SONG OF THE WEEK (#2)

[Creyk 11,497]

This is my fave live performance of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DYqloUtcl0

I think it showcases Lana's unique vocal abilities quite well, it's so diverse.

Also OTTR is such a fun idgaf song I think it's a perfect follow-up for BTD in the album's tracklisting, it sounds extra delicious after the hypnotic calmness of BTD.

[alidusi 70]

 

First impression: This was the first Lana song I ever heard and I thought it was a fucking brilliant masterpiece. It my second favorite song of all time, ever in existence. It's pretty much responsible for my Lana addiction. 

 

just out of curiosity, what's your number one favorite song? 

[Sitar 22,174]

Overall rating: 5 stars

First impression: I remember being so excited to go out and buy Born to Die. Just from browsing the Wikipedia page for the album, it caught my attention with all these really engaging titles, "Off to the Races" being one of them. It was so fresh and weird and wrong when I first heard. I remember just replaying it on the school bus and cringing at the luxury depicted but sort of treating it as a guilty pleasure. My memories of my discovery of this song are very different from my current feeling about Lana, but I was very excited at the time. I owe a lot to this song in getting me interested because a lot of the rest of the album didn't catch me at first.

Impression now: I still love this song but many have outstripped it for a place on my list of favorites. I like to reminisce on the excitement but I have a much more casual reaction to it now.

Songs I play along with it: "Blue Jeans" always sounds just right after it, but I've paired it with "Live or Die" in a playlist before

What I like about it: The really daring vocal spectrum she shows, the rhythm to her delivery, the layering of the vocals in the verses ("glass room, perfume, Cognac, lilac FUMES", then when it goes back to just one voice with "says it feels like heaven to him")

What I dislike about it: That it was never a single

Memories I associate with this song: First discovering Lana, knowing nothing about her, being slightly ashamed of how into her I was

Colors/images that come to mind: Red

Favorite lyrics: "Sorry 'bout it!"

Interpretation: A couple relishing a fast-paced lifestyle but simultaneously getting in too deep. The last part of the song becomes more tragic than any of the rest as recognition hits, which makes it a very effectively reminiscent song, both discussing the good times and the bad. I struggle with whether or not the extravagance is exaggerated.

[cartoon eyes 2,214]

OVERALL RATING 5 Stars

FIRST IMPRESSION When I first got the BTD album physically this was my fave on the album. It's such a jam. I love the lyrics.

IMPRESSION NOW I STILL LOVE IT HEAPS!!!! Not as much as when it first came out but I will love it. Whenever I play Born To Die all the way through I remember how much I love it.

SONGS I PLAY ALONG WITH IT Live Or Die, Radio, Blue Jeans, Born To Die, Video Games

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT "YOU ARE MY ONE TRUE LOVE", The lolita references, and the last chorus. Ooh also the single cover from the BTD video shoot.

WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT IT Lana never released it officially and also the video :/

MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SONG When me and my mum were in the car playing BTD, this was the only song she liked When I first got my sister into Lana this was her fave.

COLORS / IMAGES THAT COME TO MIND The Lolita (1962) movie poster. Oh and dark red.

FAVE LYRICS THE LOLITA REFERENCES

INTERPRETATION Lana has a thing for men who are older

[Trinity 1,219]

just out of curiosity, what's your number one favorite song? 

Well, I don't know. Something by Michael Jackson (my favorite artist ever who has changed my life in so many ways) but don't ask me to pick because I can't.

When me and my mum were in the car playing BTD, this was the only song she liked  

LITERALLY SAME

[ConeyIslandQueen262 1,068]

When I bought BTD just a few days after it had been released, I already knew VG and BTD because of the radio, so OTTR was the first song that I didn't knew when I listened to the album and I immediately knew that it was a fantastic decision to buy BTD !

 

I was fascinated by the unique, poetic and beautiful lyrics and the way her voice changed again and again during the song. I really love that glamour gangster feeling the song has. Imo OTTR represents Lana's image at the beginning of her "real" career (end of 2011). She called herself a "Gangster Nancy Sinatra" and I totally feel this in lines like " Likes to watch me in the glass room bathroom, Chateau Marmont, slippin' on my red dress, puttin' on my makeup, glass film, perfume, cognac, lilac fumes" or "My old man is a thief and I'm gonna stay and pray with him 'til the end".

 

The interview @@SitarHero posted helps a lot with the Lanalysis. If we can trust her words ( ), OTTR describes the lifestyle she used to have when she was with that man, that means they lived in LA and moved to Vegas because he liked to gamble. Lana wasn't talented and that's why she just went swimming all the time. This would even match the lyrics "Swimming pool glimmering darling, white bikini off with my red nail polish, watch me in the swimming pool bright blue ripples you". Swimming pools seem to play a big role in OTTR and as she spent most of her time swimming in Vegas, we have an explanation for that.

