I Talk to Jesus

[HeadBitch 6,791]

Incredible song and it leaked perfectly right on time during my short stay at the old apartment I had lived a year ago in another country. Nostalgia never hit me so hard. 

 

Otherwise, the moment I heard the "Christmas lights" line, I immediately thought of these pictures (which I always thought that they are from the place that she lived/stayed at in Alabama, although I have zero receipts to prove this, just my personal intuition.)

 

[slang 1,532]

Overthinking it again:

 

I like the song; it's a grower for me, but a hard song to interpret, as in confusing. Why would she ask Jesus to take her out of her life (there) when she, in fact, left (there). So I distribute the lyrics over the two characters to make a typical Lana-emo epic out of it. The verses are the LDR-character while the chorus and bridge are the male. Is this a common interpretation? The male character is probably dead, which would make the chorus ironic and prophetic. The bridge, with its clear references to hurting (e.g. "black and blue"), could make a different kind of sense, as in an abuse theme, and an additional (undisclosed) reason for leaving him. It would have been great if this song were at the end of UV (after TOW) to make the ITTJ guy seem the same as the Cruel World guy. Sure it's fucked up that she refers to it as "true love" in the song, but I think part of the point of UV (album and song) was a comparison of abusive relationships to addictive (and ultimately destroying) drugs, so that line might have fit logically/aesthetically as a delusional perspective of the character.

[Ebola 2,366]

 

Overthinking it again:

 

I like the song; it's a grower for me, but a hard song to interpret, as in confusing. Why would she ask Jesus to take her out of her life (there) when she, in fact, left (there). So I distribute the lyrics over the two characters to make a typical Lana-emo epic out of it. The verses are the LDR-character while the chorus and bridge are the male. Is this a common interpretation? The male character is probably dead, which would make the chorus ironic and prophetic. The bridge, with its clear references to hurting (e.g. "black and blue"), could make a different kind of sense, as in an abuse theme, and an additional (undisclosed) reason for leaving him. It would have been great if this song were at the end of UV (after TOW) to make the ITTJ guy seem the same as the Cruel World guy. Sure it's fucked up that she refers to it as "true love" in the song, but I think part of the point of UV (album and song) was a comparison of abusive relationships to addictive (and ultimately destroying) drugs, so that line might have fit logically/aesthetically as a delusional perspective of the character.

 

 

i think she wants jesus to take her out of "this" life (fame, hollywood, etc.) and back to alabama, as in she regrets ever leaving

[Bettie Page 2,139]

is this a newer song that got leaked? 

i absolutely love it 

[99centlips 8,526]

 

Overthinking it again:

 

I like the song; it's a grower for me, but a hard song to interpret, as in confusing. Why would she ask Jesus to take her out of her life (there) when she, in fact, left (there). So I distribute the lyrics over the two characters to make a typical Lana-emo epic out of it. The verses are the LDR-character while the chorus and bridge are the male. Is this a common interpretation? The male character is probably dead, which would make the chorus ironic and prophetic. The bridge, with its clear references to hurting (e.g. "black and blue"), could make a different kind of sense, as in an abuse theme, and an additional (undisclosed) reason for leaving him. It would have been great if this song were at the end of UV (after TOW) to make the ITTJ guy seem the same as the Cruel World guy. Sure it's fucked up that she refers to it as "true love" in the song, but I think part of the point of UV (album and song) was a comparison of abusive relationships to addictive (and ultimately destroying) drugs, so that line might have fit logically/aesthetically as a delusional perspective of the character.

i’ve been listening to this song non stop for the past few days and i’ve come to the conclusion that it’s suicidal...she’s asking Jesus to take her life and “save” her.

 

i think the mention of the past relationship is just her romanticizing the past.

 

this song really gives us an idea of where she was in 2014 imo. she was writing these suicidal songs and her label just wasn’t having it. so she started again and worked with dan.

is this a newer song that got leaked?

i absolutely love it

it was 2014 UV sessions

[slang 1,532]

i think she wants jesus to take her out of "this" life (fame, hollywood, etc.) and back to alabama, as in she regrets ever leaving

 

 

i’ve been listening to this song non stop for the past few days and i’ve come to the conclusion that it’s suicidal...she’s asking Jesus to take her life and “save” her.

