Paradise and Born to Die Sister Songs

[HunterAshlyn 685]

I posted this as a status and it got quite a bit of feedback with a few suggestions that I start it as a thread! I'd love to know what you guys think!

 

Here's what my status said:

"Every song on Paradise is the sister song (thematically or sonically) to a song on BTD. 1. Ride- Summertime Sadness, 2. American- Lucky Ones, 3. Cola- Off to the Races, 4. Body Electric- Lolita, 5. Blue Velvet- Born to Die, 6. Gods and Monsters- Diet Mountain Dew, 7. Yayo- Million Dollar Man, 8. Bel Air- Carmen, 9. Burning Desire- Blue Jeans"

 

In the comments, GreyMillenium said that they felt that #6 was a bit of a reach, and I somewhat agree. What do you guys think about all this!? Would love to know!

 

Here's a more thorough break down of it all:

 

1. Ride- Summertime Sadness

- Lana has gone on record saying that Summertime Sadness is a song about driving late at night, and that she built a love song around this core element. Obviously so is Ride.

- The "extended radio edit" version of Summertime Sadness with the guitar/beach sounds outro also fades perfectly into the beginning of Ride, with it's strange reverb-ed silence.

 

2. American- Lucky Ones/Radio

- Thematically American-Lucky Ones is about a happier relationship- one that is working well. She finally feels like she's found the one.

- American-Radio both make strong references to LA and Lana's perception of life there.

- Play the songs in this order and I feel a definite connection: Lucky Ones-> American -> Radio

 

3. Cola- Off to the Races

- Again, play Off to the Races and listen to the tone and melody of the strings as the song ends. Play Cola immediately after and tell me you don't hear a resemblance to the opening strings.

- Thematically they are both about escapism with a lover to a lavish "other side."

 

4. Body Electric- Lolita (Album Version)

- Obviously they both make references to literature

- The songs are both sonically sinister

 

5. Blue Velvet- Born to Die

- The production and arrangement of these songs is SO similar

 

6. Gods and Monsters- Diet Mountain Dew

- I paired these together because I feel like they are both about Lana wanting a destructive relationship that she feels somehow brings mercy into her life.

- The sound of the drums is similar to me (not the rhythm itself, but the actual sound of the drums)

 

7. Yayo- Million Dollar Man

- These songs both have the unmistakable torch song/jazz lounge vibe

 

8. Bel Air- Carmen

- I feel like these two songs are sisters because they are both the songs on their respective pieces of work that stick out the most as being different from everything else, sonically. They are not sonically similar to one another, but similar in the fact that they are so different from the other songs in Lana's BTD repertoire

- (On a side note, I think 'Oh Say Can You See' is a wonderful cousin to Carmen, sonically)

 

9. Burning Desire- Blue Jeans

- Someone else remarked on this, but the strings in the beginning of Burning Desire sound very reminiscent of the strings in the beginning of the second video for Blue Jeans.

- The songs are also two of Lana's most longingly sensual.

 

ANYWAY

 

I'm sure some of you will think I'm so off the mark and maybe some will agree. Maybe some of you will think this whole thing is stupid, but hey... Whatever you think, I'd love to hear it!

 

 

 

 

------SIDENOTE----------

In my version of Born to Die Paradise Edition, the track listing is as follows:

 

1. Body Electric

2. Born to Die

3. Lolita (Version 1)

4. Driving In Cars with Boys

5. Lucky Ones

6. American

7. Radio

8. You Can Be the Boss

9. Gods and Monsters

10. Off to the Races

11. Cola

12. Summertime Sadness (Extended Radio Edit)

13. Ride

14. I Don't Want to Go

15. Yayo

16. You & Me

17. Million Dollar Man

18. Hollywood's Dead

19. Blue Velvet

20. Happy Birthday

21. National Anthem

22. Dayglo Reflection

23. Diet Mountain Dew

24. My Bitch

25. My Best Days

26. Hundred Dollar Bill (Version 2)

27. Blue Jeans

28. Burning Desire

29. Dark Paradise

30. This is What Makes Us Girls

31. Bel Air

32. Video Games

33. Oh Say Can You See

34. Carmen

[Sitar 22,181]

I think...Carmen + Gods & Monsters, American + Radio, and Bel Air + Dark Paradise

 

Otherwise, I like this idea! Will absolutely steal the Ride/SS extended mix pairing because it sounds brilliant.