 

So I think, the basic idea of the song is definitely true but I'm almost sure that Lana added many gangster details to the lyrics. 

Looking at Barrie I can't imagine that Lana once dated a guy with a "gold chain on" but who knows, maybe her taste for men changed  .

 

Right now I'm actually wondering about something that I never really realized. I know that alcohol is mentioned sometimes on BTD in songs like Carmen and This Is What Makes Us Girls and these deal with her teenage years. Lana says she stopped drinking when she was about 18. In OTTR it seems like her man is drinking ("black Cristal", "cognac") but maybe she does too ("Bacardi chasers") ?

Also she is talking about "Riker's Island", so like already mentioned in the Lanalysis thread she could be talking about K and her younger years (she mentions Coney Island which is also used in Carmen for example, a song that probably describes her lifestyle when she was about 17).

When I look at her writing style, I would say that it was written with the rest of the BTD album, which means that it isn't old. And of course she can still write a song about K today but....

We assume that she dated him before the Sirens album, so she couldn't be older than 17. First of all, her parents sent her to a boarding school because of her alcohol addiction and I don't think they would let her go to Vegas just for fun and her school also wasn't in LA, right ? Furthermore she said she wasn't good at gambling but if the song talks about K, she wouldn't even been allowed to enter a casiono. Oh and she says she has a "Las Vegas past" but according to the interview this can't be true at all.

 

I know my post is pretty confusing but I had to say it. 

OTTR is one of Lana's best songs but I wouldn't be surprised if it is totally made up and she also lied in the interview

 

 

@ I love the form you posted but I think people will discuss the song better without one. Don't judge me if I'm wrong 

[lola 6,617]

Right now I'm actually wondering about something that I never really realized. I know that alcohol is mentioned sometimes on BTD in songs like Carmen and This Is What Makes Us Girls and these deal with her teenage years. Lana says she stopped drinking when she was about 18. In OTTR it seems like her man is drinking ("black Cristal", "cognac") but maybe she does too ("Bacardi chasers") ?

Also she is talking about "Riker's Island", so like already mentioned in the Lanalysis thread she could be talking about K and her younger years (she mentions Coney Island which is also used in Carmen for example, a song that probably describes her lifestyle when she was about 17).

When I look at her writing style, I would say that it was written with the rest of the BTD album, which means that it isn't old. And of course she can still write a song about K today but....

We assume that she dated him before the Sirens album, so she couldn't be older than 17. First of all, her parents sent her to a boarding school because of her alcohol addiction and I don't think they would let her go to Vegas just for fun and her school also wasn't in LA, right ? Furthermore she said she wasn't good at gambling but if the song talks about K, she wouldn't even been allowed to enter a casiono. Oh and she says she has a "Las Vegas past" but according to the interview this can't be true at all.

haven't had a drink in seven years my ass

[Jazzmin 297]

Overall rating:  5/5

First impression: Felt disturbed by the beginning with her "bitter" voice. Liked when it was "sweeter". Especially "Light of my life, fire of my loins" parts.

Impression now: The song is damn gorgous!

iTunes plays: I've got no possibility to count how many times I've played it, sadly...

Songs I play along with it: "Born To Die", "Lolita"

What I like about it: Its lyrics, Lana's voice, the storyline, beautiful musical background, her feelings she put into it.

What I dislike about it: I said what I USED to dislike. Now there is no such thing.

Memories I associate with this song: Holidays spent with my parents.

Colors/images that come to mind: Green.

Favorite lyrics:

Light of my life, fire in my loins

 

I need you to come here and save me

I'm your little scarlet starlet

Singing in the garden

 

I'm sorry that I'm misbehaving

I'm your little harlot, starlet

Queen of Coney Island

Raising hell all over town

[ConeyIslandQueen262 1,068]

 

Right now I'm actually wondering about something that I never really realized. I know that alcohol is mentioned sometimes on BTD in songs like Carmen and This Is What Makes Us Girls and these deal with her teenage years. Lana says she stopped drinking when she was about 18. In OTTR it seems like her man is drinking ("black Cristal", "cognac") but maybe she does too ("Bacardi chasers") ?

Also she is talking about "Riker's Island", so like already mentioned in the Lanalysis thread she could be talking about K and her younger years (she mentions Coney Island which is also used in Carmen for example, a song that probably describes her lifestyle when she was about 17).

When I look at her writing style, I would say that it was written with the rest of the BTD album, which means that it isn't old. And of course she can still write a song about K today but....

