Vertimus

The endless delay might be because of the poetry book, which she apparently miscalculated the production time for (and in spades), but the delay really suggests that there's another reason for it. It may also be that when she announced the poetry book in September of 2018, she had no publishing plan, and was hoping established commercial publishers would coming knocking, hoping to get the publishing rights, and either none did, or none wanted it after reviewing it. Such 'baiting' ploys are common in all media industries. 
 
Artists don't typically release an entire cohesive album in singles and pairs over a period of a year, and corporate record companies don't support that, because it makes promotion almost impossible, which means they have no opportunity to recoup their investment, among other problems. It may be that whatever the cause for the delay is both complicated and embarrassing, and no resolution has yet been found. 
 
LDR may be frustrated and angry about all of this, and so has become relatively apathetic about the future of NFR. She certainly sounds as if she has.
 
She has had a lot of what seems like bad luck since the release of BTD, with the SNL gig (and SNL mocking her a week later), the public Lorde feud, losing the James Bond song to Sam Smith (who then had a huge hit with it and appeared on SNL with Lorde, of all people), Lou Reed dying the day he was to record with her for UV, her troubled relationship with Barrie and the fallout from it, her houses being broken into by obsessive fans and being stalked and threatened by them, the significant drop in her sales with UV and Honeymoon compared to BTD/P, the Left (which she sees herself a member of) turning against her in various ways on multiple public fronts, Eminem slagging her, whatever the G-Eazy situation was, and so on. 
 
Some of these things are just par for the course for any celebrity in this era, and some are just life, period. But I think it's enough to frustrate and exhaust anyone. No wonder she doesn't have the time or inclination to be an international style influencer anymore. 

The endless delay might be because of the poetry book, which she apparently miscalculated the production time for (and in spades), but the delay really suggests that there's another reason for it. It may also be that when she announced the poetry book in September of 2018, she had no publishing plan, and was hoping established commercial publishers would coming knocking, hoping to get the publishing rights, and either none did, or none wanted it after reviewing it. Such 'baiting' ploys are common in all media industries. 
 
Artists don't typically release an entire cohesive album in singles and pairs over a period of a year, and corporate record companies don't support that, because it makes promotion almost impossible, which means they have no opportunity to recoup their investment, among other problems. It may be that whatever the cause for the delay is both complicated and embarrassing, and no resolution has yet been found. 
 
LDR may be frustrated and angry about all of this, and so has become relatively apathetic about the future of NFR. She certainly sounds as if she has.
 
She has had a lot of what seems like bad luck since the release of BTD, with the SNL gig (and SNL mocking her a week later), the public Lorde feud, losing the James Bond song to Sam Smith (who then had a huge hit with it and appeared on SNL with Lorde, of all people), Lou Reed dying the day he was to record with her for UV, her troubled relationship with Barrie and the fallout from it, her houses being broken into by obsessive fans and being stalked and threatened by them, the significant drop in her sales with UV and Honeymoon compared to BTD/P, the Left (which she sees herself a member of) turning against her in various ways on multiple public fronts, Eminem slagging her, whatever the G-Eazy situation was, and so on. 
 
Some of these things are just par for the course for any celebrity in this era, and some are just life, period. But I think it's enough to frustrate and exhaust anyone. No wonder she doesn't have the time or inclination to be an international style influencer anymore. 

The endless delay might be because of the poetry book, which she apparently miscalculated the production time for (and in spades), but the delay really suggests that there's another reason for it. It may also be that when she announced the poetry book in September of 2018, she had no publishing plan, and was hoping established commercial publishers would coming knocking, hoping to get the publishing rights, and either none did, or none wanted it after reviewing it. Such 'baiting' ploys are common in all media industries. 
 
Artists don't typically release an entire cohesive album in singles and pairs over a period of a year, and corporate record companies don't support that, because it makes promotion almost impossible, which means they have no opportunity to recoup their investment, among other problems. It may be that whatever the cause for the delay is both complicated and embarrassing, and no resolution has yet been found. 
 
LDR may be frustrated and angry about all of this, and so has become relatively apathetic about the future of NFR. She certainly sounds as if she has.
 
She has had a lot of what seems like bad luck since the release of BTD, with the SNL gig (and SNL mocking her a week later), the public Lorde feud, losing the James Bond song to Sam Smith (who then had a huge hit with it and appeared on SNL with Lorde, of all people), Lou Reed dying the day he was to record with her for UV, her troubled relationship with Barrie and the fallout from it, her houses being broken into by obsessive fans and being stalked and threatened by them, the significant drop in her sales with UV and Honeymoon compared to BTD/P, the Left (which she sees herself a member of) turning against her in various ways on multiple public fronts, Eminem slagging her, whatever the G-Eazy situation was, and so on. 
 
