radian

^ Agreed on both points. Lemonade actually works perfectly here, as it may not make literal sense but it works in relation to the "tears of gold" lyric before it, plus it's evocative of summertime and youth, tying it to the earlier lyric, "reminded me of when we were kids".
 
On another note, one thing that always confused me was the "like I was poison ivy" lyric, because there's a little vocal tic in there that throws it off a tad. After listening more closely I've come to the conclusion that the multi-tracked vocals say two different things. The main vocal says "like I was poison ivy", as we all hear, but I'm almost certain the secondary vocal says, "that guy was poison ivy". Give it another listen, once you notice it, it's pretty clear. I could be wrong but, I dunno, I don't think so. Sorry if this was already discovered and discussed btw, if so I didn't see it.

Yeah, I do think it's about him too (the cult leader). I guess what I'm saying is the song uses a toxic relationship as an allegory for alcohol/drug abuse. She does this a lot it seems; there was even the time she said she sometimes uses names as stand-ins for alcohol in her songs.

I agree with this. From the first time I heard UV I felt it was about going clean after being a user. Pretty much all the lyrics support the theory. Going clean can be a hard process (violent), but when she was using it felt like true love because she was drunk/high ("Jim raised me up, he hurt me but it felt like true love"). But it was ultimately bad for her, ("Jim taught me that loving him was never enough"). I could go further but I don't want to scare everyone off being a new member lol. I will say that I think the spoken portion towards the end, ("We could go back to New York", etc) could be read as her fantasizing about leaving fame behind and going back into anonymity (as much as she possibly could anyway), to start using again. Not that she would, of course, but I'm sure given how rocky fame has been for her the idea has crossed her mind.

I agree with this. From the first time I heard UV I felt it was about going clean after being a user. Pretty much all the lyrics support the theory. Going clean can be a hard process (violent), but when she was using it felt like true love because she was drunk/high ("Jim raised me up, he hurt me but it felt like true love"). But it was ultimately bad for her, ("Jim taught me that loving him was never enough"). I could go further but I don't want to scare everyone off being a new member lol. I will say that I think the spoken portion towards the end, ("We could go back to New York", etc) could be read as her fantasizing about leaving fame behind and going back into anonymity (as much as she possibly could anyway), to start using again. Not that she would, of course, but I'm sure given how rocky fame has been for her the idea has crossed her mind.

I agree with this. From the first time I heard UV I felt it was about going clean after being a user. Pretty much all the lyrics support the theory. Going clean can be a hard process (violent), but when she was using it felt like true love because she was drunk/high ("Jim raised me up, he hurt me but it felt like true love"). But it was ultimately bad for her, ("Jim taught me that loving him was never enough"). I could go further but I don't want to scare everyone off being a new member lol. I will say that I think the spoken portion towards the end, ("We could go back to New York", etc) could be read as her fantasizing about leaving fame behind and going back into anonymity (as much as she possibly could anyway), to start using again. Not that she would, of course, but I'm sure given how rocky fame has been for her the idea has crossed her mind.

Yeah, I do think it's about him too (the cult leader). I guess what I'm saying is the song uses a toxic relationship as an allegory for alcohol/drug abuse. She does this a lot it seems; there was even the time she said she sometimes uses names as stand-ins for alcohol in her songs.

I agree with this. From the first time I heard UV I felt it was about going clean after being a user. Pretty much all the lyrics support the theory. Going clean can be a hard process (violent), but when she was using it felt like true love because she was drunk/high ("Jim raised me up, he hurt me but it felt like true love"). But it was ultimately bad for her, ("Jim taught me that loving him was never enough"). I could go further but I don't want to scare everyone off being a new member lol. I will say that I think the spoken portion towards the end, ("We could go back to New York", etc) could be read as her fantasizing about leaving fame behind and going back into anonymity (as much as she possibly could anyway), to start using again. Not that she would, of course, but I'm sure given how rocky fame has been for her the idea has crossed her mind.

