Try to be a little objective about what Kim Gordon is trying to say.
In the end, Lana IS one of the empresses of the newest "Live fast die young" trend in which exploding your body and venturing yourself into the unknown sounds exciting through little posts from instagram or facebook or twitter. I think Kim belongs to an older culture which I can totally relate to, and I'm only 21.
Although I enjoy Lana's voice and music, sometimes I strongly "disagree" (and I use those marks because, well... You can't actually disagree with a song) with the messages through her songs. And sometimes she somehow glamourizes it so that people actually do want to live that.
I don't agree with the way but I definitely feel what she's trying to express...
And whenever you don't know someone, please at least google that person, because saying "who" with "diva GIFs" doesn't make you cool, it makes you a sad ignorant person who somehow shows pride on that. People need to stop degrading or minimizing other people's talent just because you aren't part of that zeitgeist or you don't like it. There IS a world beyond your tastes and preferences.
You're joking right? Since when 2 straight gays call themselves, either to offend or compliment as buddies, bitch? When to offend they say "don't be a little bitch" basically "femanizing" the other male. So when a guy calls another a bitch or he's calling the guy a girl or a faggot, neither as a compliment. So no, in this case I guess she's right. Nothing against the word faggot or bitch between friends or in moments of need, but to say wither word doesn't carry a weight isn't quite fair
Cruel World - 5
Ultraviolence - 5
Shades of Cool - 4
Brooklyn Baby - 7
West Coast - 6
Sad Girl - 3
Pretty When You Cry - 5
Money Power Glory - 4
Fucked My Way Up to the Top - 5
Old Money - 5
The Other Woman - 5
Black Beauty - 6
Guns & Roses - 6
Florida Kilos - 3
Is This Happiness - 5
Flipside - 6
Sad Girl getting eleminated will have to be over my dead body!
No one probably cares, but I just wrote up a review/commentary/analysis of the 11 tracks of Ultraviolence that relate with some of the ideas she has talked about. It sort of just wraps up the album under one theme (even though she said there isn't necessarily one). Of you want to read it, here it is!
CRUEL WORLD
It talks about the "then" ("Shared my body and my mind/life with you") vs. the "now" ("That's all over now"). She acknowledges the wasted time, energy, passion, and devotion of a relationship, which is an interesting thought: where does all that love go when a relationship ends? And even though she has "found another, anyhow," it is clear that she is not fine at all. She puts on her "little red party dress" and talks about candy, fun, happiness, and such, yet "everybody knows that she's a mess," and "fucking crazy." She completely admires his lifestyle ("you're young, you're wild, you're free") and has adopted it as her own, but she knows he is still "dancing circles" around her. All in all, the song sonically and thematically introduces the conflicting emotions she says the album itself contains (ex: the quiet, almost lifeless verses followed by the hectic, bitter and loud chorus). A great way to introduce the theme/story and sound of the record.
ULTRAVIOLENCE
This track perhaps best exemplifies the contrast Lana has discussed: "Ultra" vs. "Violence" and the two pair up and come together somehow. I think, like many of the songs on the album, she is nostalgic and reminiscing of a past love that was turbulent, virulent, volatile, and crazy, matched with good times (Ultra) as well as bad ones (Violence). I don't think the relationship was actually violent, I just think that she is using a very bold and strong metaphor to show how impactful the relationship was--how much she really felt it. The song is very full of contrasts (deadly and beautiful, violence representing love, sirens and violins, etc.). That's about it--this song is pretty easy to interpret, but still it captures the ideas of the album--hence, it being the album title!
SHADES OF COOL
Another song with conflicting emotions, I think this is a good counter part to WC. In this song, she is the one trying to break through his wall of emotions. She fills the song with specific references which allows us to get a clear image in our heads. She knows she can't fix him or make him better or change him, and she accepts/embraces the fact that he is who he is--living in his "shades of cool." There are a lot of clever lyrics here. She most likely won't break him, but she is in love enough to stay with him, even if the lyrics suggest it isn't the healthiest relationship. Here, the "violence" of the relationship seems stronger than the good "ultra," but that doesn't seem to bother her.