Some of these things are just par for the course for any celebrity in this era, and some are just life, period. But I think it's enough to frustrate and exhaust anyone. No wonder she doesn't have the time or inclination to be an international style influencer anymore. 

The endless delay might be because of the poetry book, which she apparently miscalculated the production time for (and in spades), but the delay really suggests that there's another reason for it. It may also be that when she announced the poetry book in September of 2018, she had no publishing plan, and was hoping established commercial publishers would coming knocking, hoping to get the publishing rights, and either none did, or none wanted it after reviewing it. Such 'baiting' ploys are common in all media industries. 
 
Artists don't typically release an entire cohesive album in singles and pairs over a period of a year, and corporate record companies don't support that, because it makes promotion almost impossible, which means they have no opportunity to recoup their investment, among other problems. It may be that whatever the cause for the delay is both complicated and embarrassing, and no resolution has yet been found. 
 
LDR may be frustrated and angry about all of this, and so has become relatively apathetic about the future of NFR. She certainly sounds as if she has.
 
She has had a lot of what seems like bad luck since the release of BTD, with the SNL gig (and SNL mocking her a week later), the public Lorde feud, losing the James Bond song to Sam Smith (who then had a huge hit with it and appeared on SNL with Lorde, of all people), Lou Reed dying the day he was to record with her for UV, her troubled relationship with Barrie and the fallout from it, her houses being broken into by obsessive fans and being stalked and threatened by them, the significant drop in her sales with UV and Honeymoon compared to BTD/P, the Left (which she sees herself a member of) turning against her in various ways on multiple public fronts, Eminem slagging her, whatever the G-Eazy situation was, and so on. 
 
Some of these things are just par for the course for any celebrity in this era, and some are just life, period. But I think it's enough to frustrate and exhaust anyone. No wonder she doesn't have the time or inclination to be an international style influencer anymore. 

I agree she didn’t change her entire career course due to a feud with Lorde, Gordon’s comments and the backlash after she made the “feminism just isn’t an interesting concept “ comments. I think it was a lot of things coming one after another, including, yes, the fact that the maintenance and effort to remain slim, youthful, stylish and photogenic had to be very exhausting, especially as her fame grew and paparazzi started chasing her on two continents at all hours. While ‘Hope’ has already given us a clear statement on the subject, we’ll know which direction she’s heading once we see the final NFR cover and sleeve art.
 
For me, the “crack another beer” lyric from HTD doesn’t suggest the sophisticated LDR of Paradise, but a much more earthy, unadorned persona, one comfortable singing from a working class POV and about ‘blue collar’ concerns, a la Springsteen and Billy Joel. The plain photo of her sitting on the side of the highway supports that too.

Kim Gordon is considered Alt-Rock royalty to many people of a certain age as well as to feminists in music, so LDR probably did at least think twice about Gordon’s criticisms, which received a great deal of press. LDR has had a lot of poor luck in various ways with other musicians, like Lorde, for example, and then, though LDR is a fan of Bowie’s, he said Lorde was ‘the future of music,’ to paraphrase him. That had to sting. But she’s obviously had praise from her peer musicians, like The Weeknd and Father John Misty, as well as ‘legends’ like B. Springsteen and Stevie Nicks.
 
As far as her persona and appearance going forward, the album cover and sleeve art for NFR will tell us a lot, and maybe everything. After the flat, mediocre LFL artwork, I don’t expect to see a return to glamour and high style.
 
Contrary to what common sense might dictate, pop artists are often better handled by competent managers and record companies than they are by themselves; when they gain enough power through sales and popularity to dictate their own course, they have often stumbled and tripped all over themselves. The Monkees are a good example of that. Of course, that’s hardly always the case.

I recently saw her very early semi-professional modeling shots, which suggested that being beautiful and sexually desirable was something that was there in her and important to her from a fairly early age, as is it for many or most youths. Maybe she’s matured enough to where she feels she can now leave that side of herself largely behind, especially in terms of her music career. Again, on the basis of the work and of what we know of NFR, ‘Hope’ definitely suggests she’s “not that” anymore in her own mind.
 
I think she is attractive, but she seems to be downplaying it as much as she can, even going so far as to post some photos which are very unflattering, at least to me.