Sirens > AKA

Yeah, I do think it's about him too (the cult leader). I guess what I'm saying is the song uses a toxic relationship as an allegory for alcohol/drug abuse. She does this a lot it seems; there was even the time she said she sometimes uses names as stand-ins for alcohol in her songs.

First I have to say the thing that drew me to Lana in the first place was her voice. Although it's not a hard fast rule, when it comes to my taste in music if I don't dig your voice I'm not sticking around, no matter how good the production is. Lana's voice, just the depth and richness of it, is the biggest reason I love her. But as I listened to her music more and more I realized just how much I connected to the lyrics. I too am a recovering addict (my signature is facetious), and I feel her songs address this issue in a very clever, unique, but honest, way. Along with that is a weakness for dangerous men, feeling dedicated to others who aren't to me, getting myself into dangerous situations. I also have a love of vintage, antiquity, particularly the 60's and 70's. Ever since I was a child and first became aware of the past I've been obsessed with it. Angel Forever mentioned above that they feel like they missed out on something when looking at the past, and I feel that way too. Lana clearly has a true reverence for the past that she expresses beautifully in her lyrics. The last "biggie" in regards to how I relate to Lana is that I feel I've had a lot of obstacles to overcome throughout my life, a lot of hardship. And there are lots of little things. I love Brooklyn, I really love California and the ocean, I know how it is to not really have a "home" and make one for yourself as best you can through others. I like to think if I ever met her we would click but another way we're similar is moodiness so maybe not lol. Not that that would happen anyway but you get what I'm saying.

I agree that listening to her music is like hearing a story. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm the person in the story, because I had a pretty quiet life when I was in high school so its fun to imagine getting in to trouble and all that (not that I would change how my real life turned out - I like being good).
 
I don't relate to the dependent relationships she talks about or the drugs. Some certain lines of her love songs I can relate to. I adore most of the music videos from the BTD era as well and I love making my own up in my head for her songs or for other peoples' songs but with her in them. I particularly liked the UV album trailer and I'm sad the rest of the era doesn't have that same west-coasty super surf vibe to it.
 
I do relate a lot to how she presents herself as a celebrity. I'd love to be a singer, and I imagine if I became one I'd be pretty similar to her - being real reserved on stage, always meeting with fans, etc. Even down to the dresses she wears; it all seems like something I'd do if I were a celebrity. But I'm not and at the moment I don't plan on pursing it, so I'm content with dreaming.
 
Finally, I totally get the feeling of missing out on something that was never really there to begin with. I also understand her when she says feminism is boring (not that it isn't important) and she'd rather learn about space or whatever. I get how she's obsessed with death and paradise and what comes after - the undertones of religion that run throughout her songs really, really stand out to me and are my favorite parts of her music.

What kind of ignorance. Britney became popular when Madonna was on her third or fourth peak. Music, Don't Tell Me, Hung Up, 4 Minutes were all WW #1 hit singles in the 00's and all of those albums were really successfull, especially Music and Confessions on a Dance Floor and yes, Madonna is still making a cultural impact today other than many artists that were considered as her replacement at a time when people said "she's over". Madonna has surpassed all of them and is still producing hit singles (not in the US but everywhere else). GMAYL was basically her first flop lead single since AL.
 
Britney's time is up. She hasn't done anything that was really innovative in pop music...seriously. She built her career on what Madonna and other artists have done before. Her producers and song writers were doing the most.
 

Yes, GAR is under appreciated.

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!!

My money's on a bunch of dangling white grapes she eats one by one while relaxing on a lavish chaise.
 
Sidenote: I wonder if the heavy focus on her lips during the orange eating scene is supposed to be a big fuck you to critics who used them against her as proof she was "phony". I mean, they're really out there on display and covered in juice and being handled by dude's fingers. Seems kind of pointed if you ask me.

My money's on a bunch of dangling white grapes she eats one by one while relaxing on a lavish chaise.
 
Sidenote: I wonder if the heavy focus on her lips during the orange eating scene is supposed to be a big fuck you to critics who used them against her as proof she was "phony". I mean, they're really out there on display and covered in juice and being handled by dude's fingers. Seems kind of pointed if you ask me.

