A&W

[Super Movie 51,696]

My first thought at the "watching teenage diary of a girl" line was this movie honestly 

 

I also think the line could be more introspective with it being about Lana looking through her own teenage diaries, hence the "wondering what went wrong" line. This whole song is just so lyrically interesting. It feels very loaded despite the seeming simplicity

[Cherry Blossom 21,545]

I’m throwing up everywhere I’m so overwhelmed by this woman like it’s just serve after serve rn Im struggling to breathe 

[honeybadger 40,620]

does she say “surf’s up!” around 6:34 because i’m obsessed with that

[ShadesOfFool 20,139]

Is she saying maimed or raped??

[Fingertips 72,041]

2 minutes ago, ShadesOfFool said:

Is she saying maimed or raped??

Raped

[Um Chile Anyways So 7,099]

I think she says raped in such subtle way that you can barely hear it. I think it's been done on purpose almost like she couldn't talk about it 

[Super Movie 51,696]

Women using the word "raped" in songs is so powerful to me. I feel like it's something that a lot of listeners, particularly male listeners, may find jarring. But personally, I find it refreshing to hear an artist like Lana do it if that is the case. I think the mentioned subtleness of it is quite interesting, so it really could be maimed as well and I think the meaning of the lyrics would hold the same weight. Especially in the verse the word is used in. It reminds me a lot of Hole's "Asking For It" 

[honeybadger 40,620]

i hear maimed but i assume it’s ambiguous purposefully

Spoiler

but i kind of don’t hear “raped” at all — although i think this is the kind of lyrical difference that doesn’t need to be debated, because the meaning derived from it is so powerful that it hardly matters what the original lyric is

 

[Yosemite 23,786]

2 hours ago, Peppers said:

She's clearly saying Jimmy Jimmy coco puff not Shimmy Shimmy ko-ko-bop 

It's a Tom Hanks reference

She even sings the Jimmy Jimmy ride part, which isn't in Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop

But Hanks is clearly saying Shimmy Shimmy

Which is taken from the clapping game Down Down Baby

[drugsdesire 9,884]

the raped  line reminds me of fiona apple’s ‘for her’ where she sings “well good morning, good morning, you raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in” 

[Blossom 8,976]

10 minutes ago, honeybadger said:

i hear maimed but i assume it’s ambiguous purposefully

  Reveal hidden contents

but i kind of don’t hear “raped” at all — although i think this is the kind of lyrical difference that doesn’t need to be debated, because the meaning derived from it is so powerful that it hardly matters what the original lyric is

 

I didn't either at first but the line saying "didn't testify, already fucked up my story" kinda gives it away :/

[one time beauty queen 18,411]

if any of the male reviewers get mad about that lyric, we need to give them a proper lashing like the one below 

[TropicoKitten 5,012]

16 minutes ago, drugsdesire said:

the raped  line reminds me of fiona apple’s ‘for her’ where she sings “well good morning, good morning, you raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in” 

I was literally thinking this. That song is so powerful 

[Ramada Hydrangea 433]

2 hours ago, honeybadger said:

does she say “surf’s up!” around 6:34 because i’m obsessed with that

I love that line too, reminds me so much of the nfr pics

[Poor Stacy 11,996]

Agreed that she's saying "raped" now, but I think it's going to fly under the radar because of how she delivers it.

[IanadeIrey 62,021]

"Forensic Files wasn't on" ––––– but was it? 

 

[bluechemtrails 26,768]

someone wrote an interesting analysis on genius: 

https://genius.com/a/lana-del-rey-offers-a-complex-character-study-societal-critique-on-new-song-a-w

[yourboy 3,395]

15 hours ago, Elle said:

turn down the bed be

What does this mean? I have absolutely no clue. Bed.. be...? What's that

[one time beauty queen 18,411]

 this photo (for it's Ride, Queen Of The Gas Station, Buffalo 66 energy) & the lyric have me in such a chokehold

Spoiler

deserved it's own lockscreen 

 

[one time beauty queen 18,411]

ocean blvd & american whore despite sonically n stylistically being way out of one another's league, lyrically & thematically crossover very well imo & im glad she chose them as the first two singles

 

i feel like "open me up, tell me you like it/me, fuck me to death" obviously ties into a&w perfectly- using sex as a means of validation, a way to fill certain voids/diminish insecurities

an obvious difference however is the "love me until i love myself" to "it isn't about having someone to love me anymore, this is the experience of being an american whore"

almost as if her state of mind on that matter completely shifted in the period between creating the two songs 

 

"I mean, look at my hair- look at the length of it there & the shape of my body
If I told you that I was raped, do you really think that anybody would think I didn't ask for it, didn't ask for it?"

feels like a sister lyric to "I can't help but feel somewhat like my body marred my soul, handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls"

 

both touch on the same very real notion that society struggles to look past the surface level when it comes to a woman, women are reduced & diminished down to their anatomy/age/clothing & their basic humanity gets destroyed this process.

 

other than that, she touches on her conflicts with both the press/public & her own mother, which likely are where a lot of the deeper wounds she sings of stem from, leading to her searching for a sort of "closure" to them through her loves / lovemaking (expressed in both tracks again) 

 

 

tldr- random thoughts,  i appreciate how both the singles sort of bounce off each other, looking fwd to the great feast of the 24th!!!!!