 

i think the mention of the past relationship is just her romanticizing the past.

 

this song really gives us an idea of where she was in 2014 imo. she was writing these suicidal songs and her label just wasn’t having it. so she started again and worked with dan.

 

it was 2014 UV sessions

 

Well I can't say you're wrong. But in the interpretation you prefer/accept, she sings about a dissatisfied present, which leaves me unsatisfied as a faux critic -- because I'd rather she'd sing about sadness in the present. Instead she sings about how bad it is in Alabama (and the first stanza is a tad ambiguous--What the fuck happened here? Which here? Which life?).  Everything has changed for the worse in Alabama. The male is still probably dead, and still (probably) the only zealous Christian in the song, though, perhaps he is shallow--i.e., pretends to be married and cherry-picks from the bible. Maybe if "Jesus is my boyfriend" leaks, we'll get more of a clue of which way she's going.

[ivy 1,693]

Why would she ask Jesus to take her out of her life (there) when she, in fact, left (there). 

 

I didn't necessarily interpret it that way, but it's interesting nonetheless.

 

To me it seems that she went to Alabama in a desperate attempt to find happiness, as she is unhappy with her current life and she used to be happy there. She's looking for something that connects her to a sense of happiness and she can't find it. It makes me sad, because I can imagine the intense desperation: her looking around her and realising that there's nothing there anymore that reminds her of those happier times: the trailer parks, the Christmas lights, but also her old boyfriend - who "introduced" her to Jesus, they have all gone. 

 

However, by "talking to Jesus" she is looking to connect with her former boyfriend again (and therefore to her old happy past) by saying "I ask Jesus to take me out of this life baby". The word baby seems to indicate that she's talking to the boyfriend, which gives the whole thing another sense of desperation. 

 

Ultimately, I don't think it's about suicide, but more about: I used to live a happy life, "I fucked up (I know that), but Jesus" and I'm unhappy, and I want to live a happy life again. Something like that idk lol

[slang 1,532]

I didn't necessarily interpret it that way, but it's interesting nonetheless.

 

To me it seems that she went to Alabama in a desperate attempt to find happiness, as she is unhappy with her current life and she used to be happy there. She's looking for something that connects her to a sense of happiness and she can't find it. It makes me sad, because I can imagine the intense desperation: her looking around her and realising that there's nothing there anymore that reminds her of those happier times: the trailer parks, the Christmas lights, but also her old boyfriend - who "introduced" her to Jesus, they have all gone. 

 

However, by "talking to Jesus" she is looking to connect with her former boyfriend again (and therefore to her old happy past) by saying "I ask Jesus to take me out of this life baby". The word baby seems to indicate that she's talking to the boyfriend, which gives the whole thing another sense of desperation. 

 

Ultimately, I don't think it's about suicide, but more about: I used to live a happy life, "I fucked up (I know that), but Jesus" and I'm unhappy, and I want to live a happy life again. Something like that idk lol

Regardless of how her character feels in the present, something made her leave in the past. That other thing would have been interesting to sing about, imo, so maybe I think she's doing it in a sneaky way. Also, "Baby" is one of those things that made me think she might have been remembering words spoken to her by her (older?) BF in the past (and that boyfriend's happiness, other than might have been caused by being with her, is unclear to me). Anyway, I don't think she  strives to have songs with super *clear* meanings, at least when it may refer to her personal life. So as you said: idk/lol. 

[Ebola 2,366]

Well I can't say you're wrong. But in the interpretation you prefer/accept, she sings about a dissatisfied present, which leaves me unsatisfied as a faux critic -- because I'd rather she'd sing about sadness in the present. Instead she sings about how bad it is in Alabama (and the first stanza is a tad ambiguous--What the fuck happened here? Which here? Which life?).  Everything has changed for the worse in Alabama. The male is still probably dead, and still (probably) the only zealous Christian in the song, though, perhaps he is shallow--i.e., pretends to be married and cherry-picks from the bible. Maybe if "Jesus is my boyfriend" leaks, we'll get more of a clue of which way she's going.

this song seems very emotionally charged and personal to her, and also comes from a very specific mental place. she probably didn’t release it bc of how conflicting and complicated it is and also it’s not very relatable/palatable, but it’s definitely a treat to listen to

[DCooper 37,087]

Regardless of how her character feels in the present, something made her leave in the past. 

