Starsx

Even though I agree that Lana is nowhere near an "Indie artist" status and I always facepalm when fans are talking about her being "jazz-like" (because doing some non-completely-pop-things borrowed from jazz music won't make you become a jazz singer), I also don't think she'll ever be a big popstar in the common sense (aka Terrible Swift, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears etc) and I agree that she should focus on putting out high quality music.
She will NEVER be a big promoter, especially now that she found some kind of "excuse" for not promoting by uploading some boring videos to instagram. I also don't really know if I want a pure pop album from her and if a Born To Die 2.0. would work out at this point.
Her performances are nice but not spectacular and I guess they only fascinate people who are already liking her music (and are capable of blending out hundreds of   teen girls and gay men annoyingly singing along).
So yeah, I can not see Lana being a pop star in the traditional way. She was too controversial in order to get the status of a "not as mainstream quality singer", like Adele, whose records are hyped without her having to put up with any effort anymore.
So yeah, I think Lana should put effort in creating a good album, because in the end her music will matter the most for her career, as she's not really doing anything else with it. Since BtD we never got any exciting single treatment anymore so the initial record has to be great.
HM sucked because even each song had a high quality, it seems like she didn't bother to do but one same sound (and tempo) for the same record. Both UV and BtD were exciting and, even though cohesive, diversive in terms of sound. She has to return to this album quality, no matter if she does it in a more pop-ish or more alternative way, the important thing is that she's DOING it.
Oh, and I think she could have chances to become a fashion icon again, now that her looks keep improving more and more. However, this means she has to do much more (fashion) covershoots and care more for her outfits constantly.

I agree with a lot of stuff you said but I disagree about Lana's popstar potential or that she wants to achieve that status in the future.
 
We all agree that Lana is an extremely good looking woman if she wants to be. So, she got the looks to be a popstar but little else I'm afraid.
 
I came at peace with one thing regarding Lana: she will always be a sub-par performer. And it's not about her inability to dance or to do elaborate movements on stage but it's the lack of emotional involvement, expressiveness and the inability to sing constantly at high levels. She seems sometimes as she doesn't want to be on stage or that she doesn't take very seriously her live presentation. She's the only artist that I know who doesn't do encores and her shows are notoriously short. We forgive her for this shortcomings because we like her records, her voice and we look up her on the net just to see her pretty face. But I can't envision Lana anymore as a confident performer who can please a varied audience with her show.
 
"I'm overly shy" and "I'm crippled on stage" cannot be accepted anymore as excuses at this stage of her career. She had all the time needed to change her game, to improve her live presentation. But sometimes I have the feeling that she isn't that interested in that. Halsey is talking about a huge show at Coachella and what exactly did Lana there? She came out in a simple floral dress, took selfies with the first line of fans and smoked on stage. And still it was a success because there was a lot of hardcore fans who sang her songs more forcefully than she did (at Glast and GovBall she just fell flat). 
 
I think that she came to the realization that she just doesn't have the abilities and the drive to be a true popstar. Moreover, she is still very divisive, if she would raise her profile again in the mainstream media she will be attacked again and she's afraid of that. 
 
The real problem is that she is not Nina Simone either as you said. Lana's carreer is suspended between popstardom expectations and quality singer status which she fails to achieve yet. Let's face it, she needs to work on the quality of her music because a lot of people (even fans) don't consider her music as "quality music" despite her soaring scores on metacritic. That is why I said that she needs to take her time with the next album: she needs to come out with a quality album. 
 
In line with what I said earlier, I think that it would be a huge mistake from her to come out with a commercial album. She will not promote it properly as I don't think that we'll see ever Lana on TV or doing big oscar, mtv type of shows. She is older now and she is naturally losing her appeal to teens who are the main staple of commercial success. Simply put it, Lana as a pop star was killed and buried under UV and HM, albums that seemed like were designed to diminish her appeal to the GP. She lost a lot of her charisma by her insistence on subjects like death and she came out sometimes as ungrateful for her success. Moreover, she lost the fashion icon status she build up in 2012 and she's practically out from the conscience of the GP as she eschewed the mainstream media in the last 3 years of her career. So I don't see anything in her behavior pointing in the direction that she wants to be again in the limelight and to be frank even if she wants it she cannot be a successful pop star anymore in my opinion. 
 
As a fan I hope for a quality album from her with interesting lyrics and invested singing and not a misguided attempt to popstardom.

Oh, and she needs to drop that "I'm a jazz singer now" -mentality. Like, nobody (or hardly anybody) is here for it. If I want to listen to jazz, I'll pick up some contemporary jazz records, not Lana Del Rey albums
where she just uses her laziness in lyricism for "jazz" Like zzzzzz-my fucking ass, bitch. Just because she is too lazy to come up with a proper lyric, she sings "aaaaaaa", "uuuuuuh" "ahaaaaaaaah".
 
