A&W

[ProstituteStares 494]

I was thinking about Ramada and Rosemead and what if she put these names metaphorically? We all know how Lana cares about her privacy, we know how she hates being stalked by paparazzi... For me, she wouldn't put in the song real names, places to be tracked of (as we can see FBI agent's work above hehe ). So maybe these names represent something else. I thought that maybe Rosemead is how she represent herself to media and world - as calm, beautiful neibourhood where you wanna be around. But how she feels herself within is Ramada - a cheap, filthy thing where you can hookup. And in the end she knows it doesn't really matter - there are more important things in the world. 

 

Buuuut maybe I am misinterpreting that. 

[one time beauty queen 18,383]

on the whole imperials vs nelly reference debate

 

one of the interscope girls that was following the oceanblvd account before everyone found it & also in that A&W braiding sesh pic w Lana, posted an IG story with Country Grammar by Nelly playing over it, right at the "Shimmy Shimmy cocoa" bit w the caption "some of y'all be acting like you don't remember Nelly" which to me seemingly hints Lana was obviously more inspired by it than The Imperials song ? imo they would know, having been in the studio w her

 

not to mention Lana confirming "cocoa puff" via tiktok herself.. so yeah I think this is pretty settled

[fl0r1dakil0s 20,676]

i'm p sure the line is "called up one drunk called up another"

[genghis khan 5,079]

don't know what the fuck you guys are talking about but this song is great 

[Ultra Violet 18,421]

On 2/19/2023 at 10:24 AM, gasstationkween said:

It sounds like there is a Brooklyn baby guitar strum in there somewhere

This! I hear it too. 

(4:42)

 

On 2/19/2023 at 10:27 AM, paradisetropico said:

i love the little snippet of NFR in the song and it reminds me of FMWUTTT being on title track UV… i wonder if any of the other tunnel songs had made an appearance on the songs we gotten !!! i’m so shook

 

P.s. where is this snippet? Im so dissappointed i havent picked it up.

Edit. Ok found it at 5:48. didnt realise it was just the strings, but still cool, kinda like how the HBTB vocals appear at the start of Swan Song

[neon palms sway 1,301]

On 2/17/2023 at 3:28 PM, drugsdesire said:

whuttt where

She says something about the bathroom floor (I think) behind "I'm invisible, I'm a ghost" and i neeeeed to know what it is

[Lindsay Lohan 6,906]

On 2/16/2023 at 4:08 PM, Harry Nilsson said:

genius, she starts it with being nine and ends it with a line from a children's game

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Down_Baby

I never heard of this clapping game before, but now I understand why Jack uses this striking claps in the second part

 

 

 

 

In this video the girls say "Shimmy shimmy cocoa pop, shimmy shimmy ride"

So... further proof it isn't that 50s dop-wop song or the nelly song

[Creyk 11,495]

She has sung songs about her mother since she went by the names May and Lizzy. Throughout all her albums, her father appears frequently in the lyrics of her songs, and she always expresses that he is a safe haven and someone who is always there for her. However, in her album Blue Banisters, she opened up to her listeners - who may have wondered what her mother is like - and it turns out that she hardly talked about her mother at all.

Her mother is someone with whom she always had problems, and they didn't get along well. This pain caused problems for her with the people around her and in her own life. She mentioned her mother at the beginning to convey that even though she no longer has contact with her, the trauma her mother caused still exists and has long-term consequences, such as difficulty relating to people. She wants love from someone who hurt her and hopes to find someone who can help heal her pain, but the men she has encountered only exacerbate her pain by devaluing her as an object and treating her as if she is not a person (as she sings in her song about being raped).

She doesn't know how to protect herself, having never been good at it since she argued with her mother as a child. She just wants someone to take care of her, but there are only a few good people in this world, and there are so many bad people that they can be found in convenience stores. She therefore does not want to write songs about someone who will love her again because she already knows that no one can take care of her pain. She speaks in what they see her, and she speaks in what she herself sees, being the person that everyone wants to be, being the person who seeks love repeatedly from people who do not understand her pain enough, and that is American Whore.

