necessary sacrifice

I was listening to NFR earlier today and I realized something about it sonically just sounds so dreamy. Like some sort of twinkly dream world. Idk how else to describe it but Honeymoon has that feeling too. Or like Stevie Nicks’ solo albums, all of them, they have it. I wish I could put this into actual words.

The credits don’t mention tambourines or jingle bells. I assume they’re included in percussion, so it’s not very specific. If they’re tambourines, they’re probably layered, but you’re right that it could be either. That’s why I keep mentioning Fleetwood Mac too because they kinda remind me of Stevie’s tambourine.

There’s no subtext in the song that implies Christmas or even winter though. How to Disappear isn’t River. They sound more like a homage to The Beach Boys or The Byrds, or even Fleetwood Mac. They just sound nostalgic like the rest of the song. If anything, they just seem to emphasize the lyrics, especially when they come in, like she’s stressing to us how much he really means to her. I feel like the current “jingle bells = Christmas” mindset is limiting people from seeing the song as anything except a Christmas song even though there’s nothing to suggest the song even relates to winter or any holidays.

That’s what I don’t get. Are jingle bells just associated with Christmas because there’s a song called Jingle Bells? Jingle bells are used in many genres of music and have been for over a century. And then Christmas music doesn’t even use jingle bells that often, especially in recent years. Jingle bells seem more folk rock or wall of sound than Christmas. Most Christmas music that uses jingle bells are from musicians that already often use jingle bells, so I don’t exactly get the connection.

I still don’t understand why a few people say this. Most Christmas songs are more jazzy (probably because lots of them first came out when jazz was the most popular genre). Technically wouldn’t Honeymoon be the most Christmas-sounding album of hers? Nothing on NFR seems all that Christmassy to me (I guess possibly the title track?). How to Disappear sounds more like a folk/country rock ballad in my opinion.

I was watching a documentary about Houdini and something stood out to me about The Magic Castle. So people say it’s haunted (most likely is, let’s be honest). So of the ghosts that haunt the place, one is a bartender often seen just cleaning up the tables and another is a pianist named Irma who’s often still heard playing the piano. So these right away made me think of the song Bartender. It has the haunting piano throughout the whole thing and she’s going off to see a bartender, so those both would tie in. I then was thinking maybe the song is about her going off to The Magic Castle to spend her time alone just with ghosts, imagining they’re there with her. It also would kinda make the spooky witchy verses connect more to the chorus I think. Idk maybe I’m just crazy and I’m putting too much thought into this.

I feel like Paradise is weirdly under appreciated amongst Lana fans and I’ve never understood it. Anyway, Paradise is a great album. At least I think so. With only 8 songs and a runtime just over a half hour, it feels the most like an old classic album out of all her albums. And to me it’s always been almost a jazzy psychedelic rock album (I know it’s not really). And all the songs are amazing too. My favourite song on the album has always been Body Electric and it’s probably even still one of my favourite songs of hers in general. And idk if this is weird, but the album as a whole always gave me Janis Joplin vibes even though it doesn’t sound like her music at all... idk. I just love this album and think it deserves more appreciation.

Tbh I don’t think Grammy campaigns or promotion are that relevant. If she’s meant to win a Grammy, she will. I’m leaving it to fate. Lana’s not a big promo artist, so this isn’t exactly unexpected behaviour. Even if she doesn’t win, an AOTY nomination is amazing as it is. I still think she has a high chance of winning though.

She did say she’s been more inspired lately, so I think her writers block is actually away for now. Plus, her saying the album will sound similar means nothing. She said both Paradise and Honeymoon sounded like Born to Die, but they don’t really. I can see what she means, but they’re by no means replicas. So if the next album is supposed to sound like NFR, it probably won’t. Also keep in mind, she changes directions while working on the albums often so even if the songs she made so far sound like they could fit into NFR, it’s unlikely the album itself will have the same sound overall.

