Vertimus

And it looks as if she’s got large grey sores here and there. How did those pass muster?

Is the woman she refers to in TB, ‘then there was the issue of her’ a reference, another reference, to her mother? Or another woman the cop was also seeing?

And I agree with that. They're not a 180. Had these three been on COCC as is, I think it would have made COCC a greater record, but I, much to the dismay of almost everyone here, often think that LDR's albums would be better if the best songs from, say, UV and HM were released together as one album and the weaker tracks put aside. I think that would have made NFR and COCC better too, being no fan of NFR except for 3-4 tracks.

I think the arrangements and even the writing itself here are a lot more complex than those on COCC, like COCC itself and also NATWWAL and DTWD. 'Wild At Heart' is leagues away from these three tracks in terms of intent and complexity. It's a pop song, these are not.

The beautiful Norma Shearer, unknown today except by true cinema buffs, and, in the 30s, the queen of MGM. And remember, she said that Dealer was basically her "just screaming my head off." That wouldn't fit with COCC and may not fit with BB either, but who knows? I think BB is going to be a revelation.

On reflection, by 'revenge,' I think LDR meant she was going to show the world, and especially her critics going back to the BTD era, what she can really do, after the breezy, meditative COCC.

Especially if she marries and has children, or just has children. Tori Amos went from rage to the sentimental, sugary 'Ribbons Undone' in two albums, though I expect LDR would express herself better than that. And, in the past, artists like Carly Simon have written beautifully about marriage; Simon did it on album after album throughout the 70s, the highs and lows and in-betweens.

I agree--like many other artists, from Bob Dylan to Nico and Tori Amos, Lana communicates a million times better lyrically and in her poetry than she does in conversation. As Nico would say, "Conversationally, I'm rather sloppy." I'm sure some of us are also creative people and know this to be true--what we can express in a painting or lyric makes a lot more sense to the world than trying to express/explain/communicate verbally what is going on in our psyches.

My pleasure, PWIH. In fact, who knows--she may cover it on her American Standards album, if that ever sees the light of day. It's certainly as famous and poignant as 'Summertime.'

I'm not bothered by the BLM line either. It could have been cringey, totally awkward or misplaced, but it fits in well. It's not stressed too too much in a way that comes across as virtue signaling. And 'Old Man River' is an American standard from the 20s musical 'Showboat,' and, in the play, is sung by a Black slave, Joe, and made famous by the great Paul Robeson. So there is a definite but subtle statement and a parallel between the BLM shout out and Old Man River. How anyone who closely follows or Stans LDR can think she's a racist witch is beyond me, much less a Karen. People who don't follow media closely today have only themselves to blame for being led around by all kinds of untrue and dishonest 'fake news.' Because you have to follow news and media closely today. You have to distrust every site, every source until you've investigated and thoroughly used your intelligence. Not that LDR hasn't brought some of her troubles down upon her own head with apparently drunken interviews that go nowhere for 30 minutes or Question to the Culture post.

The arrangements are kinda loose, I agree, as someone else said, 'choppy' on TB. And they're complex too. The different sections don't mesh seamlessly into one another like they did on, for example, 'West Coast.' But I think LDR had to be aware of this and it was an intentional decision between her and her producers.

I agree. We've seen LDR write songs with, obviously, lyrics, and we've heard her recite her poetry to vague New Age-ish music. I think the intent and goal with these three songs was to combine both mediums, fully turn three of her poems into actual songs, and thus create a new hybrid. And she succeeded wildly. BB still eludes me a little, but I'm sure it will come.

And in America, on iTunes, the songs don't even show up when you search Lane Del Rey. As someone pointed out to me here yesterday, if you don't search 'Lana Del Rey Text Book,' you won't find it or the others. That makes no sense whatsoever from any POV.

What is her new IG ‘Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night’ post about? Is that the upcoming Bleachers song she co-wrote? edit: never mind, got it.

She's just utilizing Freud in acknowledging, or looking back on, her quest for her father and/or a father figure, it's standard Freudian 'family romance,' so I'm not uncomfortable with it. Tori Amos wrote about her father for 20 years, both the actual man and the projected symbol. I agree abut the name-dropping on 'BB'---it takes me out of the song. She did enough of that for a lifetime on 'DTWD' on COCC.

The song structures and melodies are very unusual...I don't see any of the three as reminiscent of COCC, because the melodies of COCC tracks, with the exception of WD and Yosemite (which had been recorded years before), were very simple...'Wild At Heart,' 'NATWWAL,' 'DTWD,' even the title track was pretty straight forward and basic. I can't imagine how the 'professional' critics will receive the album, depending on if the three are the only complex tracks or if the entire album is as melodically 'dense.'

I see these three songs as poems, similar to those on 'Violet,' that she sings here instead of recites. 'Text Book' and 'Wildflower' work for me, 'Blue Banisters' less so. They're the sisters of 'Hope.' Commercial, they're not. How will Stans feel about a whole album like this? They remind me of the later work of Laura Nyro, when she stopped writing pop songs altogether and instead moved into some very complex song structures. They also remind me of some of the brilliant, long and complex songs Tori Amos wrote, recorded and then left off her albums, like 'Garlands' and 'Apollo's Frock.'

Thanks you, my friend.

Why aren't they on iTunes in America?

Maybe just dropping the 3 singles without notice, publicity or fanfare is a part of her revenge strategy, no press, no interviews, no magazine covers. You know, a "fuck the press" sort of attitude.

Nothing that I can tell. Text Book doesn't show up on Shazam; at least no one has found it there. Someone posted a track list for the album on Twitter, which most are calling fake.

I love COCC, much more than NFR, which seemed to me to have too many retreads. In fact, at present, COCC is my favorite of all her work. I love her balladry at its best--'Yayo,' 'Old Money,' 'Black Beauty,' 'Terrence Loves You,' 'Yosemite,' 'NAWWAL'---even 'Ride' might be considered a ballad. So while LMLYLAW seemed too underdeveloped to me, if the 3 songs we have coming are in the ballad mode, fine with me.

Great, Nikogo. Thanks--good to know.

IF the three singles are really dropping tomorrow, isn't it likely that they'll leak today? I'm not hoping or wishing for that; I can wait. But isn't that realistic, based on what we've seen with NFR and COCC?

She's definitely not lazy. Her output is astounding, especially in terms of songwriting. Sometimes artists become legends because of one good song that they've written that has become well-known. Look at LDR's output--it's like R.EM.'s, like Joni Mitchell's in her long heyday, like Tori Amos's, like Prince's, like Leonard Cohen's. I can't think of too many other, if any, contemporary artists who have released as much material of such high quality and originality. By the time she retires, if she ever does, she might be up there with the Elvis Presley and Rolling Stones in terms of her catalog, who knows? Sadly, unlike those two artists, thr world will remain largely unaware of her and her work, as often seems the case today.