BROOKLYN BABY
This is the first instance of sarcasm on the record. It's all about people's misconceptions about her and her career, music, and personality. People think they know her, but they don't. In the verses, we get what people think of her, and in the chorus I think she feeds into and makes fun of the stereotypes that exist around her: She jokes at the listener about her boyfriend, the feather crown, smoking, "getting down," but we also hear some truth, too, such as her love of jazz and Lou Reed. There are more contrasts (fire and water, wind and sea), but the main point of the song is that if you're a hater, you should fuck off, because not only will she ignore you, she will make fun of you with her own stereotypes.
WEST COAST
This one is very ambiguous to me, but it's about leaving a relationship for the music and her ignoring her own emotions. She loves him, but she can't let him know that or how much she misses him. She is rather introverted like he appears to me ("you've got the music in you"), so he keeps to himself. The boy tries very hard, but she just pulls away and can't express her real emotions for him, even though she wants to. She watches from afar, as shown in the chorus. She is madly in love with him, regardless of how flawed he is. No one has ever made her feel this way before. Lana has said also how the verse is fast-paced and then the tempo slows down in the chorus, supposedly representing how crazy her emotions are. In the verses she appears to be distant and in control, but in the choruses we see that that isn't the case, that even though she seems strong on the outside, she is weaker internally. One more point I want to make is that she has said the album is a fusion of rock and jazz, and this is also represented by the fusion of the West and East Coast. Geography, genre, emotions, themes, etc. are all concepts that are put together and compared/contrasted on this album.
SAD GIRL
Another sarcastic song, I think she is using the "cheating" metaphor both to make fun of her critics, as well as to symbolize the dynamic of the relationship she has. Again she seems like she is carefree in the verses (cheating, being a bad bitch), but in the chorus you see that she really loves her boy, who walks and talks with a fire. He is emotionally distant, which makes her a sad girl. But also, the critics call her too emotional, a mess, a "sad girl," and I don't think she didn't title the song SG so as to get at the critics. You call me a sad, overemotional girl? I am one!
PRETTY WHEN YOU CRY
I think this is the angriest, most bitter song on Ultraviolence. The verses are very straightforward. The relationship has ended, and all the promises he made left as well. He made her feel like his whole world. No matter how much he hurts or disappoints her, she will wait for him, even if it is all he does. She loves him, and whatever good there is is enough to hold her there. She goes back and forth from being strong in declaring "you're bad, we're over" to being weak in saying "but I still love you anyway, I'll wait for you". The title/chorus itself is a bit confusing, but I think she's saying that her guys likes her in a crazy, emotional state. HE is saying that she is pretty when she cries, and he hurts her to see her love him even more, to devote herself to him even more. Sort of twisted, to me!
MONEY POWER GLORY
More sarcasm and another contrast of truth vs. life. The verses are sort of about what she really wants and believes in. How are you supposed to get true happiness and freedom with "the way that we're living today"? She jokes and says she doesn't care about God or freedom or anything--instead, she wants the money, power, and glory of fame. Her biggest critics accuse her of this, and she claims that they are right--again, to poke fun at them. It's obviously a little bitter, but also very catchy. She is submissive--she will do whatever to takes to make others, as we know she does care a lot about what people think of her. But again, she shows sarcastic strength ("you better run, boy, run!"). She glamorizes the life of a celebrity ("dope and diamonds"), and I think she intentionally feeds into the critics, because she knows people will believe her words in this song and claim she's in it entirely for the fame, but she gets the last laugh, because she and her fans know that this is not the truth.
FUCKED MY WAY UP TO THE TOP
This song is very, very bitter, as she is attacking someone--my bet is Lorde. More sarcasm in saying "Life is awesome, I confess." There isn't room for another alternative queen, because what Lana does, she does best. She got tested (all the criticism and backlash she went through she used to turn her struggles into success), and she came out on top. She jokes about a glamorous life in the pre-chorus, and says, "I'm your favorite girl." She is the reigning queen. People say she slept her way up to the top, so here again she plays with people's false ideas about her and her career. She accuses Lorde(?) of mimicking her and her style, and insults her (whore!), but as much pain as she is probably secretly caused, she needs the criticism too (as shown in the bridge) and she asks for more, more, more. A strange song, probably one of the most confusing.
