"Tropico" (Scrapped) Album Recording/Writing Timeline and Creative Process Discussion

[Lanaparadiserey 18,459]

What songs do we actually have that were supposed to be on Tropico? I mean like the verison that would have appeared on the album based on the notepad tracklist

 

This is what I have 

Spoiler

1. Old Money (Jamie xx Demo)❌
2. Black Beauty (Jamie xx Demo)❌
3. Guns n Roses (Demo)❌
4. Lake Placid✅
5. Summertime (Janis Joplin cover)✅
6. Melancholia ("Ultraviolence" Demo)✅
7. Jesus (I Talk To Jesus [Alt. Final Version])✅
8. Pink Champagne ("Let Me Love You Like A Woman" Demo)✅
9. Elvis (Ultraviolence rework)❌
10. Earthquakes (Final Version)❌
11. Illegible❌ (Money & Power?)
12. Illegible (Fake Rolex?, Axl Rose?)❌
13. Illegible (Preacher?)❌

 

[lake placid 2,724]

13 minutes ago, Lanaparadiserey said:

Pink Champagne ("Let Me Love You Like A Woman" Demo)✅

this has always confused me because if Pink Champagne was recorded in October 2013 how was it part of the draft tracklist from January 2013, it’s probably a demo or something

[The Siren 29,149]

9 minutes ago, lake placid said:

this has always confused me because if Pink Champagne was recorded in October 2013 how was it part of the draft tracklist from January 2013, it’s probably a demo or something

Or it could be a list of songs that were only written down and never recorded?

[lake placid 2,724]

10 minutes ago, The Siren said:

Or it could be a list of songs that were only written down and never recorded?

i don’t think so, there is a header that says “Tropico”, they are also numbered and songs like Lake Placid, ITTJ and Old Money had already been recorded, however Summertime also hadn’t been recorded when that photo of the tracklist was taken

[lanaismamom 11,197]

53 minutes ago, Lanaparadiserey said:

What songs do we actually have that were supposed to be on Tropico? I mean like the verison that would have appeared on the album based on the notepad tracklist

 

This is what I have 

  Hide contents

1. Old Money (Jamie xx Demo)❌
2. Black Beauty (Jamie xx Demo)❌
3. Guns n Roses (Demo)❌
4. Lake Placid✅
5. Summertime (Janis Joplin cover)✅
6. Melancholia ("Ultraviolence" Demo)✅
7. Jesus (I Talk To Jesus [Alt. Final Version])✅
8. Pink Champagne ("Let Me Love You Like A Woman" Demo)✅
9. Elvis (Ultraviolence rework)❌
10. Earthquakes (Final Version)❌
11. Illegible❌ (Money & Power?)
12. Illegible (Fake Rolex?, Axl Rose?)❌
13. Illegible (Preacher?)❌

 

we don’t know which versions of old money and bb was supposed to be on tropico but i personally wouldn’t say it would be either version of jamie xx sessions (i would say the leaked demo version of old money was supposed for this draft, but then we have another “chaotic glory” version so who knows, as for bb i think the version, known as concept demo, snippets of which we have, was supposed on the draft), then the version of pink champagne we have was definitely not for tropico because that was done in october 2013, in reality i think the song could exist back in january as a voice memo or maybe it has earlier version done with different producer, it wasn’t confirmed she redone elvis for ultraviolence so maybe it left on that acoustic version stage that we have,

 

and i personally think the last one is LEADER, not Preacher

 

the most interesting to me from this list is guns and roses demo because it’s hard to imagine the song was done so early, i imagine it sounds very different

[Lanaparadiserey 18,459]

15 hours ago, lanaismamom said:

we don’t know which versions of old money and bb was supposed to be on tropico but i personally wouldn’t say it would be either version of jamie xx sessions (i would say the leaked demo version of old money was supposed for this draft, but then we have another “chaotic glory” version so who knows, as for bb i think the version, known as concept demo, snippets of which we have, was supposed on the draft), then the version of pink champagne we have was definitely not for tropico because that was done in october 2013, in reality i think the song could exist back in january as a voice memo or maybe it has earlier version done with different producer, it wasn’t confirmed she redone elvis for ultraviolence so maybe it left on that acoustic version stage that we have,

 

and i personally think the last one is LEADER, not Preacher

 

the most interesting to me from this list is guns and roses demo because it’s hard to imagine the song was done so early, i imagine it sounds very different

We just need an insider who knows everything about the Tropcio concept to leak a zip with everything as it would have been😘🙏

[Daytona Beach Sparkler 2,878]

 Has anybody figured out/ confirmed the ineligible tracks yet? 

[ethelcain 8,202]

Is Tropico for us the equivalent of Karma for Taylor Swift fans 

[Daytona Beach Sparkler 2,878]

5 minutes ago, Break Me Down said:

Is Tropico for us the equivalent of Karma for Taylor Swift fans 

Yes 

[ComebacktoCalifornia 2,277]

On 6/14/2023 at 12:06 AM, Break Me Down said:

Hi! I wanted to make a thread where people could discuss and maybe share info about the Tropico album, because it really interests me and I'm sure some of you feel the same way! 

