Honeymooner

I'm surprised no one included "Once Upon a Dream." Gotta have that one in there! It really showcases Lana's lower register and the haunting quality that few can pull off so well. Plus, Angelina Jolie hand-picked Lana to sing that song, so your friend should be able to see why.

One line in "Brooklyn Baby" sounds like she says "...and my Zaz collection rocks..." That's funny! Even better than my "Keep your server on", LOL...

I honestly don't really relate to the words in her music. I'm male and straight, so all the stuff about men and dependence is lost on me. And, being happily married, even turning it around and having it be about women instead of men wouldn't affect me. Not only that, but having never been into drugs or alcohol, I can't relate on that level, either. (And I wish she didn't smoke! LOL) I do like the concepts in the song "American," though. Where I DO relate is just in the fact that her music (both the lyrics and the instrumental) and her voice are simply beautiful. I love listening to my group of 17 songs over and over. The fact that I'm a classical musician has a lot to do with that, I'm sure. Only one of the songs in my collection from Ultraviolence follows that pattern, though (Old Money). Maybe I'm just a fan of chamber pop? But I've never been affected so much with a desire to want to meet an artist in person and just talk with them, as I have with Lana. This may sound crazy, but I think she and I are destined to be connected somehow. Not in a relationship, just... connected as friends, or something. There have been a lot of things that happened with her and with me at the same time, such as: January 2012 -- I started a new job AND moved into a new house; "Born To Die" was released. August 18 -- My birthday, and the day that Ultraviolence (the single) was released in the U.S. in 2014. June 21 -- The wedding anniversary of my favorite actress, Marina Sirtis (OK, that one's not directly about me); Lana's birthday. June 2010, my dad passed away; June 2014, Ultraviolence (the album) was released. And I figure that since Lana lives in LA and I live in San Diego, there's at least a slight chance that I'll get the chance to meet her. Of course, if she ever plays a concert in Southern California, I'm there!!

Uh... what's the demo? Got a link? When I first heard that there were different versions, I wasn't sure what was what. I hope I said it correctly! In what I referred to above as the "Studio" version, there is definitely an orchestral element to it. I could hear strings, piano, a variety of percussion (including timpani, bass, and snare drums), chimes, and French horns. One thing I like about the studio version is the bridge section ("Dear Lord, when I get to heaven..."). The intensity really builds up there, especially in the strings. I don't notice as much of a difference in Dan Heath's version.

I'm curious to know (hence the poll) which version of Young and Beautiful you all like better. As I understand it, the "Studio" version, sometimes referred to as the "Salon" version, is this one: Starts out with piano. For the musically inclined among us, the major chord progression that is repeated is G Major, A Major, B minor, D Major. Then, there's the "Orchestral" version, which is the one used for the music video: The chord progression is different: G Major, E minor, B minor, D Major I personally much prefer the Studio version. She has only ever performed that version live once, that I've been able to find, and it was actually the first time the song had EVER been performed live (in Luxembourg at the Rockhal): This version starts with the piano, just like the Studio version. Every other live performance I've seen has always been the orchestral version, granted without the orchestra. It starts with guitar, though, and uses the same chord progression as the Orchestral version.

Here's my LDR playlist. They're simply the songs I like, in the order I like (in album order). (from Born To Die) 1. Video Games 2. Blue Jeans 3. Dark Paradise 4. Summertime Sadness 5. Born To Die 6. Without You 7. Lucky Ones 8. National Anthem (from Paradise EP) 9. American 10. Body Electric 11. Blue Velvet (from Gatsby soundtrack) 12. Young and Beautiful (from Maleficent soundtrack) 13. Once Upon a Dream (from Ultraviolence) 14. Brooklyn Baby 15. West Coast 16. Old Money 17. Black Beauty Side note: The Born To Die tracks are in a different order than they are on the actual album. If it were up to me, Video Games would be the first track on the album, and then the others that I like would be in the order I listed them above, with the ones I don't particularly care for inserted in between somewhere...

Happy that the song will be released on my birthday.

National Anthem: I know what it's supposed to be, and perhaps it's the IT guy in me, but I keep hearing: "See what you've done to me / keep your server on"

I don't think she has ever used live backup singers. Most of her songs don't even have backing vocals, even on the album... it's usually just her. A few do, but since there are so few of them, it wouldn't make sense to have live backing vocalists just standing around doing nothing most of the time; easier to just use pre-recorded backing vocals. Lorde does the same thing -- many of her songs have backing vocals (which are all her), and they just play the pre-recorded background tracks when she performs live. She uses pre-recorded backing vocals there, though, not live singers. Or is that what you meant?

