Blue Banisters - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[Vertimus 9,668]

2 minutes ago, Candy Necklace said:

If middle age means you lose all the edge you have and you can only make piano ballads then I don't want it  

Well, I'm thinking of the history of modern popular music, with artists like Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Eminem, Will Smith, John Legend, and others who have written songs about their families, especially their children. These usually come--naturally--when they're over 30 and experiencing family life. In my experience, most such songs--like Sweet Carolina or Tori Amos's Ribbons Undone--are largely met with derision or apathy. 

 

For a long time, on her Wikipedia entry, there was a quote from Lana in which she said, "I grew up in a Carly Simon household," so I've been saying here for years that such an influence, conscious or not, is going to eventually come out in Lana's music as she enters middle age--which she is (I understand that anyone can add or take away things from a Wikipedia entry).

 

I see the Carly Simon influence on 'Love,' 'White Mustang,' 'Love Song,' 'Let Me Love You Like A Woman,' 'White Dress,' 'Arcadia,' 'Beautiful,' 'Violets for Roses,' 'Blue Banisters,' 'Sweet Carolina,' Sweet,' 'The Grants,' 'Let the Light In,' 'Margaret,' 'Hollywood Bowl,' and even 'Suburban House,' which Lana didn't write, among others, some more, some less. 

 

I'd also like to see Lana leave the piano alone for a while and give us something with more of a pulse, and not just one or two songs. 

 

 

[Genesee 6,450]

dear textbook haters,

why? 

[111 36,926]

5 minutes ago, Genesee said:

dear textbook haters,

why? 

 

i guess you could call it textbook lack of taste

[Rico25 7,951]

5 minutes ago, Genesee said:

dear textbook haters,

why? 

Ol' Man River keeps rolling 

[Americen Whore 10,361]

22 minutes ago, Genesee said:

dear textbook haters,

why? 

They could never make me hate it 

[Vertimus 9,668]

3 hours ago, Americen Whore said:

They could never make me hate it 

Nor me. 

[Rita Hayworth 172]

3 hours ago, 111 said:

 

i guess you could call it textbook lack of taste

Yeah the casual reference to BLM was so distasteful, I think I understand what she means, but she definitely must have had a sudden rush of bravery to actually leave it in the album, considering the climate at the time of its release. And I completely understand those who criticised her for it, at the end of the day she put it into a romantic song about someone else. The lyrics are so diluted, like she’s comparing her boyf to her dad, then she’s talking about being at a BLM protest “screaming for them”… it makes no sense. 
 

All that being said, I’m not gonna lie it sounds lovely. I love the dissonance between her vocals and the instrumentation, it’s definitely one of her most experimental songs. If the lyrics had been changed it could have been a great listening experience. It’s a shame, it has such potential as an opener.