The second part of the song, which is a scream, a shout, and a disturbing melody, is to show the listeners that the pain she has now is too deep to heal. She has been broken for a long time, and she is sinking deeper than anyone could help. But instead of asking someone to help her, she dances in her own pain. Jim or Jimmy, the person she sings about in the end of the song, may be the same person she refers to in the song "Ultraviolence".

It is interpreted that Jim is a friend in her imagination, and he only appears when she is drunk and/or so hopeless that she can only see Jim. In other words, she deludes herself into thinking that there's someone next to her if she realizes that she's trapped in depression, anxiety, and dark thoughts, and can't see anyone else around her. She talks to Jimmy (talks to herself) and says that she doesn't have to care about her life anymore. She just wants to get drunk now because her life has nothing left. Of course, the line "Your mom called, I told her you're f*cking up big time" means that when she was lying with that worthless guy, his mother called and was worried about him, even though her own mom never cared about her before. She curses his mother, even though in fact, she wants to curse her own mom.

[Venice Peach 52,978]

I just noticed Sam is now credited as a writer on the song (at least on Spotify) but I don't remember seeing him in the credits on release date 

I'm aware he was on the full credits as "vocals" 

[Divisive Princess 3,489]

23 hours ago, Lindsay Lohan said:

 

 

 

 

In this video the girls say "Shimmy shimmy cocoa pop, shimmy shimmy ride"

So... further proof it isn't that 50s dop-wop song or the nelly song

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by DrunkBeautyQueen
am i braindead today? disregard

[Lindsay Lohan 6,906]

3 minutes ago, DrunkBeautyQueen said:

 

If the clapping game is called Down Down Baby, I feel like that only solidifies that she's referencing the Nelly song. He says that phrase a few lines before the 'shimmy, shimmy' part. 

 

Where do you think that line originated from babe... 

The only part that matters is the "Jimmy Jimmy Ride" part which is said in no other song but the clapping game

[Sweet 959]

I am so tired of people only caring about the second part of the song. Lana is literally being so direct and honest with the world about her life and her thoughts and no one is talking about it? I mean not enough people are talking about it. The second part is great dgmw but like the first part is what sets it up to be ultra iconic and because it has that trap element people completely ignore/forget where they started to get to that point. 

 

Also, it's Shimmy Shimmy ko ko bop. She ain't talking about no puffs whether cocoa or coco. 

[bluechemtrails 22,910]

1 hour ago, Venice Peach said:

I just noticed Sam is now credited as a writer on the song (at least on Spotify) but I don't remember seeing him in the credits on release date 

I'm aware he was on the full credits as "vocals" 

alright, this seems to be new

he was also credited in the second youtube audio first only as background vocalist, but now he's also composer lyricist!

 

[ayyeet 17]

Hi! 

I wrote an in-depth analysis of the meaning of A&W, and would like to share it here. 

 

A&W is almost about embracing the title of being America's whore-- in a playful yet vindictive way. She's literally saying with this song that's what she's known for in America-- with her image-- "my love making is my legacy". However, with this song, it's a little bit different in the tone. She seems to be in love with this man who is married/dating another woman, and keeps seeing him regardless. It seems like they both know that they have a deep connection, as he will do whatever he can to see her, yet she sings "your mom called, I told her, you're fucking up big time" in a playful yet accepting way. With that comical line, it seems as if everyone agrees (even his own mom) that he's fucking up big time by not being with her. Yet she accepts not having him, as he still won't choose her: "but I don't care baby, I already lost my mind".

 