No posts on Instagram will take away from the fact that this woman is for years constantly trolling her fanbase with lame excuses why she doesn't write as melodic songs like Video Games, Summertime Sadness and Blue Jeans anymore.
 
Enough of it. I don't wanna sit thorugh an album like Honeymüün again where is no excitement, no real hook, no anything except for cultivated boredom. We as a fanbase deserve way better than that. Without us, she wouldn't even be around.
 
She is a pop star. She signed up to be one. And she ain't no Nina Simone and will never be.
She needs to excite her fanbase and not let it rot away.

or he's in prison/death row #bringbackK

I want to compare Butterflies Part 2 with Money Power Glory. I think MPG is an evolution of the theme in Butterflies Part 2. An inversion, if you will.
 
"You're hot for God, but we all got a, Hunch that maybe you've gone astray. Control yourself, but it's so hard, When you can look so good on Sunday."   Right off the bat, we're talking about a religious man. He talks about God a lot, but everyone suspects he's not on the straight and narrow. Lana notes that he's trying not to give in, but it's just so tempting to look good on Sunday, when everyone sees him.   "I know he knows, That I know what he's thinkin', I know he knows That what he's doin' is wrong, But I just tell him "go on, Sing a sad song." "   She knows what he's doing, and he is aware of this. He is also aware that what he's doing is wrong, but Lana doesn't berate him, and just tells him to sing a sad song.   "My baby has an eye, For pretty things, pretty things. He thinks that little girls, Are butterflies and cuts their wings."   Well, here's his crime. He's a ladykiller. Hopefully he's not chasing after actual little girls and this is one of Lana's turns of phrases. Having sexual relationships outside of marriage is generally considered unacceptable in Christianity.   "Sicko, psycho, sicko, But he's my beau."   She knows he's a sick mofo, but he's her sick mofo. They're dating (or maybe she's okay with being "one of many," like in Shades of Cool?)   "Puts them on a rollercoaster, Lures them in with Coca-Cola!"   He uses sweet nothings to lock these girls into a crazy ride they can't get off of until he's done with them.   "Boy, you've been, catchin' butterflies, All the girls believe your lies, don't they?"   Just more on the girls = butterflies stuff, and him using lies to get these girls.   "Boy, you can pin, me up if you like, A pin-up in a lonely sky, baby. You give me butterflies, You're catchin' butterflies. I'm fluttering, fluttering high."   Insect collectors pin up dead butterflies to show their wings. Lana wouldn't mind being one of his conquests, one of his pinned butterflies, and sexualizes it by comparing herself, the pinned butterfly, to a pinup girl. She's unlike the other girls, hence the "lonely sky," because she went into this willingly. But she's just so in love~   "You're hard to trap but boy you got, A secret that you cannot betray. He likes it hot, you're burnin' up, But baby boy your secret is safe."   Nobody's been able to call him out yet, but he knows that it would ruin him if his sexy secret got out. Don't worry, Lana's got your back.   "I know he know, That what he's teachin' is wrong, But, honey, this preacher's song, Has got me too far-gone."   It seems he's using his influence as a preacher to get these girls to do him favors, which would be even worse than simply getting around. Lana doesn't care - she's too in love with him. Maybe "this preacher's song" is the same "sad song" she asked him to sing in the beginning, metaphorically.   "My baby has an eye, For girls who sing, girls who sing. He's lucky I'm the type, That's his thing, that's his thing."   He seems to like singers. He's lucky that the girl who fits his type is also someone willing to stand by his sick actions.   "Dresses up in rings and rollers, Poses as a Holy Roller!"   Looking good on Sunday while pretending to be possessed by religious fervor.   "These butterflies are in a, Golden cage, safe and bound."   Lana's saying nothing really bad happens to these girls. Alternately, she may be saying her own 'butterflies' are safely controlled by her.   "I puts on "Lola" by The Kinks, And he dances round. And he's so happy that his Feet don't even touch the ground. I'm in love 'cause I was lost, And now I'm finally found."   Lola is supposed to be a song about meeting a transvestite or something, not sure how it relates? It's probably just a song Lana likes. "Lost, but now I was found" she claimed in Born To Die. I guess he found her.   "You say that you wanna go To a land that's far away How are we supposed to get there With the way that we're living today? You talk lots about God Freedom comes from the call"   'A land that's far away' sounds like heaven. Lana counters that that's not going to happen with their current sinful lifestyle. He talks about how freedom comes from the "call," presumably the call of being chosen by God to spread his message or good word or whatever.   "But that's not what this bitch wants Not what I want at all. I want money, power and glory I want money and all your power, all your glory Hallelujah, I wanna take you for all that you got Hallelujah, I'm gonna take them for all that they got"   Lana is not interested in the call at all, and makes it clear that she wants money, as well as his power and glory. So he is powerful and glorious! Would it be a stretch to say he may even be a preacher? Lana mocks his religion by shouting hallelujah while declaring her intention to not only rob him of everything he has, but everyone else, as well.   "The sun also rises, On those who fail the call My life, it comprises, Of losses and wins and fails and falls"   She counters that failing the call is not the end of the world - you can continue after having fallen from your podium of holiness. And indeed, if your moral standards are too high, it's almost inevitable. Lana says her own life is full of failures, as well as wins, listing herself as an example of someone who failed the call.   "I can do it if you really, really like that I know what you really want, b-b-b-b-baby I can do it if you think you like that You should run, boy, run"   It's hard not to think of this line in a sexual context. She's offering to do something for him, but only if he's willing to admit that he really wants it. She teases him, saying that despite all his talk of God and the call and the far-away land, she knows what he really wants. 'Baby' makes it sound like they might be in some sort of relationship. Nevertheless, Lana doesn't particularly care for him and only wants his power and glory, and mentions that it would be a bad idea to actually take her up on her offer to "do it."   "Dope and diamonds, dope and diamonds, that's all that I want."  
Gimme them, gimme them dope and diamonds. Arthur Lynn is the guy in MPG confirmed. Just a Lana-ism about that money, power, glory.
 
