Jeanne Dielman

I've been trying to decipher how Lana is going to tell her story and this is what I came up with:
 
Text Book, Blue Banisters and Arcadia operate as a form of introduction - a prologue to the story Lana wants to share with us. Text Book is not an accessible or particularly "welcoming" opener - it's lyrically dense and complex, and the overall mood it evokes is quite cerebral. The opening line is perfect: this is really her story and she (finally) feels strong enough to tell it. The closing line implies repetition; a dead end. Blue Banisters is about healing and memories. The ghost of a lover still haunts her because the pain he inflicted on her remains unbearable. But she finds comfort in the company of her family and friends who try to heal her wounds even though they probably fail. But they're always there for her. They "fly to her to paint, paint...". There's something hopeful in the song, but Lana has to live with this pain - it'll never go away. Arcadia is one of her most lyrically subversive songs. What seems like a cheeky allegory and an apparent love letter to California becomes a slyly scathing critique against America and the criticism she's received throughout the years. In a way, these three tracks seem to define her current state of mind: the disappointments of love; the unfair criticism; the search for a safe haven - both literally and figuratively - in the world. 
 
@Thunder made some great points about the three-act structure of the album. Dealer is one of Lana's angriest and rawest songs. Thunder is both celebratory and a portrayal of (emotional) stagnancy. Wildflower Wildfire has some of the darkest and most confessional words Lana has ever written, but she finally finds hope. "It's you from whom I learn." This seems to be another critical transitional moment in the album - we finally dive into old UV outtakes. What is their purpose in the narrative? There is a lot of nostalgia in these songs, particularly Nectar of the Gods which ends with Lana feeling lost again. Living Legend and especially Cherry Blossom are sweeter, warmer songs. The fact that the final track, Sweet Carolina, is co-written by the father she "wanted back" (and finally found him) and her sister is very important. I think this will be a very emotional and highly personal ballad. Perhaps nothing has really changed in Lana's life. As Blue Banisters says, this "hole"/pain hasn't been healed and probably never will be. But she's found the support she needs - her father, her siblings, her best friends, her fans, her own self. These are her banisters.
 
So what should we expect from those mysterious tracks in the middle of the album? Black Bathing Suit, Beautiful, Violets for Roses, If You Lie Down With Me...these are very beautiful (pun intended!) and romantic or even sultry/inviting titles. But would such a direction make sense sonically and lyrically? How do we end up with the anger in tracks 9-11? Are these songs about her past? Could the titles be misleading? Is she going to go from something potentially sexy (Black Bathing Suit/If You Lie Down With Me) and pure (Beautiful/Violets for Roses) to something as lyrically dark and angry as Dealer? Could these tracks hold the key to fully understanding Lana's intentions? The fact that insiders avoid talking about these - sure, they want to leave us something to be excited about lol! - makes me think that they may be quite revealing and intense. 

I don’t think Lana has any problem with NFR, when it got released, it seemed to be the album she was the most proud of and one of her most introspective ones at the time, with how much of her "daily life" was in it. The songwriting was different from her past works such as UV or HM because she was in a different place in her life, and had grown up and matured a lot. But I think that with the amazing reception the album got, Lana might have thought she was finally loved by the general public as a person, when in fact, what people loved was the album, not necessarily her. The general public never really liked her as a person. QFTC is what made her realise people loved her music, but still weren’t on the same boat as her. Chemtrails was her telling how she misses a life without fame and how much of a burden it can be, and also how important her family is to her when times get rough. And now with BB she’s about to tell the whole story. NFR was a statement, it’s where she was back then and where she probably still is in terms of her everyday life, but with Chemtrails and BB, we’re getting a larger picture of her past too, and the damage that the public not liking her as a person has brought.

It still feels surreal that she is releasing Thunder officially, and apparently it is reworked to become a career highlight. Now if she releases it as a single with a music video, it would be beyond perfect

I’m still hoping for a video for Blue Banisters, especially since she teased that clip of it.. if not, this will be her only album without a video for the title track! x

Something else that I think is gonna be prominent, and already is, in this album is gonna be the fact that NFR was her most critically acclaimed album yet (even if not directly). It's my favorite Lana album right now, but she basically said that it was somewhat pandering to the general public and that she knew people would like it. The fact that it was one of her safest albums lyrically and did amazing in terms of reception, whereas other albums that were more bold were trashed, seems to have really frustrated her. And then you have the fallout in spring-summer 2020 after being loved by the general public. The lyric "They built my up 300 feet tall just to tear me down" in Arcadia felt so telling and emotional to me, so I think there's gonna be more lyrics like that in the album as a whole.
 
Sorry for the essay lol. This has been on my mind since Wednesday and I just wanted to share 

I hope there's another video, but even if she really likes this record, I feel as if she's comfortable with this almost non-existent promotion + letting the music speak for itself kind of approach

yes! I love the moody, sparse bass- really sounds like an opening chapter, an invitation into the album 

I feel like BB is closing this arc of critical turbulence she's been caught in since NFR (both the initial good will she finally had and then losing much of it so soon after) and revisiting that similar turmoil at the beginning of her career with BTD, and I think she means very deliberately for this whole thing to be very profound and /final/ in a sense. Like, this is her processing her trauma of being Lana Del Rey, from start to end, from Video Games to Arcadia type of thing. 
 
So I would be very interested to see where she goes next. I think NFR-COCC-BB is comparable to her BTD-UV-HM run; an overarching era with some very distinct personal disposition that comes out in the content of each album, e.g. what she sings about and her style of storytelling, the imagery she uses etc. I expect the next album to be very very very different, perhaps less immediately intimate. 