OLD MONEY
My favorite. The best lyrics. The most depth/meaning. In the beginning, she is just listing things that remind her of a past life/love, maybe, which are all images that paint a nostalgic, sad picture of happier times in our heads. The kids who were young and pretty, I believe, are Lana and her lover, as we later find out. She asks where he's been, since the happy times feel so long ago. I love this line: "So is the girl you used to call the Queen of New York City." It's a bittersweet song, and a great counterpart to Young & Beautiful. Y&B is told from the present looking at the future, and OM is told from the present (or, the future of Y&B) looking at the past. I love the connection there. Even though they are broken up and in the past, she obviously still loves him, because at any call in the blink of an eye, she would come running back to him. That's extreme devotion. The second verse is even stronger. "The power of youth is on my mind. Sunset, small town--I'm out of time." This is either a song about made up people who are older and have lived their lives, looking back at the past, or a song about her currently, growing older and feeling old, missing her youthful past. The next line alludes to Y&B. She wants to be known for her career and artistry, not her looks. That is more important to her. She references her love for her parents, and how even though she should feel loved and such, she still feels alone. She's always been a longer and unique, as she has said many times. She's never known why, but I think she is happy, since it has shaped her music and who she is in general. The song is so sad. I think Old Money is a metaphor with double meaning: her music often talks about the life of the rich and famous, but on another more personal level, maybe OM refers to a past love--the one from many of the other songs. A while ago she said "I will always love the same man. He will always inspire me." I don't think she was lying.
THE OTHER WOMAN
An interesting album closer. She recently talked about this, the reasoning for including it. There are a couple, but it's just another representation or metaphor for the life she feels she lives: she is, in a way, pop music's "other women."
This was an interview VG did with Lana around the time she performed in Bergen, so it's from yesterday I believe.
Lana has captured the world with her music, but she points out that not everything in her life is picture perfect.
After her performance in Bergen she received the high score 5 from VG, and the singer told us that she highly values Norwegian fans.
"I value being here more than ever now. When I see how the audience sings along, it makes me feel like they accept me for who I am. I feel like they understand me."
When asked why there are still sad girls and bad men in her songs, Lana laughs, and answers: "I am still a sad girl, I still date bad men."
On the "I wish I was dead" hysteria
But feeling understood is not always the case for the artist outside of the stage area. In an interview with the guardian published this week, the singer voiced a death wish, which got quoted by media all over the world, including VG.
But to VG Lana says that the whole situation was blown out of proportions.
"I did not actually say that I thought an early death was a glamorous way to go. I just said that like many other people I admire and take inspiration from those who have passed at an early age," referring to her heroes, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, who both died young. (Did he mix up Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison when he googled 27 club...?)
The artist admits to having said that she sometimes wishes she was dead, but that it was taken the wrong way.
"Like many people who go through a lot I sometimes wish for my life to end. Sometimes feel like that, and sometimes I don't."
Lana Del Rey elaborates that every day is different, and that she is not an unhappy person.
"Sometimes I just feel like it becomes too much."
Talking about Ultraviolence
"To me this album is more relaxed, free and sexy. I didn't feel the need to document as much of my life story as I did in Born to Die. This album goes deeper into important moments from my life." Lana Del Rey adds that the album is like her own little personal jewel.
The artist struggle when she's trying to explain why so many young girls love her music.
"I guess they to a certain degree can relate to what I say or how I say things."
Interviewer: "But one of your songs from the new album is called "Fucked My Way to the Top". What do you want to convey to those who listen to this song?"
"I don't censor myself," she says, and adds that all of the songs on the album means something to her and often tells a tale about things she's been trough.
She admits that sharing her deep and personal songs from the stage has been nerve wracking. But Del Rey says it has become easier with time. Now she sees that the audience is happy to be at her concerts. And that is why she sees the importance in taking "selfies" with her fans during concerts, giving out hugs and pecks on the cheek.
"It's a part of the experience. For them I am the show, but to me they are the show. So I take part in it."
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