LANALYSIS: Relating Songs To Known/Assumed Relationships

[PinUpCartoonBaby 1,017]

Just a random thought and I don't know if this has already been pointed out but could it be that this really important relationship (“I am usually always singing about the same god damn person so I will love him forever but you know, it’s all good. It’s all good!") is the one she had with this record executive? I mean if it's true that this relationship lasted for 7 years she would have been with him almost her entire life as a (young) adult.
"I had a long-term relationship for seven years with someone who was the head of a label and I felt like I was that change of routine. I was always waiting to become the person who his kids came home to, and it never happened. Obviously I had to seek other relationships, and I felt like that became a pattern. I was younger—24, 25 at the time. I had known what I wanted to do for a long time." (Complex mag)

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this properly but does this mean that she "seeked other relationships" aka broke up with him at the age of 24, 25? If so she must have been like 17 or 18 when she started dating the record executive. Or am I getting it wrong?

Another thing, he seemingly has children so maybe he was married before or even whilst the relationship between him and Lizzy/Lana lasted. ("I know your wife that she wouldn't mind"?)

 

I'm pretty sure that Axl Rose Husband is about this guy: "Record executive I need you to live, I someone come replace you"

Additionally: "Kids on vacation, Florida Keys are calling, Come back to me" - maybe his kids played a role why the relationship ended, idk. And when the kids are on vacation Lizzy might think that she and the record executive can go back to their perfect relationship. Another interesting thing "Florida Keys" --> in Florida Kilos she's mentioning those keys as well. Possible link?

 

So if Axl Rose Husband actually is about this guy the "blue hydrangea" thing would be a reference to him as well. --> Old Money

Maybe a bit far-fetched but Axl Rose Husband --> her song Guns and Roses.

 

Those are just a few possible references to him that came into my mind while writing this, I'm sure there are many, many more.
Of course all this is highly speculative but I was bored so ...

 

A bit out of context but we have so many pics of Lana in her Lizzy days but it seems like we don't have a single one of her with that record executive, do we? Not a single (leaked) photo of a seven years relationship?

[TRASHBABY 346]

I think when she says 7 year relationship, I dont think it was continuous. It was probably very off and on and she saw other people on their 'breaks'.

[PinUpCartoonBaby 1,017]

I think when she says 7 year relationship, I dont think it was continuous. It was probably very off and on and she saw other people on their 'breaks'.

Now we have a confirmation of this theory: "It was a love affair. But, I mean, I saw him off and on for seven years, and I'm still close with him."

 

[CherryGalore 99]

 

Now we have a confirmation of this theory: "It was a love affair. But, I mean, I saw him off and on for seven years, and I'm still close with him."

 

 

 

Where's this quote from? x

[PinUpCartoonBaby 1,017]

Where's this quote from? x

 

Outtake from the Rolling Stone interview

[MahaMaha 1,110]

Just a random thought and I don't know if this has already been pointed out but could it be that this really important relationship (“I am usually always singing about the same god damn person so I will love him forever but you know, it’s all good. It’s all good!") is the one she had with this record executive? I mean if it's true that this relationship lasted for 7 years she would have been with him almost her entire life as a (young) adult.

"I had a long-term relationship for seven years with someone who was the head of a label and I felt like I was that change of routine. I was always waiting to become the person who his kids came home to, and it never happened. Obviously I had to seek other relationships, and I felt like that became a pattern. I was younger—24, 25 at the time. I had known what I wanted to do for a long time." (Complex mag)

"They met in her early twnties when she was shopping her first independent album to major labels" maybe she was 22,23 when they met and the affair was intense until 24 or whatever and the relationship goes on until now? I dunnoo. Her first independent album being From the End or Young like me would fit your theory again though.

[Atom Heart 1,928]

Just a random thought and I don't know if this has already been pointed out but could it be that this really important relationship (“I am usually always singing about the same god damn person so I will love him forever but you know, it’s all good. It’s all good!") is the one she had with this record executive? I mean if it's true that this relationship lasted for 7 years she would have been with him almost her entire life as a (young) adult.

"I had a long-term relationship for seven years with someone who was the head of a label and I felt like I was that change of routine. I was always waiting to become the person who his kids came home to, and it never happened. Obviously I had to seek other relationships, and I felt like that became a pattern. I was younger—24, 25 at the time. I had known what I wanted to do for a long time." (Complex mag)

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this properly but does this mean that she "seeked other relationships" aka broke up with him at the age of 24, 25? If so she must have been like 17 or 18 when she started dating the record executive. Or am I getting it wrong?