I'm looking forward to comparing the themes in Text Book and Sweet Carolina. I always love seeing where the album starts and where it ends. And I know it was already mentioned, but the fact that she mentions looking for the father she wanted back in TB and then ends the album with a song co-written by Rob is just so sweet. This album feels like it's gonna be a journey through the past few years of Lana's life

Maybe I was onto somethin' with my "three act" theory....
 
In that post she said this record is about "what happened, what it was like, and where we are now." The three acts may not correspond to those three things exactly, but I do get a sense that the first act is about a search. A search whether it is for the father she wanted back, the man who promised her that he would come back to paint her banisters blue, or an escape to Arcadia. The second act, if I had to guess, would be songs firmly planted in the present. The final act, with songs such as Cherry Blossom, Living Legend, Wildflower Wildfire are more idealized/idyllic/maternal tracks that contrasts majorly from the first act, and the result of what she found from her search. 
 
Edit: she's not necessarily searching for the man in the title track, but the imagery of the flowers that were dry, the picture on the wall that shifts into very specific memories, reminds me of a digging up of the past

I actually think it's sort of funny how this whole thing played out because I organise my unreleased collection into multiple albums structured sonically, and on one of my unreleased albums I have a track run that goes Wild One, Nectar of the Gods, Cherry Blossom, Living Legend, Fine China. Imagine if this actually had ended up happening for Blue Banisters! My tracklist got pretty close though as Blue Banisters has a run of Nectar of the Gods, Living Legend, and Cherry Blossom, and I know at least Fine China was considered (don't remember about Wild One.) So, I predicted this pretty closely ages ago! Totally taking partial creds x

and I think it's interesting how the one song where we get insight into her relationship with her mother, Wildflower Wildfire, is in the same section of the record as Cherry Blossom, a very maternal and nurturing song, and Living Legend.This is going to be the deepest look into Lana as a person and what has made her the person she is today. 
 
You can't blacken the pages (her history) with Russian poetry and be happy....

Wait i'm crying at this  

I think it’s quite beautiful and poignant how Lana starts the album off “looking for the father [she] wanted back” and at the end of the album, seems to have found him (and written a song with him!) 

that's actually so cute must have been such a special moment for them  I imagine their joy when chuck found out she was pregnant, especially lana's!

I didn't think it would at first, but after listening to the first four tracks of the album, it's works surprisingly better than I expected. I still think that BB or WW would've been the better choice, but Text Book is actually a pretty good opener too. And it goes right into BB really well. 

Yes! To me, it’s perfect. It starts the album off on quite a simple but stark note with the line, “I guess you could call it text book....” - almost as if she’s prefacing everything she’ll discuss on this album, like this is my story that you’ve been skeptical of over the years, here’s what it really is and why it’s been polarizing - it’s a classic text book case but maybe that very fact is what you need to realize to understand me. Plus, sonically, I think it probably foreshadows the sound of this album (a perfect blend between something bluesy and something more piano-ballad-driven). 

sweet caroline is her best closen track so far... also, she recorded a little home video when Chuck was pregnant but idk if she will release it with the song 
 
I think Rob also played the piano on that song too... So emocional 

as much as i'm excited for black bathing suit, i think "beautiful" is quite intriguing. is it a ballad? probably. but i just wonder what that song could be about. the title is so vague, but i have a feeling that it might emotionally destroy me. 

Thunder can be a big alt/rock hit if it's pushed as a single. The melody is infectious and iconic. 
 
Anyway, I have to say that I am very impressed with Drew Erickson's very rich yet subtle production of Arcadia. I should have expected it because his work on Titanic Rising is gorgeous as well. This makes me even more excited for tracks 5-8. Didn't @lustforlife also tell us that there are choir/orchestra and rock elements in the album? And Chuck saying that Sweet Carolina always makes her cry...I think we're in for a ride. 
 
I knew that boz liked the new Thunder version because he tweeted lyrics of the song (and Cherry Blossom's as well) a couple of months ago. So I suppose it's the other 3 outtakes that he really doesn't care for. He said that he's not a fan of Dealer and I suppose Nectar of the Gods lacking a build-up - assuming it hasn't been reworked since 2013 at all - might have irked him too. I'm curious about Living Legend though because apparently that one is the other "old" track which underwent significant changes along with Thunder. 

Arcadia is so beautiful.
Finding my way to ya 

Lana's vocals now > Lana's vocals in 2011-2012. At least to me, she sounds a lot more in control of her voice now and I personally think it sounds better (and I think that if she went for certain vocal stylings now that she did then like MDM live vocals or even the baby voice, it would still sound better today than it did 10 years ago)

I get why she wanted to rename her the album after Arcadia: what an elaborate and intricately well-done track!!! I mean, to put together herself, Arcadia (both town and idealistic place from mythology) and America, it’s just ?!!! I mean, the alliteration from Arcadia / America / I need a miracle… and to put the contrast between America in decline and herself who is strong through her vulnerability  I bow to thee, my lyricist Queen. And musically,
geez 

She creates most hunting and beautiful melodies  “you’ll need a miracle, america”!!!! The way she sings “findin’ my way to ya” … I mean whole Arcadia.
 
these melodies are timeless!!! No one in this industry today can do it like her! Period! 

everytime u come on here u spill
i still am not over the trio interlude. it’s so perfect and really makes sense to me in the context of the album and where it’s placed