As an empathic and sensitive person myself, her sensitivity/femininity comes through all of her songs. That's part of why she's so good at composing songs that ring deep to many fans. This one is not an exception. A&W is not about a sex addiction, in fact quite the opposite-- she always had a deep longing for a soulful type of connection of love. In Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, she sings "when's it gonna be my turn? Open me up, tell me you like it, fuck me to death, love me until I love myself", which seems to be about the same man that A&W is about. In contrast to A&W, she sings the melody in a sad yet hopeful way as she sings "don't forget me, like the tunnel under Ocean Blvd"-- but it may not be as hopeful as we think, as the tunnel under Ocean Blvd is sealed up (implying that she just might be forgotten). In a contrasting way, she sings in A&W: "call him up, come into my bedroom, ended up, we fuck on the hotel floor... It's not about having someone to love me anymore, this is the experience of being an American whore". She simply accepts being the side piece, while still being totally in love with this man, as we hear just after revealing how she was raped and how no one would believe her, she sings in a deep and sad voice: "on top of this (how she fucked up her story with her image-- will discuss later), so many other things you can't believe... Did you know a singer can still be lookin' like a side piece at 33? God's a charlatan, don't look back, babe". You can hear the pain in her voice in the first half, yet it quickly turns into an accepting voice, when she says "God's a charlatan", as in "I love him but he won't choose me, I'm helpless-- but I accept that I'll do this and this is what I'll be known for: the American whore". And there's almost a small pride in that. In her wildness. Look closely as she sings "los[ing] my mind", "I am fucking crazy, but I am free" (Ride monologue), "I'm not unhinged or unhappy, I'm still so strange and wild" (Chemtrails Over The Country Club). In COTCC, she also sings "I want you only like when we were kids under the chemtrails and country club, it's never too late, baby so don't give up", which, sidenote, "did you know a singer can still be lookin' like a side piece at 33" also points to how she has sung about this man for years, even dating back to her childhood in New York. In COTCC she encourages him to not give up on her, just like in DYKTTATUOB she says: "don't forget me". But in A&W she comes to terms with not being chosen by him, yet there's almost a feeling like that's what her life path is-- to be wild, free, and untamed, opposing society (will get to this), and creatively expressing herself in that way. In the Ride monologue, she says "I was born to be the other woman, who belonged to no one, who belonged to everyone, who had nothing, who wanted everything, with a fire for every experience and an obsession for freedom that terrified me".

 

Another part of her sensitivity and fondness for love comes through when the song musically builds up during this part, right after mentioning several ways in which he visits/talks to her in a way that avoids getting caught from cheating: "Puts the shower on while he calls me, sneaks out the back door to talk to me, I'm invisible, look how you hold me, I'm invisible, I'm invisible, I'm a ghost now, look how they found me". In an almost tragic and desperate way, she describes herself as "invisible", and points to how this man has such a hold on her-- so much so that she feels "invisible" to him. It really reveals her submission to this man, how submissive she can be, in a strangely positive way, as she will continue to see him, since "it's not about having someone to love me anymore, no this is the experience of being an American whore". She's submissive to him because she loves him but he won't choose her. In an interesting and contrasting way, the second part of the song with the upbeat melody of "Jimmy, Jimmy cocoa puff" points to how it's really not that tragic after all-- this part of the song has a very playful idgaf attitude (supporting this need of hers to be wild, free, and untamed, that this is her life path): "love me if you love or not, you can be my light, Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high... your mom called, I told her, you're fucking up big time... but I don't care, baby I already lost my mind".

 

The other part to A&W is about society's image of her and all of the ways she has "fucked up" her story, which includes her controversies. "I mean, look at me, look at the length of my hair and my face, the shape of my body, do you really think I give a damn what I do after years of just hearin' them talking?" points to how she was criticized in the media for gaining weight, but gaining weight can also be seen as something that increases sex appeal. She sings "this is the experience of an American whore", and then right after "I mean, look at me", which shows how she's basically saying "of course I'm the American whore-- look at me" (not only physically, but about my other songs and controversies). She then says right after "if I told you that I was raped, do you really think that anybody would think I didn't ask for it? I didn't ask for it, I won't testify, I already fucked up my story". She has sung before about being in abusive relationships: "He hit me and it felt like a kiss, Jim brought me back, reminded me of when we were kids" (Ultraviolence), where the media criticized her for "glamorizing abuse", and where the same name is used in the second part of A&W: "Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high". This could possibly suggest that she was actually raped by the person A&W is about, which complicates it even further, and makes sense why she "won't testify", and how she "already fucked up [her] story".

 

Also, the play on calling herself an American whore is an interesting and ironic toss when she reveals in this song that she was raped. At this point, she feels she has messed up her story so much so that now she’s claiming this title, yet still remaining in her delicate, authentic and playful self.