 

What we know:

- It was recorded during late 2012-2013 but was eventually scrapped and turned into "Ultraviolence".

- Lana announced that the short film would use three tracks from "Paradise" instead of songs from her then scrapped album in July of 2013.

- "Elvis", the laptop demo from 2008 was possibly considered for inclusion on the album, but was probably never re-recorded.

- The concept "Ultraviolence" was born and "Tropico" was scrapped sometime after October 23, 2013, since Pink Champagne is confirmed to be on Tropico's tracklist, and it is the latest known recording date we know of for any of the songs on Tropico.

 

"Tropico" track list (that we know of):

 

1. Old Money (Drums Demo)

2. Black Beauty (Demo)

3. Guns n Roses (Demo)

4. Lake Placid

5. Summertime (Janis Joplin cover)

6. Melancholia ("Ultraviolence" Demo)

7. Jesus (I Talk To Jesus)

8. Pink Champagne ("Let Me Love You Like A Woman" Demo)

9. Elvis

10. Earthquakes (Final Version)

11. Illegible

12. Illegible (Money & Power?, Fake Rolex?, Axl Rose?)

13. Illegible (Preacher?)

 

Picture of Lana's notebook with the alleged track list during January of 2013:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Other songs (and their recording dates) that were recorded during the Tropico sessions, in other words: songs that were recorded after "Paradise" but before the concept of "Ultraviolence" existed

 

(* = unsure)

 

- 80s Baby (Nov 15, 2012)

- Sweetheart (Nov 15, 2012)

- The Devil (Dec 7, 2012)

- He Hits Me Because He Loves Me (Dec 7, 2012)

- Nectar Of The Gods (May 5, 2013)

- Cherry Blossom (May 5, 2013)

- Angels Forever, Forever Angels (June, 2013)

- Unidentified Flying Bill (June, 2013)

- Madly (Oct 1, 2013)

- Ave Maria

- Cult Leader*

 

Lmk what I should add!

 

I think last illegible one is called sad kisses or real kisses and the one before Preacher is fake rolex

[twinkletoes7 5,139]

On 11/28/2023 at 5:53 AM, lanaismamom said:

and i personally think the last one is LEADER, not Preacher

maybe that's cult leader then. but i love the idea of a song called preacher 

[ComebacktoCalifornia 2,277]

9 minutes ago, twinkletoes7 said:

maybe that's cult leader then. but i love the idea of a song called preacher 

Preacher is confirmed by insiders right

[Veinsineon 70,697]

The fact no insiders probably even know what the notepad says

[sparklrtrailrheaven 8,430]

Proposing a theory that track 12 could be "Film Roll"? I think the second word is especially distinctive, with the R and double Ls pretty clear to me. If it's 'film,' I think it's a little hard to read because the right side of the 'm' is kind of faint and makes it look like an 'e'... I've attempted to illustrate: 

 

[ComebacktoCalifornia 2,277]

2 minutes ago, sparklrtrailrheaven said:

Proposing a theory that track 12 could be "Film Roll"? I think the second word is especially distinctive, with the R and double Ls pretty clear to me. If it's 'film,' I think it's a little hard to read because the right side of the 'm' is kind of faint and makes it look like an 'e'... I've attempted to illustrate: 

 

Hang on you might be on to something 

[sparklrtrailrheaven 8,430]

Just now, ComebacktoCalifornia said:

Hang on you might be on to something 

 

I kind of feel like I just had a revelation 

 

[ComebacktoCalifornia 2,277]

1 minute ago, sparklrtrailrheaven said:

 

I kind of feel like I just had a revelation 

 

That's how I feel about sad/real kisses

[DinahLee 5,601]

13 minutes ago, Veinsineon said:

The fact no insiders probably even know what the notepad says

 

I think some people might know based on the hoarding of songs. Like... some people for sure know if "Fake Rolex" is a real song or not. I really believe all these songs are circulating since we've got the most random stuff like 80s Baby, The Devil and Connection. They probably know if Elvis has been re-recorded or if it's still the same laptop demo and this stuff.

 

-

 

I do still have a lot of skepticism about everything we know for this "Tropico" project x Paradise x Ultraviolence and I believe there's a bigger overlap between the first 2 than the latter. The first mention of a "new album" seems to have happened on June 15th 2012¹, when a spanish interview published she had "5 new songs" and was going to release it in November. On the same day, she gave another Radio Interview where she mentioned the titles "Will You Still Love Me When I'm Not Longer Young and Beautiful" (sang a little acapella), "In The Lands Of Gods & Monsters" and "I Sing The Body Electric"². Circa 10 days later, during an Australian Radio Interview, she said then it wasn't "a new album" but a "repackage" with "like Seven new songs".³ It seems like a short time to change her mind about New Album x Repack, but we can also note that she already mentioned she added 2 extra songs (actually, 3, since Young and Beautiful wasn't released as part of Paradise).