We assume that she dated him before the Sirens album, so she couldn't be older than 17. First of all, her parents sent her to a boarding school because of her alcohol addiction and I don't think they would let her go to Vegas just for fun and her school also wasn't in LA, right ? Furthermore she said she wasn't good at gambling but if the song talks about K, she wouldn't even been allowed to enter a casiono. Oh and she says she has a "Las Vegas past" but according to the interview this can't be true at all.

haven't had a drink in seven years my ass

 

 

Lana says she's the queen of almost everything but she forgot to mention one thing 

[HeadBitch 6,087]

Overall rating: 10/10

First impression: That it had a lot of lyrics for a Lana song and I really noticed the ending vocals.

Impression now: A perfect track, very autobiographical and melodical.

iTunes plays: 42

Songs I play along with it: Radio / Born To Die / Blue Jeans

What I like about it: Mainly the daddy fucker vocals, but also the mix of different tones,

Memories I associate with this song: "Born To Die" Era, ATRL Blowed Up because of this track

Colors/images that come to mind: Brown

Favorite lyrics: 

He likes to watch me in the glass room, bathroom, Chateau Marmont

Slippin’ on my red dress, puttin’ on my makeup

Glass room, perfume, cognac, lilac fumes

Says it feels like heaven to him.

[Januli 119]

Overall rating: 5/5

First impression: It was so different from the other Lana songs that I had heard. I loved it.

Impression now: I still love it. It's one of my favorite Lana songs. 

iTunes plays: 80

Songs I play along with it: Live or Die, Jealous Girl, Blue Jeans.

What I like about it: I love how Lana sings in it. Some parts she sings really low and some so high.  I also love the lyrics, and all the rhymes. And the instrumental is so nice too. 

What I dislike about it: Basically nothing.

Memories I associate with this song: I was on a three-day work practice from school. I had just bought btd and put it to my phone. I walked in the freezing Finnish winter, it was -30C and I had to walk to the city center. I just listened ottr and jammed in the coldness. 

Colors/images that come to mind: Dark red and blue. 

Favorite lyrics:

Swimming pool glimmering, darling

White bikini off with my red nail polish
Watch me in the swimming pool
Bright blue ripples
You sitting sipping on your black Cristal, yeah

[COLACNT 5,171]

Overall rating: 7/5

First impression: um what

Impression now: wow what 

Songs I play along with it: brite lites, the twin peaks theme, trash, everything else 

What I like about it: its beautiful, deranged, and defies any type of categorization (even in the context of BTD). also, i love it when lana 'raps' 

What I dislike about it: the fact that i like it so much 

Favorite lyrics: 

 

My old man is a tough man

But he got a soul as sweet as blood red jam
And he shows me, he knows me
Every inch of my tar black soul

(although i personally prefer "with every inch of his tar black soul" ) 

I'm your little harlot, starlet
Queen of Coney Island
Raising hell all over town
Sorry 'bout it!

Boy you're so crazy baby
I love you forever, not maybe

 

Colors/images that come to mind: black, blood red, sepia tones, and maybe a hint of blue 

 

 

Interpretation: i dunno. this song is kind of complicated, i think? it isn't even just the lyrics. the melodies, the intonation, the constant shift in her tone, its all beautiful and somehow grotesque? there's just something very seedy about this song? maybe its cause she sounds like a squeaking sex doll. reminds me some kind of upscale boudoir in the 60's, where mafia men would go to fuck pre-teen hookers. i don't think there's really any story to it all, i think its just a bunch of typically discomfiting ~lana-isms all mashed into one song. it probably explains why visuals are such an important component, and why they augment your perception and/or understanding of her music. i mean, there's nothing about this song that's overtly disgusting. there's nothing really all that creepy or disturbing until you really think about certain components and then try to attach some kind of visual to it. i think this song is a pretty clear example of why she's always drawing comparisons to david lynch. images of hideous, disfigured creatures licking their lips at strippers and plastic barbie dolls wouldn't make sense if the song weren't somehow, almost subliminally fucked up. maybe cause it seems to be all about her superficial preoccupation with the voyeuristic gaze of men. half of the song is about her man 'watching' her, but yet she claims its ~true love, even though there's not much else to suggest anything that resembles "love". its like all she can do is smile real pretty because she's "tar black" and dead on the inside, so the beauty and the smiles are all that she can offer. i guess the brite lites footage fits well in that context, when she waves and grins at the end before it all slides off her face a split second later. perfect, plastic, dead-eyed beauty queen and her fucked up schemes to extort money and lust from the men that surround her -- i guess that's what its all about? lel 

[Philomene 927]

First impression: The first time I heard it, the lines "Light of my life, fire of my loins" got me incredibly embarrassed. I wasn't expecting at all this singer to use quotes from Lolita, which is a book that I secretly loved. That made me feel like my privacy was invaded because it was the first time I heard a girl so openly referencing the book, I never met people before openly talking about it, that's why I was so surprised.

Impression now: I absolutely love it, it's perfect next to Born to Die which imo is a masterpiece. 

