yayoop 4,596 Posted September 4, 2021 We randomly got onto the subject of political Lana songs over in the BB pre-release thread and I decided to actually make this thread to get to the bottom of things. For a quick reference I guess Looking for America, When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing, God Bless America - All the Beautiful Women In It... would be political songs (but why?) But surely there are others. For you, what constitutes a political song? What would a political Lana song be? Is Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind political? It references the nuclear missile crisis with North Korea but is also more about taking the time to appreciate what you have. But would you say it's still political? Text Book (from the upcoming album Blue Banisters) references the BLM protests but the song seems to be more biographical as opposed to solely political, but what do you think? I'm honestly curious now that we've been talking about Spoiler Is GoGo Dancer about the inequality of sex workers in the modern day?? I'm joking, I'm just trying to keep it fun okay guys This is dedicated to @daddyauerbach, @Style and @COCC for inspiring me 7 Quote " /> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry Blossom 21,472 Posted September 4, 2021 interesting thread! thx for the tag i think what defines a political song is when lana has a clear political motive behind it. god bless america, coachella, when the world was at war are all political songs (imo) because the subject matter and what they’re about is quite clear. change could be considered one of them because it talks about the tensions between nuclear warfare. the greatest mentions trump and kanye, and climate change and seems more a comment on culture not politics. looking for america is a response to gun violence and was a charitable song, so i think that is political too. i don’t consider textbook political as it just has a brief line that relates to politics but also was something lana did with the people it’s about. however it could be considered political as it talks about changing history in textbooks, and potentially creating a better world and legacy (?) would love to see others opinions 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Super Movie 51,550 Posted September 4, 2021 I've always seen Lana's political songs as WTWWAW, GBA, Coachella, Change, The Greatest and Looking For America. And it's not a song, but Paradise Is Very Fragile on Violet is quite political as well 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alison by Slowdive 26,133 Posted September 4, 2021 high by the beach advocated for cannabis' legalisation i agree with you that text book comes across much more "biographically" - it is such a complex song lyrically and thematically, i haven't fully digested it - but at the very least, it's not politically neutral, and therefore i would say it is a political song 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry Blossom 21,472 Posted September 4, 2021 Just now, Alison by Slowdive said: it's not politically neutral, and therefore i would say it is a political song omg interesting take i didn’t think of that 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yayoop 4,596 Posted September 4, 2021 8 minutes ago, Style said: interesting thread! thx for the tag i think what defines a political song is when lana has a clear political motive behind it. god bless america, coachella, when the world was at war are all political songs (imo) because the subject matter and what they’re about is quite clear. change could be considered one of them because it talks about the tensions between nuclear warfare. the greatest mentions trump and kanye, and climate change and seems more a comment on culture not politics. looking for america is a response to gun violence and was a charitable song, so i think that is political too. i don’t consider textbook political as it just has a brief line that relates to politics but also was something lana did with the people it’s about. however it could be considered political as it talks about changing history in textbooks, and potentially creating a better world and legacy (?) would love to see others opinions My pleasure! thank you for the inspiration! I love seeing your opinion, everybody's interpretation is valid because we all have such different perspectives. I hadn't thought of Change as being a political song, I always took it as a very violent (ironically since it's such a soft ballad) personal song, I never thought to think of it as political. I'll have to give it a re-listen with this new perspective. I agree with "The Greatest" it definitely seems like a more cultured exploration, I'm curious to listen back to that now as well! Even Textbook for me it always seemed like she was talking about how her "damaged" relationship with her parents were almost textbook because of how "cliche" her "daddy issues" were, but I'm curious to hear it in a different light. I'm so happy I made this thread now ahaha 11 minutes ago, Super Movie said: I've always seen Lana's political songs as WTWWAW, GBA, Coachella, Change, The Greatest and Looking For America. And it's not a song, but Paradise Is Very Fragile on Violet is quite political as well It's funny I never thought of Change or the Greatest as political songs, I'm excited to re-listen to them with a different perspective. I NEVER EVEN THOUGHT TO REFERENCE HER VIOLET POEMS. I read that book in one sitting last year, now that I have the vinyl I need to re-listen to it and try to