Phenomena

In the song Ol man river, the river is again a personified reference to the Mississippi river. It is not a person but a metaphor for the passage of time. That despite anything that is going on, time is objective, it has a continuous flow, an unwavering direction (rivers only flow in one direction, there is never a reverse). Ol man river then can be an intertextual reference to this song yes, but more likely to the metaphor of the uncaring passage of time. For Lana, she is yearning to return to a time before ("Do you think if I go blonde, we could get our old love back?"), but she recognizing that time is irreversible despite the desires of a person or the climate of a time. The song I would argue, isn't her clamoring for a love of a person but for her relationship with time:
 
"blue" not only being her favorite color but the color associated with water, reinforcing that the "lover" of this song is not a person but time.
Again, throughout the song we see this reference with time. From the title "text book" the physical place where the passage of time and important events are recorded. But again, in the pre-chorus where she sings:


Here we see again metaphorical references to water and time. First, that water is the first place of reflection, (pre-mirrors, it is where Narcissus discovered himself), she is seeing her reflection in the water of the river of time. Writing against the perception perhaps that she is "racist" and against the reception of her "question for the culture" post, "you know I'm not that girl, you know I'll never be". The water reflects the ideals that she truly holds but also because the passage of time makes all things clear. Then the "we were screaming Black Lives Matter" here the "we" is a collective "we" those who stand up for black lives matter, itself a historically significant event; so while the perception is that she is racist or tone-deaf might be the popular thought, but that in her reflection unconscious, she (and time) know that to be untrue.
Then there are numerous references to dance, and bodies of water in their movement are described as dances. So again, doing a dance with time, negotiating her place in the space of history or in the text book so to speak.
Then she talks about previous relationships and being betrayed by the men she's met before, but then she meets the "man" of the song (i.e. ol man river) and she no longer has to consider why, that perhaps with the perspective of time, relationships become useful in how they lead to development of the personality. Of her into a more independent woman with complex ideas and a complex relationship with herself and time.

some of you are committed to misunderstanding/mis-innerstanding her, and sure you can, but why do you stay around ? 
textbook (to me) is clearly one expressing a lot of vulnerability; equally one to provoke journalists, who ALSO create the narrative of labeling her as a ‘glamorous’ woman who sings about fake abuse/fake daddy issues (which those of us know is not true) 
the song to me read as a whole “she’s back to singing about daddy, lana is back at complaining about daddy, she has daddy/father issues, wah the thunder bird she likes OLD MEN, only privileged men drive old cars” 
it’s clear the me the line “let’s rewrite history, i’ll do this dance with you, you know i’m not that girl, you know i’ll never be’” is a SLIGHT jab. at least that is how i took it. so the journalist of the past who like extrapolating she is a fake sad girl or only likes a certain type of man has always been bullshit. she knows it. she just wrote how things WERE. and NOW she is writing how her life is NOW. she’s surrounded by girlfriends, she is at Black Lives Matter shouting into the crowd (which everyone was shouting in LA as it was a painful event & one where the collective wanted to help be there in a small way) 
i do not see how it could be offensive other than extrapolating her small line into something it is not. something white male journalists have done since 2013. 

I'm not bothered by the BLM line either. It could have been cringey, totally awkward or misplaced, but it fits in well. It's not stressed too too much in a way that comes across as virtue signaling. 
 
And 'Old Man River' is an American standard from the 20s musical 'Showboat,' and, in the play, is sung by a Black slave, Joe, and made famous by the great Paul Robeson. So there is a definite but subtle statement and a parallel between the BLM shout out and Old Man River. 
 
How anyone who closely follows or Stans LDR can think she's a racist witch is beyond me, much less a Karen. People who don't follow media closely today have only themselves to blame for being led around by all kinds of untrue and dishonest 'fake news.'  Because you have to follow news and media closely today. You have to distrust every site, every source until you've investigated and thoroughly used your intelligence. Not that LDR hasn't brought some of her troubles down upon her own head with apparently drunken interviews that go nowhere for 30 minutes or Question to the Culture post. 

I really don't think it was added as a throwaway lyric, it fits perfectly. She's been through a brutal year where a bunch of idiots who know nothing about her have called her a racist, a Karen, a Trump supporter, etc., and obviously none of that is true. The lyric is sincere and places the song in a very specific and challenging time. She's solidifying the fact that that's who she is, and then brings it back to the theme of the song by wishing her father was with her, and reflecting on the disconnect on the lives they live. 
 