Another thing, he seemingly has children so maybe he was married before or even whilst the relationship between him and Lizzy/Lana lasted. ("I know your wife that she wouldn't mind"?)

 

I'm pretty sure that Axl Rose Husband is about this guy: "Record executive I need you to live, I someone come replace you"

Additionally: "Kids on vacation, Florida Keys are calling, Come back to me" - maybe his kids played a role why the relationship ended, idk. And when the kids are on vacation Lizzy might think that she and the record executive can go back to their perfect relationship. Another interesting thing "Florida Keys" --> in Florida Kilos she's mentioning those keys as well. Possible link?

 

So if Axl Rose Husband actually is about this guy the "blue hydrangea" thing would be a reference to him as well. --> Old Money

Maybe a bit far-fetched but Axl Rose Husband --> her song Guns and Roses.

 

Those are just a few possible references to him that came into my mind while writing this, I'm sure there are many, many more.

Of course all this is highly speculative but I was bored so ...

 

A bit out of context but we have so many pics of Lana in her Lizzy days but it seems like we don't have a single one of her with that record executive, do we? Not a single (leaked) photo of a seven years relationship?

If a guy is cheating on his wife/girlfriend with Lana I really doubt they'd take many pictures. It's really unlikely and would work against him.

[PinUpCartoonBaby 1,017]

"They met in her early twnties when she was shopping her first independent album to major labels" maybe she was 22,23 when they met and the affair was intense until 24 or whatever and the relationship goes on until now? I dunnoo. Her first independent album being From the End or Young like me would fit your theory again though.

Those extra questions were released after I had posted my thoughts and now they confuse me even more. Ok, she says that it was an on-off thing but did she date that guy during her relationship with Barrie? Because if they met in her early twenties and she was like 20, 21, 22 plus 7 years = 27-29 so this relationship would have lasted during her relationship with Barrie or maybe she and this record executive are still dating? But she talks about it like it's already past for her ("I had a long-term relationship for seven years[...]"). But yeah you can never be 100% sure when it comes to things Lana says...

 

If a guy is cheating on his wife/girlfriend with Lana I really doubt they'd take many pictures. It's really unlikely and would work against him.

Ok you're totally right.

In those RS extra questions she states that he wasn't married but maybe he had another girlfriend. whatever...

[Intriguing Penguin 867]

There's this video of Lana and some man called, Justin Murdock leaving the Chateau... Does anyone know what Justin's like career is seeing he is driving a nice car in this video?? Could he possibly be a head of a record company?? :x 

[PinUpCartoonBaby 1,017]

There's this video of Lana and some man called, Justin Murdock leaving the Chateau... Does anyone know what Justin's like career is seeing he is driving a nice car in this video?? Could he possibly be a head of a record company?? :x 

 

Google found this: http://www.lucywho.com/p595801/justin-murdock/

and http://www.forbes.com/profile/justin-murdock/

I think it's the same guy as in the vid. So he is rather a business man and not really related to music industry I think.

 

EDIT: just found his "dating history" and it also lists Lana

[Intriguing Penguin 867]

Google found this: http://www.lucywho.com/p595801/justin-murdock/

and http://www.forbes.com/profile/justin-murdock/

I think it's the same guy as in the vid. So he is rather a business man and not really related to music industry I think.

 

EDIT: just found his "dating history" and it also lists Lana

Haha. I don't think it could be him though... :s I'm sure this record exec. probably has relations to artists Lana use to play with in the underground... maybe? :x 

[effr 8]

Responding to the discussion about Gene Campbell a few pages back, I don’t know how many of you have read this since then, but she said that he was 22 when she met him, and even though she was 15, it’s not at all Lolita-esque. Most of my friends in high school had boyfriends in their twenties when they were 15/16/17 and it wasn’t a big deal. "When I was 15, I had this teacher called Gene Campbell, who is still my good friend,” begins Lana. “In boarding school, to become a teacher you don’t have to have a Masters. I was 15 and he was 22, out of Georgetown. He was young, and at school you were allowed to take trips out at the weekends. On our driving trips around the Connecticut counties, he introduced me to Nabokov, (Allen) Ginsberg, (Walt) Whitman, and even Tupac and Biggie. He was my gateway to inspirational culture. Those inspirations I got when I was 15 are still my only inspirations. I draw from that same well. It’s one world I dip into to create other worlds. Like this philosopher Josiah Royce once said: ‘Without the roots, you can’t have any fruits.’” http://www.clashmusic.com/features/american-dreamer-lana-del-rey-interviewed It’s likely they were just friends, in my opinion. I had a friend who was in his twenties when I was in my early teens.

