above all criticism, does no one any good. That’s what turned Elton John into an egotistical monster for a few decades—among other artists.

Just a note: the only Lana song that has ever made me cry is ‘Old Money,’ specifically the ‘I’m out of time’ line, in a song with a great number of really powerful lines, including the “we WERE young and pretty” at the end.