 

The other part to this is her controversies, one of them being her Instagram post dealing with femininity. In this deemed controversial post that was deleted, she says: "Now that [a bunch of female pop stars] have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc... Can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect... without being crucified or saying that I'm glamorizing abuse????... there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me - the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes- the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves". The way the media has criticized and viewed her throughout the years has been turbulent and with misguided or misunderstood perspectives. This is why she won't testify-- she already fucked up her story, but it's really the media's fault.

I can see where she's coming from because she's good at heart and has pure intentions yet gets casted as someone that is quite the opposite, as someone that has "set women back hundreds of years". 

 

 

The last part about A&W and other songs like Wildflower Wildfire I'll mention is about her family and lineage. She has said in one of her Instagram livestreams that looking into her lineage is something not to do alone, and generally suggests that there's something going on there, most likely in terms of troubling relationships. In Wildflower Wildfire, she sings "my father never stepped in when his wife would rage at me... So I turn but I learn, not to turn into a wildfire, to light up your night, with only my smile and nothing that hurts... I live on sheer willpower, I promise that nothing will burn you... Like the others baby burns, burns, burns... It's you from whom I learn". She seems to try to not repeat any damaging acts in relationships that have seemingly run through her lineage, and promises to be better, in terms of a stable and loving relationship. In A&W she sings "I haven't seen my mother in a long, long time" and "called up one, drunk, called up another, Forensic Files wasn't on, watching Teenage Diary of a Girl, wondering what went wrong, I'm a princess, I'm divisive, ask me why why why I'm like this, maybe I'm just kind of like this, I don't know maybe I'm just like this". She seems to be reflecting on "what went wrong" with her, why she "called up one [then] called up another", why she's "divisive", and why she's okay with being America's whore. How much of it is tied to her lineage? But as mentioned previously, it seems as if this is where she thrives with being wild and free, and creatively expressing herself with this life path.

 

Overall, this song is very interesting in that it almost concludes all of her previous work, by stating how she's the American whore and that's what she's accepted herself as and is known and will be known for, in a vindictive and sarcastic way, as well as in a powerfully wild, free, and expressively healing way, even if it is ironic: being totally submissive to this man that'll ruin his life to cheat with her, yet not fully choosing her, and expressing this in a song that is kind of like a fuck you to society by claiming the title of the "American whore" (as she is rightfully resentful of the media/society for how they treated her-- and as she comes more from a person that seeks true love rather than meaningless sex, like what a "whore" would actually seek) and one that points to her liveliness of being wild and free, albeit totally submissively at the control of this man (for now lol).

That was so much writing and analysis from a long time Lana fan lol, but I enjoy sharing it. 

[fl0r1dakil0s 20,676]

On 2/22/2023 at 1:02 PM, Sweet said:

Also, it's Shimmy Shimmy ko ko bop. She ain't talking about no puffs whether cocoa or coco. 

 

she literally said (herself!) in a tiktok comment what the lyric is (jimmy jimmy cocoa puff).. u cant say it's anything else when lana herself said what it was lol

[Venice Peach 52,978]

 

1 hour ago, fl0r1dakil0s said:

 

she literally said (herself!) in a tiktok comment what the lyric is (jimmy jimmy cocoa puff).. u cant say it's anything else when lana herself said what it was lol

I don't know about the cocoa puff / ko ko bop but she's definitely saying "Jimmy Shimmy"  so nobody is truly right

[The Siren 29,061]

8 minutes ago, Venice Peach said:

 

I don't know about the cocoa puff / ko ko bop but she's definitely saying "Jimmy Shimmy"  so nobody is truly right

i thought i was the only one 

[Xenoblade 3 2,065]

Miss Sam saw the streaming numbers. Ask for credit real quick. 

[Sweet 959]

5 hours ago, fl0r1dakil0s said:

 

she literally said (herself!) in a tiktok comment what the lyric is (jimmy jimmy cocoa puff).. u cant say it's anything else when lana herself said what it was lol

That was her sense of humour… she was joking

[drugsdesire 8,909]

@ayyeet absolutely beautiful analysis, i rlly enjoyed reading it