If Lana didn’t come across this speech on her own, I hope someone made sure to show it to her. I love seeing people stand up for her and defend her as an artist. Plus I do love Taylor. I still hope to see them collaborate, even if they just wrote a song together. Since they’re both working with Jack these days, I’m hoping they do end up in the studio together someday. But after all the praise Taylor has given Lana this year, I at least hope Lana is aware and appreciates it. It really is heartwarming to see Taylor revere her art as much as we do.

Queen of Disaster vs Driving in Cars with Boys

Just focusing on quality is flawed because that’s all opinion based. Just focusing on sales is also flawed since it would focus almost solely on what’s promoted most to the mainstream. If you look to either types of lists for validation, you’re doing yourself a disservice. But either type of list has its purpose and you can enjoy either, but one isn’t more right than the other. I think any of these lists should be celebrated for what they are, not as a gospel truth. At the end of the day, what matters is how much you like the album, but lists are tons of fun as long as we don’t take them too seriously/personally. That being said, I would put all of Lana’s albums in my own personal decade end list.

Lana’s never made an album that sounds just like another album, so I doubt WHF/LDR8 will sound just like NFR. It’ll sound like it’s own album that will probably have elements of some of her other albums but will be ultimately it’s own thing. That’s how it always is. I can’t wait to hear what sound she’ll go for, but I can already assume it won’t be exactly like anything else she’s released but also not entirely different either. I don’t think anyone should be too worried it’ll be an exact copy of NFR, or any of her other albums.

Boarding School vs Carmen

Never Let Me Go vs Lucky Ones

Imagine thinking Burnt Norton is filler. Even if it’s just a portion of the poem, it adds almost an underlying theme of chasing the unattainable garden of eden. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of the album, especially because her speaking voice is so calming. To me, Burnt Norton is the heart of the Honeymoon album.

Enjoying critical praise =/= thinking praise makes the album worthy. We can like the album and like the critical praise without the praise being the reason we like the album. Do critics matter? Not really. Am I still happy to see Lana get acclaim? Obviously. Would I still love this album without the acclaim? Again, fucking obviously. Plus Lana’s acclaim has increased slowly over the years. She wasn’t slandered nonstop til this album then suddenly everyone changed their minds. Already Paradise got better reviews than Born to Die. Then Ultraviolence was only really criticized on the topics, while the instrumentals and vocals and everything actually was praised. Most of the UV controversy was the “I wish I was dead” thing. Honeymoon and Lust for Life mostly got praise. Then we come to NFR, her most critically acclaimed, but she’s been climbing this mountain for the past decade so why are we surprised she got to the top? Do we really have to be upset she got here? Can’t we just enjoy something for once? Can’t we just be proud of Lana? Even if you hate the album, why not just be proud of Lana?

Norman fucking Rockwell Ultraviolence Honeymoon Paradise Lust for Life Lana Del Ray Born to Die But I love them all and probably listen to them all the same amount, so idk if this is even that relevant for me. Also I love how we all have different orders for our rankings because it shows how we all connect to Lana’s art in different ways.

Cruel World vs Heroin

Pretty When You Cry vs Shades of Cool

Imagine still being so bitter about bad reviews from the beginning of the decade that it makes you unable to enjoy any good reviews.... lol I’m glad Lana’s getting recognition, I’m very happy for her. People’s opinions can change over the course of a decade and it’s always nice to see people wake up to Lana’s talents more with each album. After every album, I see more people online discover her and fall in love with her art just like us. It’s always so beautiful seeing people appreciate Lana’s music, whether they’ve always loved her or just became a fan yesterday.

Pretty When You Cry vs California

I just realized I haven’t ever actually posted a picture of my Lana vinyls. I don’t collect anything else, so that’s my whole Lana collection. Anyway, here they are.

I don’t think Joni’s doing collabs with anyone in the future, sadly. What a shame too, their voices would go so well together. But maybe Joan Baez or Judy Collins.... I need that to happen.