evilentity

Whoops! When I came back to this thread after researching I realized you'd only asked about BTD specifically. Anyway, the better question is when hasn't Lana talked about her music being autobiographical. Here is a non-exhaustive list of instances in interviews where Lana, or an interviewer paraphrasing her, has specifically used the word "autobiographical" to describe her music: Her early songs "autobiographical and very dark" source AKA "my first songs were pretty autobiographical... I talked about a lot of stuff in my first record" source "my first LP with David Kahne... was unconventional, autobiographical and cinematic" source "my first record, it was autobiographical and beautiful" source BTD "dark, autobiographical, glamorous and something like exuberant and cinematographic" source "my new songs are still autobiographical and cinematic" source "consistently autobiographical" source "As for subject matter, she's sticking to the autobiographical: 'Love is the easiest thing to write about, because I know it well....And loss is just as easy, because I know it well too.'" source "Ride" "That's autobiographical! ...It's about my own life" source "her “Ride” video, which she tells me is autobiographical" source "Ultraviolence" (song) "autobiographical elements" source "She’s vague on whether this theme might be autobiographical. 'I guess I would say, like, I’m definitely drawn to people with a strong physicality,' she says with a shrug, 'with more of a dominant personality.'" source UV Interviewer calls it "a collection of autobiographical songs" in between direct quotes. source All her albums Pitchfork: "Which of your albums is the most autobiographical? LDR: "All of them." source "I feel that the three records [bTD, Paradise, and UV] were so heavy and autobiographical. It's been so cathartic." source Her music generally "But I don't long for a mythic past. I have my own mythic past. I don't talk about it, no one would believe me anyway. But I can say: All of my songs are autobiographical, I don't have to dramatize anything." source "No, it's completely autobiographical. Yeah, 100%." source "when it comes to my own music it’s 100% autobiographical" source Implied her music was autobiographical like Biggie Smalls source "the lyrics are autobiographical, and it’s mostly about death and love" source "I'd say 90% [autobiographical]. Usually what happens is all of the verses are always autobiographical up until the chorus...by the time I get to the chorus I might start singing about the way I wished that they had been." source "Everything I was writing was so autobiographical" source Interview with James Franco where she insists she is generally "writing about things autobiographically", but says of "Florida Kilos": "That song in particular is not autobiographical." Says she "didn't monitor [herself]" on UV and that is was "candid". Suggests "Honeymoon" might not be as autobiographical as other albums. Describes her songwriting as "you get to tell your story", "documenting your life", and states "you don't know any story better than your own". source Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself; I am large - I contain multitudes. "I find myself sometimes going back and forth between writing autobiographically and living vicariously through my own lyrics. It’s a form of escapism for me in some ways, now that I don’t go out much. So, definitely, if you’re lucky enough to do what you love, it can be your whole life. I’m very lucky." source

Slate's Culture Gabfest podcast had a nice lengthy discussion of the album here from about 21:04 - 40:04: https://slate.com/podcasts/culture-gabfest/2019/09/american-factory-lana-del-rey-writers-residency

You mentioned this song in a different context, but I'm surprised there hasn't been much discussion in this thread about how the first verse seems to me a clear callback to FMWUTTT and her resentment that other pop girls haven't been subjected to as much scrutiny as she has (she's not wrong). Is this only on vinyl? (Still waiting for my CD to come.)

A nice (if characteristically pretentious) meditation on Daniel Johnston and Lana from The Quietus: https://thequietus.com/articles/27106-lana-del-rey-daniel-johnston-music-fans

Cardboard cutout Lana deserves to go.

Offer still stands.

Try not to think so much about the truly staggering amount of oil that it takes to make a record, all the shipping, the vinyl, the cellophane lining, the high gloss, the tape and the gear

#tbt

Daniel Johnston died today at the age of 58. RIP

I mean, it should've been a Lana lyric to begin with. And now it is, kinda.

It's a small thing, but the way she says "Baby, baby, baby, I'm your man... yeah" in the second pre-chorus and the production at that moment have a very UV feel.

First Pabst Blue Ribbon and now Miller High Life? Somebody get this girl some decent craft beer. I'd ask my bar-t-t-tender for Cherry Coke too if piss beer was the only kind he was serving up.

Pretty sure this is well above the speed limit for this stretch of road. #tbt As a Midwesterner accustomed to straight flat freeways, I never batted an eye at the idea of driving 100 mph. But after driving several hours down the California coast on vacation recently, this is pure fantasy. Highway 1 is too winding to drive anywhere near that fast.