Lost in translation perhaps? Maybe they meant that she cried as in cried out in pain or yelped or something like that.

Yes indeed it is. And while I like Lana better (despite not having liked her for as long as Lorde), I wouldn't be a Lana fan if not for Lorde. (If you want to know why, see my introductory post.)

Oh, I thought you were just saying you were happy about them both being in the top 10. Being a fan of both, I don't mind either order... and I was a Lorde fan first, so it's OK with me that she's above Lana.

Right with ya! My 2 favorites in the top 10, yay!

Actually, I take that back... I HAD heard it, just didn't remember the name. Listening to it again now... OK, so Bel Air *could* easily be performed live. It's strings, percussion, and piano, all of which she has at every concert (except when it's a really small venue, then she usually just has piano and guitar, and maybe percussion).

I really don't see the instrumentation as being a problem. I haven't listened to Bel Air, but if it's the same type of thing as Lucky Ones, then it would be fine to play live. If you watch some of the live Video Games performances, you may notice the harp at the beginning, but there's no harp on the stage. There are also no backup singers on stage. I've often noticed a laptop sitting by the synthesizer player. Those will have some tracks going that may include instruments that aren't on the stage, and will also include backing vocals. If you've ever watched Lorde perform live, if you get a close-up on the stage, there's a laptop by the keyboardist. The laptop runs her background vocals along with other instruments. So, for Lana, in the case of something like Lucky Ones, the chimes, harp, and timpani could all be done through tracks. The chimes could even by played live by the synth player.

Oh cool! Never mind then...

I'm gonna guess perhaps Brooklyn Baby? She'll definitely perform West Coast... already has, actually. And she once sang a couple of verses of "Old Money" a capella, so I'm sure she'll perform that with full instrumentation later on (though it may sound different than the album, since the album version only has strings and piano). One thing about "Old Money," though, is that it's mostly in her lower vocal range. I've noticed that when she sings other songs live that are normally in her low range, she changes the pitches and goes higher instead. I think that's because, despite being amplified, there's so much other noise around from the band and the audience that she can't sing the low notes with enough volume to be heard. That's no fault of hers; it's just how it is when you sing in your low vocal register. It'll depend on the song, though; if it's a quiet one, like "Old Money" is, then perhaps she won't have any trouble.

She's trying to illustrate the effect that Lana's music has on her. She can feel Lana's need for love, sex, and whatever else. She's expressing that the intensity of the music and the words make her want to experience those things that Lana sings about.

Blue Jeans: "Love you more / than those pictures before" American: "Play house, put my favorite bird on"

The author isn't trying to say that she loves Lana despite being homosexual. What she's saying is that Lana's songs make her (the author) want to fall in love with the men that Lana talks about in her songs. The songs make the author want to, at least momentarily, be straight so that she can experience what Lana is experiencing.

I hope this is the right place for this... "Media" didn't seem appropriate, and I didn't see anywhere else that looked right, so here goes. Mods, please feel free to move it if need be. I ran across an interesting article. Despite what the title may make you think, it's a very good read! Written by a gay woman. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/31/lana-del-rey-makes-me-wish-i-were-straight.html

Thanks! Sorry, I'm still learning some of the ropes around here.

The instrumentation isn't that unusual. Percussion, harp, and strings. She always has a live string quartet on stage with her, so that wouldn't be a problem. The harp could be synthesized as it is for Video Games (sometimes you hear harp at the beginning; other times it's just piano), and the timpani rolls could be substituted with regular drums, or synthesized as well. It'd be fun to hear this one live!

Hey everyone, Does anyone know if Lana has ever performed "Lucky Ones" live? I like that song, but haven't found any indication that she has ever performed it live. It'd be interesting to hear how it's done. Thanks!

This was a song-specific question, so I thought it made more sense under the "Lyrics" subforum. Thanks for pointing me to that thread... I wasn't smart enough to notice the first time that there were 6 additional pages of the "Lyrics" subforum; I thought it was just one page and didn't see "Born To Die" in there. My mistake. However, that being said... ...the thread did exist, but it didn't answer my question, so I'm glad you answered it here. But now that I know the additional pages are there, I'll remember to look.