Not to mention the fact that Lana fans will be singing along to the song forever now. Having people repeat "black lives matter" even if it's just in a song is a lot more powerful than people who post on social media and then do nothing beyond that to support a cause. People dragging her for that will drag her for anything.

this song is kinda a maze to interpret
one minute she’s talking about her dad, then i think she’s talking about sean, and then this line, 
 
“people say we’re too much alike” 
 
reminds me of barrie 

Do you think if I go blonde we could get our old love back? - The reason blonde Lana was so defensive and crazy in 2020 was because she was literally In the middle of trying to rekindle her relationship while being publicly bashed by the general population  literally 2014 all over again 

My analysis:
 
 
So, it is important to note this song is about her parents and a new lover (not sure if it's about Sean or her current boyfriend, but that's kind of irrelevant anyway). The very first 4 verses could be directed to either Rob or her lover; if it's about Rob, then she's telling him it seemed obvious that a father would defend her daughter of all danger (even if it's against her mother, as she reveals in "Wildflower Wildfire"). The texbook line means she knows the meaning of a father and thought her own would follow the rule, but apparently he did not. The Brentwood line could be a reference to her childhood; going shopping with her father in Brentwood, she felt happy and secure and thought her father would be like that forever. If these lines are rather about her new lover, then she's meaning she's a textbook example of a woman with daddy issues, looking to fill the parental void she has with a man similar to her own dad.
 
And then there was the issue of her... first mention of her mother. It's so interesting to see Lana mentioning anything related to her self-esteem; "I didn't even like myself". It hurts to know she felt that way. "The issue of her" means her mother was obviously the problem, the negative aspect in this situation. And there was her father, "standind blue", i.e. sad/depressed, but still open-armed for her daughter. Detriment means moral damage... "most of the friends" could mean her friends at boarding school, as they all shared one similar story: their parents sent her to boarding school.
 
 
So this is the first clear mention of her new lover who's apparently similar to her father, as they even have the same car (a Ford Thunderbird). She wants to rewrite history -- positive change in the world -- and his story, i.e. her father's story, as she doesn't want to end up mad like her mother. She'll never be that girl and they both realize they're different; they have different stories and life perspectives; she's got injuries he does not. My take on the infamous Black Lives Matter line is that he gave her courage to get out of her own mind and realize there are things going on around her. He gave her strength to get up and let all her rage in the streets, doing good, fighting for justice and finally ignoring her pain for a moment. He can see what kind of woman she is, now that she's smiling and shouting instead of crying and constantly thinking of negative stuff. She's so proud of it she wishes her father could see her and her lover, both strong and standing up for what's good, and this is exactly how she wishes her parents were. She's screaming for both, society (black people) and her parents.
 
 
The dance could be a metaphor to simply do things right; in order to do a dance you have to follow a series of steps. It seems like she actually tried to have some conversation with them, but it didn't work. The going blonde line is her asking them if they'd accept her if she went "back to her roots", if she did things their way... In "Patent Leather Do-Over", Lana writes about going blonde to leave darkness behind (as her long hair is obviously hanging towards her back) and also not to end up like her other blonde women... her mother is blonde. There's a rather long silence between "love back" and "I guess", meaning there wasn't any decent answer from her... so it's really the end for them. She never felt jealous about her mother, but now she does as her father decides to stay with her instead of Lana.
 
 
She's similar to her mother, at least physically, and people always let her know that, which obviously wasn't a nice thing to hear for her. So she wants to make a change, she wants to do things right unlike her mother, she wants to have a stable, beautiful relationship where she's able to be soft instead of full of rage like her mother. Now she has a man who she knows is good and honest, unlike her past exes, and she's so calm she doesn't have to waste time asking why these bad things (her exes "sticking a knife in her back") happened to her.
 
 
The chorus is repeated and then this outro, referencing "Old Man River" which I guess everyone knows it's a song about the African-American community and the old man river is the Mississippi River. Life keeps going, with or without her father.

queen of not aging, that first picture literally looks like it could be from 2014

queen of not aging, that first picture literally looks like it could be from 2014

queen of not aging, that first picture literally looks like it could be from 2014

Regarding Lana being Cuban... I don't know why it's so hard for Lana fans to accept the fact that Lana is an Artist and uses her 'Artistic License' in writing most of her lyrics. Do you really think she was a prostitute in Nevada or that she burned a house down, or that she murdered her boyfriend and stuck him in a trunk? Just because she sings "He's crazy y Cubano como yo" does not mean that she's Cuban, it means she is using Artistic License to tell a story that's not even necessarily about herself.
 
Not everything she writes is autobiographical nor does it have to be. She even said in Prom Song that she likes to "make up stories about my life and put on very cherry balm" but even that could be a part of the story for all we know. Like Lana's tat says: "Trust No One" ...Even Ms. Del Rey herself.
 
It reminds me of when I started listening to Tori Amos at a young age and I didn't connect the fact that Tori was telling a story with her lyrics and that she didn't actually experience certain things she described in her songs. I was just too young to grasp the concept at the age of 11 that someone would make up stories and sing about them.
 