Nationalxanthem, I agree. I’ve watched the decline in visuals and the shift in her persona with sadness, as it was everything about the BTD/Paradise era that I loved. She’s changed a great deal without verbal explanation, and no doubt both lost and gained fans in the process, as no doubt some newer fans like the LFL LDR but didn’t care for the BTD LDR when they investigated her older work.
 
To me, her initial era as LDR was a beautiful vision I hoped was authentic, and no doubt some aspects of it were, but a lot was just a performance, rather like the young woman in Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ of the 1950s. ‘Hope’ makes me think the multiple personas are fragmenting her and that now she just wants to be herself, and perhaps not misrepresent herself to younger women who may in turn feel compelled to live up to an impossible standard of beauty, slenderness and public poise.
 
Way back in the late 1960s, Nico destroyed her own beauty for the same cluster of reasons, and didn’t gain respect as an artist until she had.

You're right, it might refer to AA, since she acknowledged that she was an alcoholic as a teen, and AA meetings, food pantries and homeless shelters are all often found in churches and church basements.
 
'Serv'in up God in a burnt coffee pot' makes me thing of her actually serving the homeless.
 
Part of the brilliance of the song, and some of her other songs, is that the interpretations can be so diverse and still seem accurate. 
 
I think the song puts her in a whole new category as a songwriter, but personally, it's not the sort of thing I look to her for.
 
'Old Money' is one of my two favorite LDR songs, but since she appears to be stepping into a character in that song, that of a mature woman looking back on her life with some desperation and regret, it has an almost universal appeal in capturing an essence so exactly, but 'Hope,' while I like it, is almost too personal for me. 

You're right, it might refer to AA, since she acknowledged that she was an alcoholic as a teen, and AA meetings, food pantries and homeless shelters are all often found in churches and church basements.
 
'Serv'in up God in a burnt coffee pot' makes me thing of her actually serving the homeless.
 
Part of the brilliance of the song, and some of her other songs, is that the interpretations can be so diverse and still seem accurate. 
 
I think the song puts her in a whole new category as a songwriter, but personally, it's not the sort of thing I look to her for.
 
'Old Money' is one of my two favorite LDR songs, but since she appears to be stepping into a character in that song, that of a mature woman looking back on her life with some desperation and regret, it has an almost universal appeal in capturing an essence so exactly, but 'Hope,' while I like it, is almost too personal for me. 

You're right, it might refer to AA, since she acknowledged that she was an alcoholic as a teen, and AA meetings, food pantries and homeless shelters are all often found in churches and church basements.
 
'Serv'in up God in a burnt coffee pot' makes me thing of her actually serving the homeless.
 
Part of the brilliance of the song, and some of her other songs, is that the interpretations can be so diverse and still seem accurate. 
 
I think the song puts her in a whole new category as a songwriter, but personally, it's not the sort of thing I look to her for.
 
'Old Money' is one of my two favorite LDR songs, but since she appears to be stepping into a character in that song, that of a mature woman looking back on her life with some desperation and regret, it has an almost universal appeal in capturing an essence so exactly, but 'Hope,' while I like it, is almost too personal for me. 

This has always been my interpretation as well. It makes the most sense and personally makes it more relatable for me. It’s def a very very personal cut, we may never know the full meaning behind it.

Nationalxanthem, I agree. I’ve watched the decline in visuals and the shift in her persona with sadness, as it was everything about the BTD/Paradise era that I loved. She’s changed a great deal without verbal explanation, and no doubt both lost and gained fans in the process, as no doubt some newer fans like the LFL LDR but didn’t care for the BTD LDR when they investigated her older work.
 
To me, her initial era as LDR was a beautiful vision I hoped was authentic, and no doubt some aspects of it were, but a lot was just a performance, rather like the young woman in Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ of the 1950s. ‘Hope’ makes me think the multiple personas are fragmenting her and that now she just wants to be herself, and perhaps not misrepresent herself to younger women who may in turn feel compelled to live up to an impossible standard of beauty, slenderness and public poise.
 
Way back in the late 1960s, Nico destroyed her own beauty for the same cluster of reasons, and didn’t gain respect as an artist until she had.

I agree she didn’t change her entire career course due to a feud with Lorde, Gordon’s comments and the backlash after she made the “feminism just isn’t an interesting concept “ comments. I think it was a lot of things coming one after another, including, yes, the fact that the maintenance and effort to remain slim, youthful, stylish and photogenic had to be very exhausting, especially as her fame grew and paparazzi started chasing her on two continents at all hours. While ‘Hope’ has already given us a clear statement on the subject, we’ll know which direction she’s heading once we see the final NFR cover and sleeve art.
 