really digest it, I honestly gasped when you mentioned Violet ahaha 5 Quote " /> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yayoop 4,596 Posted September 4, 2021 10 minutes ago, Alison by Slowdive said: high by the beach advocated for cannabis' legalisation i agree with you that text book comes across much more "biographically" - it is such a complex song lyrically and thematically, i haven't fully digested it, but at the very least, it's not politically neutral, and therefore i would say it is a political song Definitely agree on the cannabis front, HBTB is my anthem, let's go legalisation in Australia!! But damn, I never thought of that, you also made me gasp when I read your post. I guess even referencing a political action is a political statement in itself. The fact that she was protesting and makes a statement of "if only you did the same as me" (to her father) is a political action in itself. Oof, I love that 4 Quote " /> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanilla Icy 29,598 Posted September 4, 2021 money power glory is a capitalist anthem 8 Quote i love you, but you don't understand me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fingertips 72,034 Posted September 4, 2021 Change, Looking for America, Text Book and The Greatest are her best songs with social or political commentary. 6 Quote "You can't be a muse and be happy, too. You can't blacken the pages with Russian poetry and be happy." - Blue Banisters Quote I asked Asmodeus (the demon of lust) to make Miley Cyrus suffer. I am not happy with these new developments. After Miley rips off Lana's aesthetic, she bullies Lana into changing her release date. It is infuriating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeminiLanaFan 48,871 Posted September 4, 2021 I don’t even think that any of the four songs that are called « political » are. To me, they are all « peace-oriented ». Finneas released real political songs last year, criticizing the Trump administration. As for Text Book, it’s way too much oriented on her psyche-relationship troubles-« daddy issues » to be political: It just happened that she had a realization of those at a BLM rallye (according to the song anyways). 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeminiLanaFan 48,871 Posted September 4, 2021 I really do like that definition that if a song is tainted with social issues or culture matters that it could be a political song. I never thought of that that way. By that definition, then yes, I guess, she did write at least 5-6 political songs. (Yes I know, I just contradicted my last post lol) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yayoop 4,596 Posted September 4, 2021 1 minute ago, GeminiLanaFan said: I really do like that definition that if a song is tainted with social issues or culture matters that it could be a political song. I never thought of that that way. By that definition, then yes, I guess, she did write at least 5-6 political songs. (Yes I know, I just contradicted my last post lol) I thought your first post was very interesting, I mean that in of itself makes sense. They are peace-related but then that does make the other post about "making a neutral political statement is a political statement" seem more relevant This is actually a really interesting topic, I don't think there's any right or wrong answers, it's all up to interpretation depending on our individual perspectives. I should really give a listen to Finneas' album, I'm interested to hear his take on political songs 0 Quote " /> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluechemtrails 26,509 Posted September 4, 2021 I'm really happy that most of her songs are not political, that she is almost not political. She got always into trouble when it came to political issues on twitter. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yayoop 4,596 Posted September 4, 2021 5 minutes ago, Yayo6408 said: I'm really happy that most of her songs are not political, that she is almost not political. She got always into trouble when it came to political issues on twitter. Her QFTC seems to be her extent of political/cultural on social platforms, imagine that in song form.. lordie may She seems to hit the right level of political exploration in her songs that it's not so political/controversial that it's exhausting and polarising and inaccessible 4 Quote " /> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Siren 30,517 Posted September 5, 2021 Coachella and when the world was at War 1 Quote Last.FM | Discogs | JOYRIDE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yyxy 1,289 Posted September 5, 2021 The whole Lust for Life album (or at least most songs that has political themes). 0 Quote ☆SeaKeen★ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crimson and Clover 22,485 Posted September 5, 2021 I really love the greatest because it’s subtle but not so subtle? There’s something about it… 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alison by Slowdive 26,133 Posted September 6, 2021 her cover of doin' time advocates for prisoner welfare and rights pawn shop blues is a commentary on the soul-sucking daily grind 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Caroline3 15 Posted September 7, 2021 National anthem is sorta political. It talks about capitalism and greed, and possibly classism. “money is the anthem of success” “So before we go out, what’s your address” ”White, red, blues in the sky” Very patriotic, talking about the American flag 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites