Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he's deep-sea fishing

[Elle 121,279]

Three white butterflies to know you're near

 

I know they think that it took somebody else

To make me beautiful, beautiful

As they intended me to be, but they're wrong 

I know they think that it took thousands of people

To put me together again, like an experiment

Some big man behind the scenes

Sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul

But they're wrong 

 

God, if you're near me, send me three white butterflies

Or an owl to know you're listening

Sitting while I’m drinking 

Grandfather, please stand on the shoulders of my father while he's deep-sea fishing

For sharks in the Pacific

 

‘Cause I’m good, I’m spirit, warm-bodied

Available deity wrapped up in, oh

I’m folk, I’m jazz, I’m blue, I’m green

Regrettably, also a white woman 

But I have good intentions even if I’m one of the last ones

If you don't believe me look at my poetry and my melodies

Feel it in your bones 

I have good intentions even if I’m one of the last ones 

(Ah-ha-ah-yeah, Ah-ha-ah-yeah, Ah-ha-ah-yeah)

 

Grandfather, please stand on the shoulders of my father while he's deep-sea fishing

For all the things he's wishing 

God, if you're near me, send me three white butterflies

Or a map to know you're fishing 

Impart on me your wisdom 

 

It took somebody else to make me beautiful, wonderful

As they intended me to be 

But they’re wrong

 

Three white butterflies to know you’re near

[fl0r1dakil0s 21,427]

could the lyric be "..or a map to know your vision.."  ?? i keep re-listening and keep changing my mind @Elle next time you listen to the song try to listen for it and let me know - i know you're good at transcribing !!  

[Creyk 11,699]

I saw someone mentione that this song is her response to the criticism she received over her (completely fair) question for the culture instagram post. And I can sort of see that, but what does her grandfather & connection with god have to do with that? Can someone connect the dots?

[NikoGo 60,795]

9 hours ago, fl0r1dakil0s said:

could the lyric be "..or a map to know your vision.."  ?? i keep re-listening and keep changing my mind @Elle next time you listen to the song try to listen for it and let me know - i know you're good at transcribing !!  

I also hear vision 

[taco truck 32,988]

What does “sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul” mean… is this supposed to reference cultural appropriation?

[Fingertips 72,034]

10 minutes ago, taco truck said:

What does “sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul” mean… is this supposed to reference cultural appropriation?

Are you serious right now? Is this a serious post?

[Bonita 12,531]

10 minutes ago, taco truck said:

What does “sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul” mean… is this supposed to reference cultural appropriation?

 

nah she's referring to the allegations back then where they assumed record execs came up with her persona and tragic character

[Blossom 8,976]

14 minutes ago, Fingertips said:

Are you serious right now? Is this a serious post?

cackling at the mods approving this post 

[Blue Ribbon 3,559]

31 minutes ago, taco truck said:

What does “sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul” mean… is this supposed to reference cultural appropriation?

what... 

[Get Drunk 17,971]

16 hours ago, Elle said:

Sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my soul

But they're wrong 

I hear ‘song’, not ‘soul’. 

[Get Drunk 17,971]

12 hours ago, Creyk said:

I saw someone mentione that this song is her response to the criticism she received over her (completely fair) question for the culture instagram post. And I can sort of see that, but what does her grandfather & connection with god have to do with that? Can someone connect the dots?

She contains multitudes. She’s always including a dozen different topics in her songs. 
 

I think the song is overall about criticism and needing guidance, whether that be from God or from ancestral/familial connections. 

[taco truck 32,988]

31 minutes ago, Fingertips said:

Are you serious right now? Is this a serious post?

Well it was kind of joke but also I wasn’t totally sure what that lyric means lol

[love deluxe 8,861]

4 minutes ago, taco truck said:

Well it was kind of joke but also I wasn’t totally sure what that lyric means lol

i think she’s talking about the way frankenstein’s monster was stitched together using body parts from corpses, and how early in her career she was accused of being inauthentic or “fake” and just the creation of someone else, without a soul of her own.

[emliqua 3,037]

12 hours ago, fl0r1dakil0s said:

could the lyric be "..or a map to know your vision.."  ?? i keep re-listening and keep changing my mind @Elle next time you listen to the song try to listen for it and let me know - i know you're good at transcribing !!  

I agree with this lyric! That’s what I hear ☺️

 

also I hear “a fallible deity wrapped up in…” 

 

gosh I wish Lana would just publish her lyrics with the album she mumbles a lot lol

[taco truck 32,988]

Just now, love deluxe said:

i think she’s talking about the way frankenstein’s monster was stitched together using body parts from corpses, and how early in her career she was accused of being inauthentic or “fake” and just the creation of someone else, without a soul of her own.

Ya that does make sense I actually just didn’t even think she was saying “black” which is were the joke came from lol…  I Guess it didn’t land im sorry guys

[Sportscruiser 11,894]

This is one of her greatest achievements as a writer, vocalist and artist in general. It’s Lana at her most grandiose and mother nature-esque, what a force of nature this song is.

 

I’m still absolutely floored.

[slang 1,532]

The song inverts the "standing on the shoulders of giants" saying a bit, but it sort of means the same thing? Why the references to critics and negative-hypers in this song? The only possible interpretation I can get is the idea that she attributes her lineage as responsible for all the things that were proposed to have been constructed about her. 

[Cherry Blossom 21,529]

This is a colossal song

[Sportscruiser 11,894]

On 4/4/2023 at 12:23 PM, slang said:

The song inverts the "standing on the shoulders of giants" saying a bit, but it sort of means the same thing? Why the references to critics and negative-hypers in this song? The only possible interpretation I can get is the idea that she attributes her lineage as responsible for all the things that were proposed to have been constructed about her. 

 

My interpretation is that she’s evoking her father’s protection by a grander force (in this case in the figure of her grandfather) to keep him safe to do what he loves (which is fishing for sharks - which by itself can be literal or even metaphoric in the sense that he’s in the wilderness overcoming a species that’s stronger than him). That she chooses to juxtapose that with her own personal struggles with the way she’s perceived gives me the idea that she too longs for protection while she’s doing what she loves (singing, writing, living) without the fear of being misinterpreted or minimized in the process - her protection in this case comes in the form of the three loved ones she lost and talks about in other songs, poetically incarnated in three white butterflies.

 

It seems they’re two different subjects altogether but she ties them rather interestingly.

[trailer park 249]

Beautiful writing and melody, powerful imagery and so much emotion. It's hard to believe she's released her ninth studio album and she keeps producing songs like this.

A true artist