 

The pursuit of fame is what made her leave in the past. She was happy and living a simple life in Alabama with her boyfriend who taught her about Jesus, but then she fucked up by leaving Alabama to "become someone." Now she's succeeded but she's unhappy and wants to return to the simple life in Alabama, but when she goes there none of the things she loved are there anymore, so she asks Jesus to save her and return her to a happy life.

[ivy 1,693]

Regardless of how her character feels in the present, something made her leave in the past. That other thing would have been interesting to sing about, imo, so maybe I think she's doing it in a sneaky way. Also, "Baby" is one of those things that made me think she might have been remembering words spoken to her by her (older?) BF in the past (and that boyfriend's happiness, other than might have been caused by being with her, is unclear to me). Anyway, I don't think she  strives to have songs with super *clear* meanings, at least when it may refer to her personal life. So as you said: idk/lol. 

 

The thing that made her leave in the past... Doesn't she address it in the song? 

 

We had a deal and

I fucked up when

I made the decision to become someone

We had the one thing that no one ever had

True love

It's true love

 

It makes me think that the reason she left was because she wanted "to become someone".

 

Also, I like the idea of the flipped perspective, because it makes sense in other parts of the song where the other person experiences the world as black and blue (which is similar to the person she's singing about in Black Beauty):

 

I never meant to hurt you baby

It's so hard to be true

In this world where everything's so black and blue

 

But I agree, it's not easy deciphering her lyrics! lol

[ivy 1,693]

On a personal note: I'm kind of over this whole "I am miserable, I hate fame" theme. She's been going on and on about it on almost every album so far and it's just kind of predictable at this point. Like, we get it. Not criticising how she feels, because I'm in no position to do so, and I do hope that she learns how to deal with it. But hopefully she'll find inspiration to sing about other things as well. It'd be a nice change.

[slang 1,532]

OK, I'm not saying anybody's right or wrong, just showing how I prefer to process her stuff.

 

The pursuit of fame is what made her leave in the past. She was happy and living a simple life in Alabama with her boyfriend who taught her about Jesus, but then she fucked up by leaving Alabama to "become someone." Now she's succeeded but she's unhappy and wants to return to the simple life in Alabama, but when she goes there none of the things she loved are there anymore, so she asks Jesus to save her and return her to a happy life.

 

Yes, she does address it in the song, but just enough for you to think: my gawd, she's talking about herself: L. D. Fucking R.! But what she didn't do was address how she came to the decision, and what if anything her boyfriend thought about it.

 

On a personal note: I'm kind of over this whole "I am miserable, I hate fame" theme. She's been going on and on about it on almost every album so far and it's just kind of predictable at this point. Like, we get it. Not criticising how she feels, because I'm in no position to do so, and I do hope that she learns how to deal with it. But hopefully she'll find inspiration to sing about other things as well. It'd be a nice change.

I believe she struggles with some stuff, but I believe she basically likes her fame inasmuch as it allows her to advance in her profession. I mean artists struggle with a lot stuff, and sometimes it ends cataclysmically. I can't really understand that, but I do think she's a stable genius (no diss intended), and basically likes the opportunities life presents. She could opt to become less famous by doing harder-to-sell, less popular stuff, I guess.

[glitch diva 2,915]

Something just snapped in me. Here in my country, there are some versions of the Bible that has the things Jesus spoke written in red.

[WhiteHydrangea 4,216]

i want jesus to take me out of this life baby

i talk to Jesus and ask him if he'll think of saving me

[Elle 121,758]

For all the ITTJ stans out there lol -

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRq7k9hc/

[The Siren 30,524]

1 minute ago, Elle said:

For all the ITTJ stans out there lol -

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRq7k9hc/

She's one of us ?

[Alison by Slowdive 26,150]

i love u ittj. Hottest depressed Christian bb there ever was

[bluechemtrails 27,004]

The bridge reminds me a little bit of that from "Living Legend".

 

Her relationship to religion seems to be very close

Quote

Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn's my mother
Jesus is my bestest friend

 

She is also currently wearing a necklace with a little diamond cross which she got from XIV Karats.

 

 

[YourGirl666 13,252]

The whole NFR could never