[Trash Magic 27,545]

I thought Cola + Blue Jeans Idk why

 

I don't think any of them are extremely similar

[HunterAshlyn 685]

I think...Carmen + Gods & Monsters, American + Radio, and Bel Air + Dark Paradise

 

Otherwise, I like this idea! Will absolutely steal the Ride/SS extended mix pairing because it sounds brilliant.

 

Thematically Carmen-Gods & Monsters is so on the money. And definitely Bel Air-Dark Paradise. Bel Air sounds BRILLIANT after Dark Paradise as well

 

And yes STEAL AWAY!

 

I thought Cola + Blue Jeans Idk why

 

I don't think any of them are extremely similar

 

Your definitely right with none of them sounds like clones of one another or like a part two or something you know? I even read one review where they compared American as a simpler National Anthem. So it could go anyway! I can see the similarities.

With Blue Jeans and Cola I can as well- that like... dangerous love affair vibe, right?

[lola 6,622]

1. Ride- Summertime Sadness

- Lana has gone on record saying that Summertime Sadness is a song about driving late at night, and that she built a love song around this core element. Obviously so is Ride.

- The "extended radio edit" version of Summertime Sadness with the guitar/beach sounds outro also fades perfectly into the beginning of Ride, with it's strange reverb-ed silence.

 

2. American- Lucky Ones/Radio

- Thematically American-Lucky Ones is about a happier relationship- one that is working well. She finally feels like she's found the one.

- American-Radio both make strong references to LA and Lana's perception of life there.

- Play the songs in this order and I feel a definite connection: Lucky Ones-> American -> Radio

 

These are the only ones that may make sense, in my opinion. But she said that Paradise is an afterthought so I don't think she meant to create songs that are related to the Born to Die songs, she's just always singing about the same men and relationships.

[HunterAshlyn 685]

These are the only ones that may make sense, in my opinion. But she said that Paradise is an afterthought so I don't think she meant to create songs that are related to the Born to Die songs, she's just always singing about the same men and relationships.

 

I totally agree that this wasn't done on purpose. It's more of like... an analysis thing I guess. I guess I just think that these songs all go together really well or reflect something in one another. Not that they are necessarily "counterparts," if that makes sense.

[Sitar 22,181]

I thought Cola + Blue Jeans Idk why

 

I don't think any of them are extremely similar

 

The beginning of Cola sounds pretty similar to the intro to the Blue Jeans video...more so than Burning Desire, I think.

[James19709 632]

I think they just happen to provide further commentary on those songs, I'm not sure I'd call them "Sister Songs". I do, however, put some songs together like Daddy Issues with Backfire and Kill Kill with Dark Paradise. It's a nice concept though, I can understand how you came up with that. I'll read the full thread in a while though, I only properly read the status but I did want to comment in here. I hope that when I read this, I agree with it as I love this concept.

[fruitpunchlips 819]

I think she intended that since she's said that Paradise would be like an afterword.

 

Here's how I looked at it:

 

Ride - Born to Die

"Don't break me down... etc" and "Don't make me sad...." She's singing about roads and journeys in both.

 

American - Off to the races, Blue jeans, Video Games

Both describe a casual but slightly disfunctional (drugs etc) relationship. In VG she sings "Swinging in the backyard", in A "play house", evoking images of youth/childhood.

 

Cola - Diet Mtn Dew

I always thought this was really obvious because they're both named after sodas? I think she's comparing Barry to her ex. In a demo version of Diet Mtn Dew she sings "beat me and tell me you're mine..." and in Cola she sings "Don't treat me rough...". Again she talks about taking a ride.

 

Body Electric - Summertime Sadness

In both of them she sings about feeling electric, pale moonlight and ~droppin it like it's hot~

 

Blue Velvet - ?

It might have something to do with Blue Jeans, they have similar titles and in BV she sings "and I still can see the velvet through my tears", in BJ "baby can you see through the tears". I always saw BV as a filler since it's a cover so I haven't paid attention to it.

 

Gods & Monsters - Carmen

I think she's giving a different perspective of her life before she went sober.

 

Yayo - ?

I have no idea..

