Lanakai

yes, and the fact that this is an unpopular opinion will never not shock / appall me. that song is one of the best things she's ever done.

Yes!! 
 
Also, I think it'd be cool if she brought it back to her AKA style for LDR5. I would love a whole record of Pawn Shop Blues + Kill Kill + Yayo, so like stripped back but still cinematic and esoteric. She sounds beautiful with less production and fuss and just a guitar (I'm looking at you On Our Way  ). But I would also love her to do a concept album that has the same golden vintage feel that JFK, I Don't Wanna Go, Driving In Cars With Boys and Hollywood have (and even Angels Forever). I would kill for a concept album like that. It just feels like Lana. 

Best American Record
 
Damn this is a good song.

In Lana's art, America is a symbol of God's creation, from the heavenly East Coast to the earthly West Coast, with the nostalgic 1950s-1960s period representing the garden of Eden/Paradise. In the beginning the music of creation unfolded harmoniously under God's benevolent guidance. But the ego of man tried to be too much like God and "write the next best American record", which was an obsession that led to man's extreme self-assertion, separation from God and soul, and falling out of universal harmony.   The soul sings:   My baby used to dance underneath my architecture   The architecture here is the celestial firmament, the spiritual realm of the soul. The baby is the soul's individual expression, the ego, which went down to earth, to the material realm. In the beginning the ego was full of joy and energy, derived from its dynamic contact with the soul. This means that man's spiritual and material sides were in a healthy balance.   To the "Houses of the Holy"
 
"Houses of the Holy" is a Led Zeppelin song from the 1970s, where the singer courts his girl to let him take her "to the movies, to the show". It is a sexual song with spiritual overtones and also with references to Satan. The relationship between the ego and the soul has a masculine-feminine dynamic, which is reflected in human sexual relationships.
 
Smoking on them cigarettes
 
Turning white into black (innocence into experience), burning with passion, breathing the spirit of life.
 
He was seventies in spirit, nineties in his frame of mind
 
Although influenced by the 1960s hippie ideals, the mood of the 1970s turned from the hippie emphasis on community toward individualism (the "Me" decade). This individualistic trend continued in the 1980s and received a new boost in the 1990s from the collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union, even as the boundaries between countries and cultures further weakened and unification of the world accelerated. Individualism is the nature of the ego, while collectivism is the nature of the soul.
 
The ego did need to distance itself from the soul - but only for a while, in order to build the mental and physical structures that the soul could infuse at their reunion. But the ego became "obsessed with writing the next best American record", for fame. Its focus on self-aggrandizement and self-gratification isolated it from the soul, from others, and from a larger reality. Man became trapped on earth, ran out of energy and ran out of life.

I think what can explain why she's cutting so many people out of her life is the fact that she changes her entourage very often. She has her periods when she hangs out with the same people, but after some months or a year we see other people appearing on pictures. By looking at her candids, you can easily notice that. I guess she just don't let many people enter her life and when she discovered their persona she isn't interested anymore? She's happy with her close friends and family and she seems to be an introvert, so she isn't interested to have many people around her. I guess she isn't that kind of person who will call someone and ask how they are, she waits for others to do it, maybe that's why many people are "complaining" about her being silent and disappearing. I can be completely wrong, but that's how I see it, it's not bitchy to me.

make it go viral gheys
 

Okay so here's my theory:
 
The 'best American record' isn't in reference to UV like some of you said, if the song is in fact about her relationship with Barrie (I think it is), then it would be more reasonable to suspect she's referencing Born to Die.
 
First of all, Lana and Barrie became a couple months prior to the release of Born to Die, and even Lana's rise to fame (my knowledge is rusty but I'm p sure they knew eachother a lot longer than believed). I've always believed their relationship problems were attributed to Lana's difficultly managing her then new found fame.
 
Their relationship was stable at the beginning despite Lana working on making Born to Die (you were so obsessed with writing the next best American Record), but when Lana rose to fame and began receiving a harsh backlash it ultimately put a damper on things (by the time we got to bed there was nothing left). It's like instead of being able to enjoy their relationship even moreso like they thought they would have, the shift in Lana's life proved to be too damaging for them.
 
Such a sad song (minus that out of place, cheap sounding chorus)

I've always perveived UV as Lana-esque storytelling at its finest that has no (or little) connection to reality and/or her own relationships whatsoever. And IF it describes any of her past lovers it's definetly Arthur Lynn and the whole Local Rockstar scene as we call it. And EVEN that idea is an exaggeration imo

At least now we know Jimmy Necco was full of shit when he said Jim was Jim Beam

Dear Lana,
 
Elizabeth you rock
I know you're selling seven million
Wish you could've seen us when we cheered you on after SNL

I'd read that. A 5,000 word @longtimeman post is bound to be more worthwhile than 500 typical 10-word posts made around here.  