For me, the “crack another beer” lyric from HTD doesn’t suggest the sophisticated LDR of Paradise, but a much more earthy, unadorned persona, one comfortable singing from a working class POV and about ‘blue collar’ concerns, a la Springsteen and Billy Joel. The plain photo of her sitting on the side of the highway supports that too.

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Ok but going to church regularly does not make someone a bible thumper?? She's always talked about God and her relationship with religion and always had religious imagery in her work, just look at Tropico. So idk why people are surprised she's been going to church. 
 
She seems a lot less interested in tapping into the dark side of things that inspire her as she's grown older. her darkest music is some of her best and I don't think we'll get anything close to those levels again as long as Lana is staying away from those topics 

I agree she didn’t change her entire career course due to a feud with Lorde, Gordon’s comments and the backlash after she made the “feminism just isn’t an interesting concept “ comments. I think it was a lot of things coming one after another, including, yes, the fact that the maintenance and effort to remain slim, youthful, stylish and photogenic had to be very exhausting, especially as her fame grew and paparazzi started chasing her on two continents at all hours. While ‘Hope’ has already given us a clear statement on the subject, we’ll know which direction she’s heading once we see the final NFR cover and sleeve art.
 
For me, the “crack another beer” lyric from HTD doesn’t suggest the sophisticated LDR of Paradise, but a much more earthy, unadorned persona, one comfortable singing from a working class POV and about ‘blue collar’ concerns, a la Springsteen and Billy Joel. The plain photo of her sitting on the side of the highway supports that too.

This doesn’t sound that delusional... think about it. She’s attending Hillsong now and has always had references to Jesus in her music. What if she’s distinctly referring to him in MAC. What if she’s singing what she feels he’s saying to her.

Looked at from a certain angle, especially since LDR is an acknowledged Christian, MAC seems like it may be almost directly about Jesus Christ in parts.
 
She begins by speaking as herself or as the female protagonist, who then "whispers to Jesus, 'Take a deep breath, baby let me in.'"
 
Directly after that, is it LDR or Jesus (who has been "let in") who says, "You lose your way, just take my hand / You're lost at sea, then I'll command your boat to me again / Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am / I'm your man / I'm your man"? 
 
​In Mark 4:35-4, Jesus calms the storm, and by doing so saves the lives of the apostles. 
 
'I'm you're man' is a direct reference to the song of the same name by Leonard Cohen, we know, but does it also refer to Jesus Christ, as Jesus was God incarnated as Man, according to Christian theology?  
 
"Cause even in the dark I feel your resistance / You can see my heart burning in the distance / Baby, baby, baby, I'm your man" also seems to meld both LDR's voice and Jesus's. 
 
After my initial listenings to MAC, I took these 'Jesus' references as intentional on the LDR's part. 
 
If the voice of LDR (or the female protagonist) and the voice of Jesus Christ are conflated at points throughout the song, it makes MAC the most Christian song she's ever released. 

Looked at from a certain angle, especially since LDR is an acknowledged Christian, MAC seems like it may be almost directly about Jesus Christ in parts.
 
She begins by speaking as herself or as the female protagonist, who then "whispers to Jesus, 'Take a deep breath, baby let me in.'"
 
Directly after that, is it LDR or Jesus (who has been "let in") who says, "You lose your way, just take my hand / You're lost at sea, then I'll command your boat to me again / Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am / I'm your man / I'm your man"? 
 
​In Mark 4:35-4, Jesus calms the storm, and by doing so saves the lives of the apostles. 
 
'I'm you're man' is a direct reference to the song of the same name by Leonard Cohen, we know, but does it also refer to Jesus Christ, as Jesus was God incarnated as Man, according to Christian theology?  
 
"Cause even in the dark I feel your resistance / You can see my heart burning in the distance / Baby, baby, baby, I'm your man" also seems to meld both LDR's voice and Jesus's. 
 
After my initial listenings to MAC, I took these 'Jesus' references as intentional on the LDR's part. 
 
If the voice of LDR (or the female protagonist) and the voice of Jesus Christ are conflated at points throughout the song, it makes MAC the most Christian song she's ever released. 

Looked at from a certain angle, especially since LDR is an acknowledged Christian, MAC seems like it may be almost directly about Jesus Christ in parts.
 
She begins by speaking as herself or as the female protagonist, who then "whispers to Jesus, 'Take a deep breath, baby let me in.'"
 