 

Bel Air - Dark Paradise

I think she sees L.A. as a paradise and she's just describing what she sees when she "closes her eyes"

[lola 6,622]

Cola - Diet Mtn Dew

I always thought this was really obvious because they're both named after sodas? I think she's comparing Barry to her ex. In a demo version of Diet Mtn Dew she sings "beat me and tell me you're mine..." and in Cola she sings "Don't treat me rough...". Again she talks about taking a ride.

 

This makes sense to me, too.

[James19709 632]

I really love your track listing here. I'm going to make it a playlist. By Hundred Dollar Bill (Version 2), do you mean the demo or the final version?

[YUNGATA 14,945]

not really feeling 2 or 6 but everything else i can definitely see.

[JhnMabius 175]

I usually relate Ride and Videogames, they're so different sonically and maybe thematically, but they have a lot of importance to Lana since she picked those as first singles. Also, Ride's the only song on Paradise that Justin P. helped her wrote, most of her singles and I'd guess her favorites she wrote with him.

[PrettyBaby 2,215]

I agree with James 19709 that "sister songs" is too strong a term. But I love the way you're exploring the connections. So excited to try out the new playlist!

 

Cola - Diet Mtn Dew

I always thought this was really obvious because they're both named after sodas? I think she's comparing Barry to her ex. In a demo version of Diet Mtn Dew she sings "beat me and tell me you're mine..." and in Cola she sings "Don't treat me rough...". Again she talks about taking a ride.

Wow... YEAH...

[greymillenium 541]

Ride : Summertime Sadnes

American : Video Games

Cola : Off to the Races

Body Electric : Born to Die

Blue Velvet : I can't think of anything for this interlude of a song

Gods & Monsters : Carmen

Yayo : Million Dollar Man

Bel Air : Dark Paradise

Burning Desire : Blue Jeans

[HunterAshlyn 685]

Cola - Diet Mtn Dew

I always thought this was really obvious because they're both named after sodas? I think she's comparing Barry to her ex. In a demo version of Diet Mtn Dew she sings "beat me and tell me you're mine..." and in Cola she sings "Don't treat me rough...". Again she talks about taking a ride.

 

the soda thing (although seemingly superficial) is actually a GREAT point.

 

 

I really love your track listing here. I'm going to make it a playlist. By Hundred Dollar Bill (Version 2), do you mean the demo or the final version?

 

Yay! im so glad you like it! And yes. What some people call the "final version." The one with the bigger, more relaxed hip hop beat.

 

 

I usually relate Ride and Videogames

 

honestly, I do as well- especially because Ride totally references Video Games with the whole "one pretty song" line.

 

 

 

Blue Velvet : I can't think of anything for this interlude of a song

 

 

THIS. :badbitch: so true. (secretly I wonder why people go apeshit for the song...)

[James19709 632]

 

Yay! im so glad you like it! And yes. What some people call the "final version." The one with the bigger, more relaxed hip hop beat.

 

Ah, I prefer the demo.

[lola 6,622]

honestly, I do as well- especially because Ride totally references Video Games with the whole "one pretty song" line.

 

I've been trying too hard

with one pretty song

 

I know that everyone says she means Video Games with one pretty song but I've always thought she meant Yayo because of the been trying too hard bit. She's been singing Yayo for at least six years now. Video Games immediately became successful. I don't know...maybe she means that she's been trying so hard with Yayo but she never became successful...just a theory of mine.

[PrettyBaby 2,215]

I've been trying too hard

with one pretty song

 

I know that everyone says she means Video Games with one pretty song but I've always thought she meant Yayo because of the been trying too hard bit. She's been singing Yayo for at least six years now. Video Games immediately became successful. I don't know...maybe she means that she's been trying so hard with Yayo but she never became successful...just a theory of mine.

I've been assuming she meant Yayo as well.

 

Ah, I prefer the demo.

I think you prefer the first version, but not the demo?

 

HDB first version = more upbeat = video version

HDB "demo" = second version = more relaxed (revamped for the BTD sessions?)

[James19709 632]

I've been assuming she meant Yayo as well.

 

 

I think you prefer the first version, but not the demo?

 

HDB first version = more upbeat = video version

HDB "demo" = second version = more relaxed (revamped for the BTD sessions?)

 

I prefer the demo.