 

My theory is that Tropico was meant to be the second album, yes, but that wasn't transformed into Ultraviolence, it was reduced into Paradise. The EP got 9 (!) songs on it, and we're fully aware that Young And Beautiful, Life is Beautiful, I Talk To Jesus are all confirmed outtakes from the Paradise sessions and they would all easily make it a 13 songs record, with rumored extra songs like Starry Eyed also being left on the cutting room and without extra information. July 2012 she was probably gearing up for Ride (video) and really close to Anthony Mendler coming from the release of National Anthem. It makes sense she probably had all these visuals in her head and for a moment expected to release it with a new album, but also realized she didn't have enough time to make a full record + film... so she scrapped the album but kept the Film with specific songs she wanted... I mean, Tropico does use the 3 key songs from Paradise, Ride already had its own Short Film, Blue Velvet was already used within the H&M campaign and Burning Desire was a Bonus\Promotional single also tied with Jaguar. All you have left is Yayo (a re-recording), Cola (which seems to be one of the earliest songs from these sessions and one of her favs) and American (a filler she never bothered to perform???). I just find it all too-tied together to fully believe Tropico was something that came from after Paradise and she really wanted to make a movie out of thin air without having real songs while using a Paradise song to announce it (it was first mentioned with the "Bel Air" video using B-Roll footage from Summertime Sadness).

 

Anyway yeah conspiracy. We need to start #TRANSAM thread.

 

 

 

 

 

¹https://www.rtve.es/radio/20120615/lana-del-rey-electrica-amon-tobin-calentando-motores-para-su-espectacular-show-sonar/536599.shtml 

²https://www.ccma.cat/3cat/lana-del-rey-una-de-les-estrelles-del-sonar-2012-entrevistada-a-el-mati/video/646450/ sadly this is offline, but this is mentioned on the Young and Beautiful page

³https://www.idolator.com/6753751/lana-del-rey-born-to-die-paradise-edition

[Surf Noir 189,424]

6 minutes ago, DinahLee said:

 

I think some people might know based on the hoarding of songs. Like... some people for sure know if "Fake Rolex" is a real song or not. I really believe all these songs are circulating since we've got the most random stuff like 80s Baby, The Devil and Connection. They probably know if Elvis has been re-recorded or if it's still the same laptop demo and this stuff.

 

-

 

I do still have a lot of skepticism about everything we know for this "Tropico" project x Paradise x Ultraviolence and I believe there's a bigger overlap between the first 2 than the latter. The first mention of a "new album" seems to have happened on June 15th 2012¹, when a spanish interview published she had "5 new songs" and was going to release it in November. On the same day, she gave another Radio Interview where she mentioned the titles "Will You Still Love Me When I'm Not Longer Young and Beautiful" (sang a little acapella), "In The Lands Of Gods & Monsters" and "I Sing The Body Electric"². Circa 10 days later, during an Australian Radio Interview, she said then it wasn't "a new album" but a "repackage" with "like Seven new songs".³ It seems like a short time to change her mind about New Album x Repack, but we can also note that she already mentioned she added 2 extra songs (actually, 3, since Young and Beautiful wasn't released as part of Paradise).

 

My theory is that Tropico was meant to be the second album, yes, but that wasn't transformed into Ultraviolence, it was reduced into Paradise. The EP got 9 (!) songs on it, and we're fully aware that Young And Beautiful, Life is Beautiful, I Talk To Jesus are all confirmed outtakes from the Paradise sessions and they would all easily make it a 13 songs record, with rumored extra songs like Starry Eyed also being left on the cutting room and without extra information. July 2012 she was probably gearing up for Ride (video) and really close to Anthony Mendler coming from the release of National Anthem. It makes sense she probably had all these visuals in her head and for a moment expected to release it with a new album, but also realized she didn't have enough time to make a full record + film... so she scrapped the album but kept the Film with specific songs she wanted... I mean, Tropico does use the 3 key songs from Paradise, Ride already had its own Short Film, Blue Velvet was already used within the H&M campaign and Burning Desire was a Bonus\Promotional single also tied with Jaguar. All you have left is Yayo (a re-recording), Cola (which seems to be one of the earliest songs from these sessions and one of her favs) and American (a filler she never bothered to perform???). I just find it all too-tied together to fully believe Tropico was something that came from after Paradise and she really wanted to make a movie out of thin air without having real songs while using a Paradise song to announce it (it was first mentioned with the "Bel Air" video using B-Roll footage from Summertime Sadness).

 

Anyway yeah conspiracy. We need to start #TRANSAM thread.

 

 

 

 

 

¹https://www.rtve.es/radio/20120615/lana-del-rey-electrica-amon-tobin-calentando-motores-para-su-espectacular-show-sonar/536599.shtml 

²https://www.ccma.cat/3cat/lana-del-rey-una-de-les-estrelles-del-sonar-2012-entrevistada-a-el-mati/video/646450/ sadly this is offline, but this is mentioned on the Young and Beautiful page

³https://www.idolator.com/6753751/lana-del-rey-born-to-die-paradise-edition

 

i still believe tropico was a very early ultraviolence/ldr3 concept, since the photo of the tracklist on the notebook paper was taken in january 2013 which was after the release of paradise, also, the very top of the tracklist says "tropico"

[111 34,831]

5 minutes ago, DinahLee said:

American (a filler she never bothered to perform???)

 

american i'm so sorry sweetie...