For example: Me and a Gun vs Professional Widow or Mr. Zebra. Me and a Gun is based on her real life experience being raped at knife point (Even Tori used her Artistic License to change details in a real story for the benefit of the song), where Professional Widow is about having power over a man and convincing him to commit suicide through his addiction. Mr. Zebra is about a woman poisoning a man through food. Both the last two songs I mentioned are notoriously known for potentially being written from the perspective of Courtney Love killing Kurt Cobain, though Tori has never confirmed or denied it. (Tori and Kurt were friends way back when). Again, Artistic License. Tori didn't actually poison someone or convince them to OD.
 
Tori is also really awesome at describing almost every song she has written and telling fans what it's really about or how she came up with certain lyrics. There's whole websites devoted to Tori's song meanings and what she has said about each one. Love her for that! I only wish Lana did the same instead of being so cryptic, but that's part of what makes her so enigmatic. 

Being competitive towards another woman isnt misogynistic what in the world lmao. just bc ur competing with another girl doesnt mean you see women inferior to men or that you hate women, has nothing to do with gender politics    what if a lesbian was competitive with a girl to appease the girl she wanted. its more about self empowerment and getting what u want 

He's still wrong. She's given several updated comments about identifying with feminism. The clarification in V Magazine in 2015 and here:
 
https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-a-conversation-with-lana-del-rey/
 
I believe there were others around the NFR release. Someone correct him.

I'm so over his ego.

I wouldn't say those songs are misogynistic, but I def think she has some internalized misogyny. Maybe the reason why she has victim-blamed herself before is because she's so used to be put in that victim situation (I'm thinking similarly to the comic book hero saving the girl, some rando saving the princess)

this whole debacle has really got me thinking about her past two records. i'm thinking that maybe lana wasn't being truly authentic, she felt like she had to play it safe. i do think lana could make an album for her fans, or an album about happiness and her journey to find it, while still remaining as brutally honest and raw like we all know she can be. i feel like some songs, such as cherry, in my feelings, heroin, and california have some sense of raw honesty and risktaking, but there is a good chunk of songs that are very tame. it's like as if lana doesn't feel like she's allowed to be vulnerable, angry, submissive, sexual, whatever it is she wants to express. it's really sad that she felt like she had to change her style of writing and self expression because people are so harsh. hopefully this is a sign she is not going to hold anything back. her ability to be unapologetically raw, honest, and even scandalous is what makes her unique. 
 
and can i take a second to rant about how many people are making jokes about what her music is about and how people perceive her. i've seen SO many comments talking about how lana only sings about sugar daddies and drugs which anyone who actually listens to her music knows that isn't even true. i even see this coming from stans, and i hate how even people who are FANS take the songs that have gotten me through hard times and made me feel understood, and boil it down to old men and cocaine. and this is exactly what she is complaining about in her post, this girl couldn't be submissive or vulnerable without people saying she was anti-women and romantizing abuse. i understand that she may come off as codependant, and passive, but she should have every right to express how she feels.

I think some people just want an excuse to hate her and some people want to have someone to critisize for saying something imperfect that doesnt fit in with their agenda. (Not talking about anyone here.)

.... how is "shes not me" misogynistic? Do you think Arianas song break up with your gf is misogynistic ? have u heard some of Cardi's lyrics lmao. just bc u act competitive with another woman doesnt mean ur misogynistic smh 

Exactly. And Lana faced harsh criticism since day 1. There was a point where nobody, absolutely nobody but her then-not-so-big fanbase supported her. January 2012 was a nightmare for her psychologically.
 
She still believed in her art and kept going, even if people judged her for every single thing she did. And you can't deny 90% of those reviews and commentaries were sexist. The industry was more anti-feminist towards LDR than LDR's music supposedly was.

Having the opportunity to have a sleepless night and really re-think about the whole situation and everything that unfolded yesterday was not the best experience. Nevertheless, I think it was somewhat eye-opening. 
 
I still feel as though that the wording was very, veeery, poor and there was absolutely no need for Lana to namedrop any of these successful female artists to make a point, as it actually made it look like she was victimizing herself and that was frankly insensitive to the hardships any and all of the women she mentioned actually went and are still going through. It made her come across as selfish, insensitive and to a certain extent quite ignorant on other important issues.
 
But, getting passed the first paragraph, I feel like the rest of her letter is actually spot on. She specifically called out female indie writers in her post for the way they treated her and are still treating her today, in regards to the her lyricism and her so called "submissive" image/persona. I don't know if many of you guys have been around since 2011-12, but what she said hit close to the bone to me. Back in those days, these same indie writers they legit made a sport out of hating Lana and making up stories about her to further their narrative that she was this dumb, self-destructive, inauthentic industry plant. Which I think Lana still hasn't let go, regardless of the recent critical acclaim she has received over 'NFR!'. She clearly has harnessed strong resentment towards this specific group of people.
 