Songs I play along with it: Anything with a Bonnie and Clyde feel (Golden Grill, ...) but most of the time Born to Die, Burning Desire can be good next to it too.

What I like about it: The instrumental, the white girl rap haha. I like it how she is so comfortable with her feminine charms. It's so cinematic, this song tells you a story and it's so complete that you can easily picture the car they ride and stuff like that.

What I dislike about it: Probably that a lot of people automatically assume that this song is about Lolita without having a real thinking on the story and realizing that it's not about the book. Maybe she somehow associates her own life with the story told in the book but not more.

Memories I associate with this song:  I always remember a guy that loved to drive very very fast and the places he took me to. 

Colors/images that come to mind: Bright red, red long nails, a high class prostitute tbh. Loads of gold, opulence, cigars, dirty money. 

Favorite lyrics:  Now I'm off to the races, laces

Leather on my waist is tight and I am fallin' down
I can see your face is shameless, Cipriani's basement
Love you but I'm going down
God I'm so crazy, baby, I'm sorry that I'm misbehaving
I'm your little harlot, starlet, Queen of Coney Island
Raising hell all over town
Sorry 'bout it

 

But I trust in the decision of the Lord to watch over us
Take him when he may, if he may
I'm not afraid to say that I'd die without him
Who else is gonna put up with me this way?
I need you, I breathe you, I never leave you
They would rue the day I was alone without you

 

Interpretation: With the last lines, I imagine like she's threatening to commit suicide if he's taken away from her.

There is obviously a power role play in their relationship. The first "light of my life [...]" is like the guy is telling her how to behave, the second one "light of your life [...]" she's in control and still trying to keep that appearance of a submissive girl but she perfectly understood how to get what she wants from him (money) and that she is his weak spot.

 

"raising hell all over town, sorry 'bout it" : she makes his life more problematic but she didn't want to, trouble comes with her.

She's obviously not the classy girl you would proudly show to your mom but the vulgar girl suiting a guy involved in shady situations. 

[Creyk 11,497]

 

First impression: um what

Impression now: wow what 

 

Interpretation: i dunno. this song is kind of complicated, i think? it isn't even just the lyrics. the melodies, the intonation, the constant shift in her tone, its all beautiful and somehow grotesque? there's just something very seedy about this song? maybe its cause she sounds like a squeaking sex doll. reminds me some kind of upscale boudoir in the 60's, where mafia men would go to fuck pre-teen hookers. i don't think there's really any story to it all, i think its just a bunch of typically discomfiting ~lana-isms all mashed into one song. it probably explains why visuals are such an important component, and why they augment your perception and/or understanding of her music. i mean, there's nothing about this song that's overtly disgusting. there's nothing really all that creepy or disturbing until you really think about certain components and then try to attach some kind of visual to it. i think this song is a pretty clear example of why she's always drawing comparisons to david lynch. images of hideous, disfigured creatures licking their lips at strippers and plastic barbie dolls wouldn't make sense if the song weren't somehow, almost subliminally fucked up. maybe cause it seems to be all about her superficial preoccupation with the voyeuristic gaze of men. half of the song is about her man 'watching' her, but yet she claims its ~true love, even though there's not much else to suggest anything that resembles "love". its like all she can do is smile real pretty because she's "tar black" and dead on the inside, so the beauty and the smiles are all that she can offer. i guess the brite lites footage fits well in that context, when she waves and grins at the end before it all slides off her face a split second later. perfect, plastic, dead-eyed beauty queen and her fucked up schemes to extort money and lust from the men that surround her -- i guess that's what its all about? lel 

 

Those impressions are the best ever

 

And wow, what a great interpretation!

I don't think I ever thought about any song so in-depth tbh. It's really nice I love what you wrote, very interesting.

 

"perfect, plastic, dead-eyed beauty queen and her fucked up schemes to extort money and lust from the men that surround her"

 

I could see Lana being a person who takes pride in being able to do that, tbh. Plus it would give Young and Beautiful even more depth and meaning

[Yoshi 219]

Overall rating: 4/5

First impression: I didnt really like it at first, it felt really out of place in born to die for me

Impression now: Now I really like it, listening to the lyrics and the bridge is beautiful 

iTunes plays: 12 (dont really use itunes for music)

Songs I play along with it: the rest of BTD

What I like about it: i really like the harmonies in the verses, actually the verses are the best part of the song to be honest.

What I dislike about it: its a little long for me but not enough to spoil it

Colors/images that come to mind: a very busy area, due to the background tbh

Favorite lyrics:  "he loves me with every beat of his cocaine heart"

[ConeyIslandQueen262 1,068]

time for a new song 

[sparklrtrailrheaven 8,498]

Someone should bring this back! This would be fun to do again

Actually, I might set it up tomorrow