Norman Fucking Rockwell - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[American Whore 51,314]

 

is one more appropriate than the other? lmao

 

Disabilities aren't chosen and drug addictions start from a choice. 

[violets 11,896]

"do you want me or do you not..." 

 

"i like to see everything in neon..."

[electra 20,644]

Disabilities aren't chosen and drug addictions start from a choice. 

i don’t think that means it’s okay to make fun of one over the other lmao

[American Whore 51,314]

i don’t think that means it’s okay to make fun of one over the other lmao

 

jokes are jokes, anyway lol in such a pc world i know someone will get butthurt about it anyway so 

 

i'm just clarifying tho

[electra 20,644]

jokes are jokes, anyway lol in such a pc world i know someone will get butthurt about it anyway so

 

i'm just clarifying tho

i feel like i’ve not read a comment like this since i was fourteen lmao

[GeminiLanaFan 49,031]

I think you're wrong about it. The outro instrumental is really interesting and if you're not listening, you might not notice those things. If you dislike Cruel World, you'd prolly dislike this song. But CW was one of those songs that NEEDED an extended electric guitar (and maybe a little mellotron or synth, the way VB has those spacey, UFO sounds)

 

In a way, it's got a bit of a progressive sound to it, which is what i've been dying for Lana to do. I really want more like it. A ten minute track, who else in a "pop" world could do it like she did? Nobody..... which makes this track more special. I get that some people don't enjoy longer songs, and that's totally fair, but I definitely think she did it well for a ten minute track.

 

Plus, all the greats have at least one long track like that that are well executed. Bowie, Elton, etc etc

Amen!!! Preach!!!

Easily in my top 5 songs from her. I loved it since day one and I still listen to it weekly. It transcends me. She never fitted more in the alternative category than with this one. It’s soaring, gorgeous, trippy, beachy, so Cali, vintage- sounding. I sometimes wonder if we had not heard it before the album was released how mindfucked we would all be. It’s a masterpiece.

[drugsdesire 9,868]

why does the majority dislike tnbar? i find myself really enjoying it and I actually really like what she did w this version. and love song too??? it’s always so low on everyones rankings and my feelings get so hurt because the second I heard the first snippet of it I knew this was gonna be one of my favorite songs and that’s still true lol. anyways heres my two cents.

 

1. hiab/tg/tnbar

2. love song

3. venice bitch

4. fiily/nfr

5. bartender

6. cinnamon girl

7. california

8. doin time

9. mac

10. hope

this whole album is a MASTERPIECE and I rlly hate ranking it (you could probably tell) but this is as best as I can do so

[xlanax 1,425]

why does the majority dislike tnbar? i find myself really enjoying it and I actually really like what she did w this version. and love song too??? it’s always so low on everyones rankings and my feelings get so hurt because the second I heard the first snippet of it I knew this was gonna be one of my favorite songs and that’s still true lol. anyways heres my two cents.

 

1. hiab/tg/tnbar

2. love song

3. venice bitch

4. fiily/nfr

5. bartender

6. cinnamon girl

7. california

8. doin time

9. mac

10. hope

this whole album is a MASTERPIECE and I rlly hate ranking it (you could probably tell) but this is as best as I can do so

I personally dislike TNBAR because the demo is so superior and it really doesnt fit sonically with the rest of the record. It's clearly a Lust For Life outtake. The demo is a great track on its own.. but this new version in the context of the album is just a filler track and it breaks its flow. Admitelly TNBAR Is the only nitpick I have with this record.

[Off To The Races 2010 demo pls 19,335]

Lana sounds like she couldn't sleep well while recording TNBAR demo tbh. I agree the original lyrics are way better but the final version is more enjoyable.

 

Also, the title track is BEAUTIFUL

[Dark Angel 202,191]

i have to give tnbar credit for finally getting me into the demo version, before that, i tried so hard to like it but i just couldn't, but now i love it. however i definitely prefer the demo, it feels so strange listening to the album version with the different lyrics, it feels out of place. 

[June Gloom 1,787]

reminder that Hope is still a masterpiece and has been all this time

[Veinsineon 76,793]

Reminder that hope is a pre-mature snoozefest

[Thunder Revenant 20,943]

I think you're wrong about it. The outro instrumental is really interesting and if you're not listening, you might not notice those things. If you dislike Cruel World, you'd prolly dislike this song. But CW was one of those songs that NEEDED an extended electric guitar (and maybe a little mellotron or synth, the way VB has those spacey, UFO sounds)

 

In a way, it's got a bit of a progressive sound to it, which is what i've been dying for Lana to do. I really want more like it. A ten minute track, who else in a "pop" world could do it like she did? Nobody..... which makes this track more special. I get that some people don't enjoy longer songs, and that's totally fair, but I definitely think she did it well for a ten minute track.