So, in summary, what?
Butterflies Part 2 is about a powerful, religious man who, against his own religious code, uses his influence to get sexual favors from girls. Lana doesn't care about this because she's in love with him.
Money Power Glory is about a powerful, religious man who, against his own religious code, lives a sinful life with Lana. Lana doesn't care about this because she also fails his moral standards, and because she's using his influence to get money, power, and glory.
We went from a hypocritical, powerful religious figure using girls to a hypocritical, powerful religious figure being used by a girl. ~*eVoLuTiOn~*
 
Maybe the Butterflies Pt.2. guy dumped her or something. 

"Heavy metal love of mine, I should have learned to let you stay" 

TLY has been warming up to me ever since i heard the live version of it, honeymoon (the song) is still as stale and uneventful as ever

"When I'm down on my knees, you're how I pray"  
Religion is the best song from Honeymoon, hands down. There is nothing else on the album that compares 

i actually love guns and roses.

"Catch me if you can, working on my tan,
Dying by the hand of a foreign man happily"    I really hope Lana sings the perfection that is Salvatore live at one of the festivals 

I wonder if she looked into the mirror and said to herself: Oh wow, it took me 4 years to look like myself again.

I mean from this to this one and now we finally arrived

"Catch me if you can, working on my tan,
Dying by the hand of a foreign man happily"    I really hope Lana sings the perfection that is Salvatore live at one of the festivals 

"Catch me if you can, working on my tan,
Dying by the hand of a foreign man happily"    I really hope Lana sings the perfection that is Salvatore live at one of the festivals 

"Catch me if you can, working on my tan,
Dying by the hand of a foreign man happily"    I really hope Lana sings the perfection that is Salvatore live at one of the festivals 

Chuck needs to leave Lana's album covers alone.The Honeymoon album cover is all the proof I needed to see that Chuck doesn't know what in the hell she's doing!

okay it'd be nice to have the full video but I actually like that she's giving reasons why she made certain career choices which've been pissing her fans off for ages now.. it's not as good as having the video but at least we (sorta) have closure?? Idk

"Never put it out because nothing really happened in it"
 
I don't think she ever watched the released UV video if she's saying this about the gorgeous HM video

Was she on her phone while she pumped? Girl is on fire enough already, don't need no more sparks

I feel like she didn't realize you can switch between accounts on instagram so she got a @/honeymoon iphone 6s plus

This look is coming back to snatch us all!
 
QUEEEN
 
tbh, the tan makes her look tired. but screw that. she still looks amazing!

I knew she was a natural blonde but I never knew it was THAT blonde. It looks close to platinum. How was she always able to maintain that dark brown color for so long and never get caught with roots at that time? It must be tiring having to worry about roots all the time. Maybe little by little she will lighten her hair to a tone that's close to her natural color. It could be why she's letting her roots grow so long.
 
I like it red on her but I think she's attempting to go back to this color which looks lovely on her skin tone. I hope she doesn't go super platinum though.
 

 
The daily mail love posting images of her showing off her roots. From a previous article years ago.
 

Or a monologue

She's so adorable. What's the world coming to, my dream-girl seems to be single! From what I know, little golden boy Fran dumped Lana which is kind of a poetic justice after the way she dumped Barry's depressive and lazy ass. I hope that her life brightens up quickly because I couldn't handle another depressive album from her tbh (btw my fav song from LedZepp is How Many More Times)