Yes, this was another thought I had that I should have included in my essay-length post. It's another reason why I don't think people should get too hung up on national origin in excluding Barrie from consideration here. I think the phrase "Best American Record" is meant more to evoke the same sort of grandiose artistic ambition associated with the concept of the "Great American Novel" than nationality.

I started to write an essay on this, but remembered that nobody needs to read that, so here's the short version.
 
Lana has a lot of songs about different types of self delusion (or, if we're being kinder, extreme overconfidence). Whether it's Carmen thinking she's made it ("Lying to herself 'cause the liquor's top shelf"); the narrator of National Anthem suddenly discovering her mojo ("I said to get real, don't you know who you're dealing with"); or the unfortunate object of Is This Happiness ("You think you're Hunter S Thompson, I think you're fucking crazy as they day's long"), the only way to succeed in the world of fame is to start by believing you've already succeeded. But, in LA, if you take this delusion too far, you end up like the central character in Mulholland Drive, living in a fantasy world. Whoever she's singing to in BAR has fallen victim to this.
 
The title of the song echoes the idea of the Great American Novel, which a long time ago was something that authors would try to write, but now is generally used ironically as a put down about somebody who is writing a book that will never see the light of day, but who, in their own mind, is going to write "the greatest American book on American culture which could ever be written". The "You did it all for fame" is the icing on the put down cake - not only are you wasting your life, "you're not even doing it in the name of art, but just to get from all of those girls in the audience, what you could be getting from me at home". In that way, it's an extension of her put down for the guys in Video Games/Blue Jeans - she's asking them "why are you getting lost in fantasy when I'm right here?" 

Not sure whether we should be doing this here or in Lanalysis instead, but whatever...

Sorry guys, I'm with @@longtimeman on this. I think this is primarily a song about Barrie (and kind of a harsh one, maybe even unfair). Let's break it down:

"My baby used to dance underneath my architecture"
Barrie was not only living in the shadow of her metaphoric architecture, her career and fame as @Lona Delery noted, but he was living with her under her roof, probably on her dime, in her fancy houses. Literally under her architecture. (@bummersummer made a similar point above.) And he's the only significant musician other she had during her post-fame period where she was rich enough to live in fancy houses.

"Houses of the Holy"
See @@longtimeman's post about that.

"He was cool as heck"
Potentially a callback to "Yeah, my boyfriend's pretty cool/But he's not as cool as me" in "Brooklyn Baby", a Barrie song, and perhaps "Shades of Cool". The repetition of the line almost seems to emphasize this.

"But you were so obsessed with writing the next best American record
But there was nothing left by the time we got to bed"
This is consistent with the picture she painted of Barrie in interviews and "Is This Happiness" (@SissyReed alluded to this) as someone focused on their art, more than she, perhaps to the detriment of everything else. (Ha, I'm amused just thinking about how blasphemous the idea of neglecting Lana in the boudoir probably seems to most of her fanbase.)

"How does that taste cumming out"
As @Sjp1988 suggested, perhaps a sly reference to Barrie being the origin of her saying "My pussy tastes like Pepsi-cola"?

"You did it all for fame
Baby, how's life treating you now
It's over"
Alleging that he did it all for fame seems harsh, perhaps a little unfair (and projecting to some degree), but Barrie did quit Kassidy to move to LA and pursue a solo career and live with his famous significant other. No part of that worked out.

"He was '70s in spirit, '90s in his frame of mind"
Definitely describes Barrie well, as he's heavily influenced by classic rock and Nirvana.

"Baby, how you feeling now
That I told you
We're through"
Lana was the one that broke things off. (Although it's questionable if she actually did tell him or just ghosted.)

"All the roads lead to you
Like the 405 I drive through
Everynight and everyday"
Not dispositive, but suggestive of her time living in California post-fame which points towards Barrie. Also, if taken semi-literally Barrie continued to live in LA for a time after they broke up.

"I see you for who you really are
Why the thousands of girls
Love the way Bill plays guitar"
Barrie is an accomplished guitarist. And "thousands of girls" instead of millions is fitting for Barrie/Kassidy.
 
OK, now to deal with some of the Barrie counter-arguments:
 
As @Vonn pointed out, she never says the person actually achieved fame.
 
I really don't think I could buy a producer theory for this song unless the line was "You were so obsessed with making the next best American record", but the line is "writing".