 

Plus, all the greats have at least one long track like that that are well executed. Bowie, Elton, etc etc

Just because it's long does not mean it's good. Most long songs actually have an interesting sort of progression, VB just goes on and on without any kind of of development. They just add up this and that, another weird synth and some off-key "AaaaAAAAHhs", but there is nothing that really gives it an organic structure, nothing that "leads" the listener through VB. No interesting long guitar solo, no actual buil up, no transformation. The song just goes on and on and neither the instrumental nor her vocals would be anything more than "okay" even if it was shorter.

I really love long tracks and I listen to a lot of artists whose repertoire includes 6 - 8 minute songs. But a song being long for the sake of it is just not it. And just cause "she did that" and because "other great artists did it" doesn't mean it's good. Long songs have to be well executed and VB just really fails at that point.

[Make me your Dream Life 87,789]

The production really salvages the track. her vocals sound faintly enchanting at the forefront of the verses, and the chorus is sung longingly, but still reluctantly, so my guess is that the driving emotion of the track sorta resembles a faint "oh hey ur back" when someone ends up seeing someone they love but tries playing it cool bc they're not over them yet. Or like a "i've seen this before, how are we gonna mess things up this time?" 

the ad libs are like, lazy "don't u remember? 's" and even if she sings them, she doesn't believe them herself, which can be connected to the lack of energy in her singing. better that, but it's actually just stiffness bc she doesn't know how to process. so in a way, although as much as she likes being the venice bitch, something in her's already knocking that something's off. 

the acoustic guitar sorta drives the track's sad but wise vibe. - do I get carried away again? 
the synths remind me of brain waves. - chaotic, conflicted 
the strings/ woodwinds express the loftiness of her dreaming - this is what could be, but will it hold? 
electric guitars - static

that accumulates to the conflict of the song, where the drum beat, guitars and her vocals clash around 2:10 to 2:40. and then dissipates around 3:15. she releases her fist clench. 

it almost seems like taunting around the 3:40 to the beautiful's 

sonar/ sub synths at ~ 5 min mark - tension. did he go for it? - 6 min. mark  til 7 min. they're goin at it again, same feeling til like 8:30. synths calm down. 

she's found her footing. track ends. 


For me, I'd say that's a TRIP. 

[Creyk 11,699]

I always feel like people go extra hard for Hope because they recognize that it's a bad song and so they get protective and want to show love for it even more, because if not them, who will? It's like sticking up for the bullied kid in school.

[mrborntolose 9,967]

I always feel like people go extra hard for Hope because they recognize that it's a bad song and so they get protective and want to show love for it even more, because if not them, who will? It's like sticking up for the bullied kid in school.

i genuinely find the song unique and beautiful and enjoy it

[Rorman Nockwell 56,707]

I don't think Hope's a bad song; it just has no replay value. Which some people think makes it a bad song.

[slang 1,532]

Eeeh gaaad, the rating thing again.

Y'all know this is just my opinion (and that I'm not Fantano), right?

 

top tier: NFR, VB, TNBAR, FIILY (masterpieces)

 

mid tier: HTD, HIADT, BT, C, MAC (near masterpieces)

 

lower tier: CG, HIAB, DT, LS, TG (just plain good)

 

For those commenting on the lack of bridges, the TNBAR lack of enthusiasm is strange. It has a classic LDR bridge and I think the lyrics are generally superior to the demo. E.g., the "Topanga's hot ..." lyric especially gives me the feels.  If she were going for a folk-album-like vibe, there could be fewer bridges for that reason, but when I went looking for evidence that folk music employs bridges less often than other genres, the only thing I could find is:

 

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/eugene_chadbourne_307768

 

which at least supports the idea that there is a negative correlation.

[TrashMagiq 58,573]

I always feel like people go extra hard for Hope because they recognize that it's a bad song and so they get protective and want to show love for it even more, because if not them, who will? It's like sticking up for the bullied kid in school.

 

u are incorrect

[Thunder Revenant 20,943]

I always feel like people go extra hard for Hope because they recognize that it's a bad song and so they get protective and want to show love for it even more, because if not them, who will? It's like sticking up for the bullied kid in school.

Or maybe liking or not liking is a song is something subjective and just cause the way you critic songs seldomly goes beyond "this is shit" and "this is lit", that does not mean people have to "stick up" for a track to justify why it may probably not be "shit".