Sorry, this is going to be a long one lol bear with me here.....
So I was watching a documentary about this hippie cult in the 70s in LA called the Source Family. While watching I couldn't help but be slapped in the face with how well it fit in with Ultraviolence. I was connecting dots like a motherfucking pro. I recommend watching it to see what I mean (it's on Netflix USA), or you could read these reviews here to get the gist:..
Basically Jim Baker was a very handsome, very charismatic, but notoriously violent man that ran away from his wife and child to LA and founded this cult as Father Yod and had many beautiful young men and women join him to live in "peace, love, drugs and rock and roll". He was popular within Hollywood and was very rich and even robbed banks to fund his vegan restaurant, psychedelic band and his "family"..."He basically turned Sex Drugs and Roll and Roll into a religion" is a quote (paraphrasing) from the film. Kinda sounds like the same church Lana would subscribe to...
From the doc, the first things that popped out at me were:
1) "He used to call me DN that stood for Deadly Nightshade" sounds just like the people in the documentary talking about their hippie names and what they were called in the commune. Names like Galaxy, Orbit, Harvest Moon, Sunflower etc...
2) All the references to violence, hitting, etc fit with Jim Baker's history of violence, although I don't know if he was inclined to hit women...
3) Quite obviously.... "You're my cult leader" = Father Yod
4) The way she's talking about her Jim in the song is nearly identical to former members of the Source describing what it was like to be around their Jim, saying it was like they felt like they were kids again with him being their really cool rich foster dad who smoked a lot of drugs and lived a hedonistic and open lifestyle. The conditions they lived in despite the cult having lots of money, was near squalor with people living in cubby holes and in some instances being denied medical attention and treatment as it went against their beliefs. A child even reportedly died after being denied treatment for an infection. Jim was very strict with all of his commandments despite all the love he had for his "children". He even broke his own commandment of one woman for every one man when he decided to be polygamous and his original cult wife Ah-Om (aka Robin) said she felt as if he "had skinned her alive" when he took 13 wives. His treatment of Robin was very poor but even now she speaks highly of him and that her love for him took on an otherworldly dimension that was out of her control and listening to her talk about him is very similar to how Lana sings about her Jim in UV.
I think the inspiration from the Source Family could also bleed into the rest of the album, lending to the Southern California psychedelic surf twang throughout, even referencing the polygamy that was going on in SoC:
"And when he calls. He calls for me and not for you"
and what Father Yod was all about:..
"He prays for love, he prays for peace.And maybe someone new"
There might be connections in other songs, I'm still slowly working my way through the album and to be honest I still have the first 5 songs on repeat, so I'm not as familiar with the rest of the album. Oh and I know it probably doesn't mean anything but they reference taking "Black Beauties" in the movie about 10 minutes in.
And with this recent instagram selfie with Chuck with the caption "Sister Wives" the Source just fits a little too well:
http://instagram.com/p/pF6jVgiZvj/
Not only is Sister Wives a polygamy term, they're even dressed like Father Yod's wives. In fact I'd say Lana's really leaning towards a 70s flower child look this era, wouldn't you? Oh and not to mention... Yod/Jim fits Lana's Daddy type to a tee. Heck they even called him that! (lol Barrie and his beard actually look like a member of the cult tbh)
Some pictures....
I don't think all songs are necessarily related to the Source but I think Lana may have been heavily influenced by them along with Jim Morrison, Kurt, Chet Baker, Jim Jones, Jim Beam, etc, and from her own life. Especially since the documentary came out in 2012 when she probably would have started to conceive what her next album would be.
I also believe that she took influence from her own experience with Atlantic Group and how she relates that to the 70s cult experience. To be honest, sometimes I feel like Lana writes songs like she's posting to Tumblr or Pintrest or some shit. Just name checking all the things that influence her and weaving a story around them. Like she's writing her own fan fiction through songs. Actually I still think all the songs written around "Every Man Gets His Wish" are about Lana's life as if it were blended with the movie True Romance. She even took a picture of her and Mike M. compared to Clarence and Alabama so clearly she is identifying with the Character there. It's basically her own blend of reality and fanfiction. But that's a post for another thread lol...
Anyway before I go on and on, because I could with all these "connections" I found in this doc...Has anyone else seen The Source and what are your thoughts on this?
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