I think Mertens is too much of an artistic polymath to fit this. I don't see him having a single-minded focus on music, let alone "writing the next best American record".
 
Absent a specific candidate-- like Jimmy Gnecco, Lady Gaga, Chuck-- I'm inclined to believe that names she likes to reuse like Ray, Bill, Salvatore are just that: names she likes to reuse. Just because she likes the names. (I'm not even sure all her Jim mentions refer to Jimmy Gnecco, though perhaps Jim Morrison.) That said, like K, they could be invented pet names that do refer to a specific person. (I think there's a good possibility Ray at least began as a name for Arthur Lynn.)

I do think there is a case here for this being about Arthur. I'm sure he's into Led Zeppelin. The "American" part fits better. Based on his website and old Instagram posts I'm sure he's a studio rat. But this really seems like it's about a more recent relationship, post-fame, and overall screams Barrie to me.
 
And wouldn't it be a little too on the nose to put Barrie's name in the song? (Or Arthur's?) I'm not sure Lana would be as quick to namedrop in song these days as she was when she tossed off "Jimmy Gnecco" and "So Legit". This might be a deliberate way to obscure.
 
I don't think some of the lyrics really fit the theory that it's about herself. But I am sympathetic to this theory in the sense that there's some amount of projection going on here.
 
Mmm... I think people are making too much of this. Barrie moved to the US and (I think?) recorded his album in the US, has a lot of American musical influences, and stayed in LA for awhile after they broke up trying to get his solo career going. Plus consider Lana's comments at the Brits suggesting she really didn't think of herself as an "international" artist because she lived in the UK while recording BTD there. Never underestimate Lana logic.
 
Really? I'm not necessarily convinced all those songs are exclusively about one guy or about a specific guy, let alone the same guy. You know, back in 2011, 2012 when she was saying stuff to that effect in interviews she wasn't consistent. One interview she'd say they were mostly about one guy, the next she'd say two guys. Taken with other interview comments she's made about songs written about past lovers becoming about the person you're with now, I think Lanalysis is inherently a fool's game (that I nonetheless enjoy playing).
 
           

This is the only theory I will accept.

This is the casual "no shade" shaming that causes half of 12-30 year old women to pick up disordered eating habits, but ok! No hate.

y'all trying to figure out the drop date
 

perhaps Lana is like me and has anxiety issues.
like someone messages me. I get anxiety about how to reply. I leave the message to deal with it later. And low and behold 2 months pass.
And the thought of having to message back after such an amount of time is just overwhelming. So you just leave it at that.
 
you know in relation to the whole Woodkid thing.

I dont think anyone needs to keep in touch with racist homophobes like AB
 
I think the rest might just be due to lana and her anxieties, accidentally messing things up because she's worried and lets it get the better of her she's not a bitch even if she does some things 'wrong'

I'm getting huge Cat Power vibes and I definitely agree with Hanging Around, for me the best are really the verses but the beat in the chorus balances it all it's a really beautiful track. I can see how the album's shaping up and I'm absolutely here for it

The 405 is a road in LA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(California)

I don't think I've been this excited for an album since Ultraviolence.
 
"Love" was okay to me but this new song has me so excited. It reminds me of AKA.

Wow! Just saw the video and the smile on my face is a mile wide... THANK YOU :) 

"I’m one of the very few who kept his picture up.  I’m the only one of his women that stayed his woman [in the way that I did it].  For the past 40 years, I became an Aquarian nun; I haven’t been with any other man–that means I’ve been celibate.  And in great joy, and it was my choice; it wasn’t hard.  It’s just, I was still connected with him.  I have been working with him."
http://www.monsterfresh.com/2013/12/04/isis-aquarian-interview-source-family/
 
"We had a very strong understanding, and he had me by the nape of the neck and I knew I wasn't done. I remained his wife, and I became, it wasn't on purpose – but I became what they call, an Aquarian nun."
http://realitysandwich.com/139810/isis_aquarian_father_yod/
 
 
- Isis Aquarian on Father Yod
 
 
 

What does this picture remind you of?
 

 
 
 

I considered this too. The thing that made all of this seem plausible is that since Isis started to release all this information, there has been a resurgence of fans and followers in the hipster and artist community. In the main post I reference Isis' book description from Amazon that lists Rick Rubin as a recent devotee or at least a fan of the Source Family, citing them as inspiration and even dressing and looking like Father Yod. Rick of course collaborated with Lana before on Paradise. I would bet Lana is well aware of the cult and how it has influenced LA culture. Whether or not she used it as inspiration is what I'm interested in. There are definitely some connections here, and I don't necessarily think they are 100% solid but they are interesting to discuss nonetheless.