Directly after that, is it LDR or Jesus (who has been "let in") who says, "You lose your way, just take my hand / You're lost at sea, then I'll command your boat to me again / Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am / I'm your man / I'm your man"? 
 
​In Mark 4:35-4, Jesus calms the storm, and by doing so saves the lives of the apostles. 
 
'I'm you're man' is a direct reference to the song of the same name by Leonard Cohen, we know, but does it also refer to Jesus Christ, as Jesus was God incarnated as Man, according to Christian theology?  
 
"Cause even in the dark I feel your resistance / You can see my heart burning in the distance / Baby, baby, baby, I'm your man" also seems to meld both LDR's voice and Jesus's. 
 
After my initial listenings to MAC, I took these 'Jesus' references as intentional on the LDR's part. 
 
If the voice of LDR (or the female protagonist) and the voice of Jesus Christ are conflated at points throughout the song, it makes MAC the most Christian song she's ever released. 

Looked at from a certain angle, especially since LDR is an acknowledged Christian, MAC seems like it may be almost directly about Jesus Christ in parts.
 
She begins by speaking as herself or as the female protagonist, who then "whispers to Jesus, 'Take a deep breath, baby let me in.'"
 
Directly after that, is it LDR or Jesus (who has been "let in") who says, "You lose your way, just take my hand / You're lost at sea, then I'll command your boat to me again / Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am / I'm your man / I'm your man"? 
 
​In Mark 4:35-4, Jesus calms the storm, and by doing so saves the lives of the apostles. 
 
'I'm you're man' is a direct reference to the song of the same name by Leonard Cohen, we know, but does it also refer to Jesus Christ, as Jesus was God incarnated as Man, according to Christian theology?  
 
"Cause even in the dark I feel your resistance / You can see my heart burning in the distance / Baby, baby, baby, I'm your man" also seems to meld both LDR's voice and Jesus's. 
 
After my initial listenings to MAC, I took these 'Jesus' references as intentional on the LDR's part. 
 
If the voice of LDR (or the female protagonist) and the voice of Jesus Christ are conflated at points throughout the song, it makes MAC the most Christian song she's ever released. 

I recently saw her very early semi-professional modeling shots, which suggested that being beautiful and sexually desirable was something that was there in her and important to her from a fairly early age, as is it for many or most youths. Maybe she’s matured enough to where she feels she can now leave that side of herself largely behind, especially in terms of her music career. Again, on the basis of the work and of what we know of NFR, ‘Hope’ definitely suggests she’s “not that” anymore in her own mind.
 
I think she is attractive, but she seems to be downplaying it as much as she can, even going so far as to post some photos which are very unflattering, at least to me.

Nationalxanthem, I agree. I’ve watched the decline in visuals and the shift in her persona with sadness, as it was everything about the BTD/Paradise era that I loved. She’s changed a great deal without verbal explanation, and no doubt both lost and gained fans in the process, as no doubt some newer fans like the LFL LDR but didn’t care for the BTD LDR when they investigated her older work.
 
To me, her initial era as LDR was a beautiful vision I hoped was authentic, and no doubt some aspects of it were, but a lot was just a performance, rather like the young woman in Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ of the 1950s. ‘Hope’ makes me think the multiple personas are fragmenting her and that now she just wants to be herself, and perhaps not misrepresent herself to younger women who may in turn feel compelled to live up to an impossible standard of beauty, slenderness and public poise.
 
Way back in the late 1960s, Nico destroyed her own beauty for the same cluster of reasons, and didn’t gain respect as an artist until she had.

Regarding the bland visuals and lackluster photos of this era, that started about the time of Honeymoon, when LDR began posting unflattering photos and short clips of herself on social media, clearly by intent. I don’t think she wanted to be known or perceived as a sex symbol any longer, even if that was something that had interested her for a decade or more. Sometimes beautiful women aren’t taken seriously, especially if they’re artists.
 
The ‘this is what I really look like on a day to day basis’ approach was probably also intended to appease certain factions on the Left, such as Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, who trashed LDR in her book. Some on the Left are anti-glamour and feel female glamour is just a tool used by Madison Avenue, something that is used to manipulate women and hold them down. The early lines of ‘Hope’ clearly express that she isn’t a glamour girl anymore (assuming the song is intended to be autobiographical), or perhaps is only when she absolutely has to be (I.e., magazine covers to promote albums).
 
She seems to want the world to know that she’s on the pretty side of average looking, but not more than that.