Wow, a lot of people really hate this one, don't they? I think it's pretty great; probably my favorite of the UV videos so far. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of the song, and shooting it on the down low on an iphone gives it a vaguely dangerous vibe that also makes it feel independent and unique among stars of her caliber. She looks great and is charismatic, and even funny at times. There's a general air of mysteriousness pervading the whole thing that makes me want to watch it over and over. I don't find it boring at all. If anything it's much more interesting than big, melodramatic, plot-heavy video would've been. For me anyway.

Wow, a lot of people really hate this one, don't they? I think it's pretty great; probably my favorite of the UV videos so far. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of the song, and shooting it on the down low on an iphone gives it a vaguely dangerous vibe that also makes it feel independent and unique among stars of her caliber. She looks great and is charismatic, and even funny at times. There's a general air of mysteriousness pervading the whole thing that makes me want to watch it over and over. I don't find it boring at all. If anything it's much more interesting than big, melodramatic, plot-heavy video would've been. For me anyway.

I agree that the video is pretty hard to swallow but if you look at it from a more insightful point of view, the things it's trying to show are pretty clear. Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language.
First, the quality. I've seen people commenting that the video was boring and poorly made. The video was meant to represent "abusive relationships" as a whole. It is a video anyone could have done with his or her Iphone. That is the idea. These things happen. They are real. The persons commenting thought it was "boring" because they failed to see the videos' primary purpose was not to entertain. It was to tell a story of our immediate reality. The video was meant to be meanigful to everyone that took it as more than pretty images that played next to a song.
Next, the orange. I am honestly baffled nobody seemed to get this. Oranges are citrus, which in turn are known to be SOUR. Even so depending on your tastes, you might find the orange SWEET. Eh, see the connection?
What in reality can represent a bad, "sour" thing, was percieved as sweet by the girl an abusive relationship. Violence was love.
Finally, people complaining that the video was just Lana walking. It was a psyhical and emotional trip. The girl looks back, tries to hide, is unsure of herself, does romantic gestures to make sure she is still loved, stops, but in the end keeps hoing.
Her outfit and poise are not glamorous because there is rarely glamour in these things, never, from an outside perspective.

Yes! You understand!  If it had been done like this Paradise would be literally perfect (and swapping for AKA Yayo). 
 
Oh and to clarify, the reason I brought it up in the first place is because I wanted them to be on there AND be singles. I still want them, but I don't really see it happening because I think she is moving a different direction musically and they just wouldn't fit (and they certainly would have with the Paradise theme). I have a fan-made single cover from when she was filming Tropico (with the blue shirt and high socks, etc.) that would have worked for the single art for AFFA. And honestly, had she done those two songs, especially AFFA for the end, I think it would have been a good transition into the west-coast-based UV era.   Like I always imagine the video for AFFA would be people riding motorcycles through the desert heading out west to start a new life (aka starting UV era).
 
So yeah I guess I change my answer to AFFA/Hollywood. Mainly because I want these songs live and to have a chance at getting videos for them. 

Yeah, I do think it's about him too (the cult leader). I guess what I'm saying is the song uses a toxic relationship as an allegory for alcohol/drug abuse. She does this a lot it seems; there was even the time she said she sometimes uses names as stand-ins for alcohol in her songs.

Just wanna go on record and say I fully support this. I've never cared for American while I love Hollywood, and AFFA would work wonderfully as an album closer, not to mention flow nicely from Bel Air. Counting Burning Desire (which could be mixed in somewhere else, maybe after BV), that would make 10 tracks and Paradise could've been it's own album.

Sirens > AKA

Exactly!!

As a side note, since its being brought up so much, Hollywood and AFFA should have been on Paradise (though I realize they were written afterwards). They fit too beautifully. Hollywood in place of American and AFFA at the end. But I put this in another thread that's more relevant. 
 
Back to the topic, I'm thinking Television Heaven actually. I think the instrumental should be tweaked around some to sound more finished. Actually I don't care, I just want to open up the possibility of her singing it live one day.