Wrote this as part of a multi-song discussion in the NFR Post-Release discussion thread, but thought I'd quote the part relevant to "The Greatest" here. H/t to @@annedauphine for helping me remember the name of a bar a profile/interview talked about her going to with Barrie. From Nylon in 2013: Now I haven't been able to confirm that Neptune's Net was specifically a "bar where the Beach Boys would go" (where's @@Monicker when we need him!), but it's a bar popular with surfers next to Ventura County Line Beach, a location referenced in the Beach Boys hit "Surfin' USA" so this seems the likely referent, which would make this a Barrie song. If so, it's pretty significant that she's effectively describing the loss of Barrie in apocalyptic terms, placing it on the same scale as the civilizational decay of this shitty timeline we're all living through right now in which the world is on fire literally and metaphorically. The greatest loss of them all. This conflation is reminiscent of her cover of Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World": Was this post more your speed?

Wrote this as part of a multi-song discussion in the NFR Post-Release discussion thread, but thought I'd quote the part relevant to TNBAR here. I'd actually kinda forgotten I'd written these thoughts out. But re-reading them and then comparing the "demo" lyrics side-by-side with the album is both striking and eerie. Gone are all the lyrics that I said I thought sounded harsh or unfair, replaced by more complimentary lyrics expressing regret, acknowledgment of her own role in things, and wanting him back. (Incidentally, I agree with the consensus that the new lyrics are inferior despite probably being more fair and true to how she feels now.) One further thought: If I'm right that this is about Barrie, I wish she'd left the name just "Best American Record" because that has an appropriate acronym.

Snippet teasers are the worst

Those first two pictures look like stills from maid/housewife genre porn lol

Yeah, I'm curious about this too. Has anyone synched them or anything to see how much of the production or vocals have changed? Are the new lyrics just punch-ins (sloppy or otherwise)?

I hear "bread and lunches" Petition to rename the forum or at least the POY thread "Beautiful Losers"

Man, I would be so curious to know if @@Monicker thinks NFR is good taco-making music. Imagined response: "Is this because I'm Cuban?" Listen to Jordan, Lana. Remind me, who would she be talking about here? Here's the quote where Lana (probably jokingly) talks about making a music video of herself ice skating to one of her songs.: We knew Lana ice skated as a child, but I didn't know she did it for 15 years! A number of recent interviews mention this factoid that I don't believe has ever come up before. Clearly seems like something read off something her press team put out. Curious why this factoid and why now.

A healthier self-awareness there. Cock tease. #ReleaseItAll As much as I welcome her recent forays into politics (playing Israel aside) especially her Trump criticism, this quote shows she still doesn't really get the criticism. Yes, many things were better during the Obama years, but not everything was rosy and some things were worse. Saying you were "happy with everything" and that you could afford to "focus on the music and the arts" rather than politics... those are practically textbook examples of expressions of white privilege.

Full disclosure: I am a full-blown Barrie shipper so feel free to take this post with however many grains of salt you deem necessary. I'd actually kinda forgotten I'd written these thoughts out. But re-reading them and then comparing the "demo" lyrics side-by-side with the album is both striking and eerie. Gone are all the lyrics that I said I thought sounded harsh or unfair, replaced by more complimentary lyrics expressing regret, acknowledgment of her own role in things, and wanting him back. (Incidentally, I agree with the consensus that the new lyrics are inferior despite probably being more fair and true to how she feels now.) Now consider the first verse, pre-chorus, and chorus of the very next track, "The Greatest": H/t to @@annedauphine for helping me remember the name of a bar a profile/interview talked about her going to with Barrie. From Nylon in 2013: Now I haven't been able to confirm that Neptune's Net was specifically a "bar where the Beach Boys would go" (where's @@Monicker when we need him!), but it's a bar popular with surfers next to Ventura County Line Beach, a location referenced in the Beach Boys hit "Surfin' USA" so this seems the likely referent, which would make this a Barrie song. If so, it's pretty significant that she's effectively describing the loss of Barrie in apocalyptic terms, placing it on the same scale as the civilizational decay of this shitty timeline we're all living through right now in which the world is on fire literally and metaphorically. The greatest loss of them all. This conflation is reminiscent of her cover of Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World": Taken together, "California", as unsubtle of a let's-get-back-together-at-least-to-hook-up-if-nothing-else song as it gets, followed by "The Next Best American Record" and "The Greatest", this three-song block of Barrie songs on NFR (and there may be others) is quite a statement some five years after their break-up. Two points in conclusion: Between the Barrie songs and possible FJM references I wouldn't sleep easy if I was that Chase Stogel guy. Barrie, shoot your shot. Even if only for a booty call.

Interesting.