It all definitely came out wrong, but I feel like it comes from a place of personal frustration of being apart of the industry, as it's the first time she actually directly alluded to the whole thing.
 
Still, I wish Lana had a PR person, this is way too messy even by her so called standards.
 
 
And that was my last post on the topic, I've already lost/pissed off enough LanaBoards acquaintances as is. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

this is just a mess. i made a comment in unpopular opinions but ill kinda talk about it again in here. im scared for her, she seems deeply hurt and very mad. i dont want to deny her the right of expressing her feelings but theres truly so many better ways she couldve went around this. but if someone wants to clear this up for me, im just still confused why she needed to almost act and then once again in her clarification act like she went through the worst (while those girls all went through major criticisms)? meanwhile lana at her latest was being PRAISED for NFR... i thought that was her own artistic growth which she would proud of, not her doing what the critics wanted? why dwell on the past and give it that much of your energy? and if ur so upset about not charting and getting #1's (which i assumed she wasnt) which she felt the need herself to point out about those girls getting, like others have suggested, PROMOTE YOURSELF AND YOUR MUSIC! THATS WHAT THEY DO TO GET TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS!
 
i am directly split in the middle with this, i have made many comments being understanding of her and defending her but this is something i really feel off about.

I really do agree that people trying to make it directly a racist comment are reaching.
 
And I agree with your interpretation of what she was trying to say. But...
 
1. It was poorly worded. It takes a very kind reading to not get the impression that she's painting herself in a very poetic light compared to her descriptions of the other artists. Not my biggest grievance with her letter, but it is quite poorly worded. 
 
2. It skips over the part where litterally all female artist are criticized for their sexuality or held to double standards at some point. That doesn't mean that they should stay quiet about it, but it's really is tonedeaf of Lana to single herself out as different from those female artists. Especially because....
 
3. Lana has been quite succesful and reached critical acclaim in spite of her critics. She keeps peddling the "woe is me, media hates me" narrative when NFR was one of the most acclaimed albums of 2019. I'm not saying she can't still be justifiably mad about her earlier critics, but she needs to acknowledge her succes at least a little in order to not come off as spoiled. SO many other artists never reach her level of fame or are able to have the kind of artistic freedom she has, and it's not unreasonable to say that less privileged female artists' careers wouldn't have survived the backlash she recieved at first. She doesn't have to apologize for being white or coming from an affluent background but to paint herself as more silenced and distraught than her peers is just... tonedeaf.
 
So yes her point stands, but I see plenty of things wrong with the execution. It takes a very kind reading not to.  And we all know Twitter don't do kind readings

CAN WE STOP TO FORCE A RACISM DEBATE HERE? It was obviously not intended that way, she even commented on it again. And just because WOC are among the women she named, this does not automatically make it racism.
 
Whenever you bring up a POC, the chances that this person experienced racism is as high as woman experiencing misogynie and homosexuals experiencing homophobia. That in itself is terrible. But that does not mean that bringing up a POC/woman/gay in any context that may not be 100% positive is necessarily racist/misogynist/homophobic.
 
You can blame her for assuming that other female singers do not get shit for their art. That was really self centered, especially for a rich white woman in America. She should not have mentioned these other women.
 
It's still stupid to try and make this about racism.

Honestly, she posted her feelings and that's how she genuinely felt. She was going to be dragged for posting anything on the subject, unless she wrote a 12 page article, explaining the history of women in music, black women in music, how the type of music she's making is actually quite close to the kind of music black women create, then going into how each of those black women have also been dragged from the start of the careers for making that kind of music. Then explaining the misgivings of feminism, how now mainstream music supports music that is considered sex positive and empowering. Now Lana sometimes makes music that white feminists consider regressive and damaging (because it is not necessarily sex positive), but it's the reverse side of the same coin. She is being dragged because she was not articulate in voicing her concern which was all women artists should be able to create art that reflects their genuine experience. Her mistake was being genuine and writing from her heart. While I do not think she was being racist, I think she should have reread her post and been like hmmm, this is 6 women of color and Ariana Grande, maybe I should elaborate more on what I mean here.
 
The fact that men are often left out of this conversation, and allowed to succeed, even though there are many male artists who create music that glamorizes victimizing women is also glaring. These men are actors who perpetuate violence, while Lana writes about being in love with men, and staying with abusive men (which is a harsh reality of abusive relationships), she writes about something out of her control, where these men write about being in control.... We allow men to create, but women have to fight and are often put against each other.