@@CherryGalore The ex-boyfriend she lived with was Steven Mertens. “Throughout school, she moved around between the apartments of friends and boyfriends. "My mom called me 'the couch queen'," she says. She remembers spending long nights at a Chinese deli on 42nd street. "They'd let me buy a banana and a coffee and stay there until midnight," she says. "I would go over different rhymes in my head, like rhyming 'disco' with 'go-go', writing about girls with blue mascara and black eyeliner, and about all of the men I had met who I just loved. It was a very liberating, penniless, hilarious, fun, fun time." One of the apartments she stayed in was that of her then-boyfriend, Steven Mertens, a fixture in New York's alt-rock and antifolk scenes.” http://lanaboards.com/index.php?/topic/3683-lana-del-rey-covers-nylon-magazines-november-issue/

The theory that the “cult leader” is Jim Boch and the cult was Atlantic Group (or The Pacific Group) makes sense, but she thanked AG in the liner notes for Born to Die. If it was a cult she was uncomfortable in and got out of, why would she thank them? She also made several posts on Facebook in recent years about AG meetings, so I don’t think that’s it. On the other hand, “filled with poison” would just make so much sense in an AA context.

[CherryGalore 99]

 

@@CherryGalore The ex-boyfriend she lived with was Steven Mertens. “Throughout school, she moved around between the apartments of friends and boyfriends. "My mom called me 'the couch queen'," she says. She remembers spending long nights at a Chinese deli on 42nd street. "They'd let me buy a banana and a coffee and stay there until midnight," she says. "I would go over different rhymes in my head, like rhyming 'disco' with 'go-go', writing about girls with blue mascara and black eyeliner, and about all of the men I had met who I just loved. It was a very liberating, penniless, hilarious, fun, fun time." One of the apartments she stayed in was that of her then-boyfriend, Steven Mertens, a fixture in New York's alt-rock and antifolk scenes.” http://lanaboards.com/index.php?/topic/3683-lana-del-rey-covers-nylon-magazines-november-issue/

 

 

 

@@effr nice!! Thanks x I wonder why we haven't heard more about Steven Mertens. Is there any info on how long they were together for...? Also - when did she share an apartment in NY with her siblings, then? I thought it was while she was studying. Jeez, the Lana timeline is extremely confusing to me tbh. x

[effr 8]

@@effr nice!! Thanks x I wonder why we haven't heard more about Steven Mertens. Is there any info on how long they were together for...? Also - when did she share an apartment in NY with her siblings, then? I thought it was while she was studying. Jeez, the Lana timeline is extremely confusing to me tbh. x

According to her, she lived in the Bronx for four years (she was studying at Fordham's Rose Hill campus which is there), and another four years in Brooklyn. She also lived in Greenwich Village (in Manhattan) for a while; I think that's when she was with Chuck. I don't think she lived with Charlie in New York, he would've still been in high school until around 2011/2012, when she moved to Los Angeles, where she has a house now. I think Charlie lives there, and Chuck lives there sometimes, but not permanently. She seems to be sharing an apartment with Naomi Shon in New York. I have no idea when/how long she was with Steven Mertens. I assume they had an on-off thing, since she would have also seen the label head on-off.

[Valentino 884]

Ok, I was just listening to Driving In Cars... for the first time and I heard "call me poison ivy cause I'm no good" and obviously I related it to "he used to call me poison like I was poison ivy." I don't know much about Driving In Cars... so maybe it's a coincidence, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet. (if it has, sorry for being late! I don't know most of her unreleased stuff)

[PrettyBaby 2,213]

Ok, I was just listening to Driving In Cars... for the first time and I heard "call me poison ivy cause I'm no good" and obviously I related it to "he used to call me poison like I was poison ivy." I don't know much about Driving In Cars... so maybe it's a coincidence, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet. (if it has, sorry for being late! I don't know most of her unreleased stuff)

 

"Call me poison ivy cause I'm far from good, but pretty from afar like a dark star"

 

I've always thought this line was sort of like a middle finger to her haters. I don't know, maybe she internalized such labels more than that, but it's such a happy song it gives me the impression she's over it to an extent.

 

So my guess is "Driving in Cars" describes a time after the "Ultraviolence" relationship. Though now that I think about it, I suppose the UV "Jim" could have colored her perceptions of her past. I dunno.

[Valentino 884]

Another 'secret' UV reference I found. I assumed MPG was fictitious and the person searching for God was just there to be a foil to Lana who is honest about ambition. Then I heard Butterflies Pt 2:

 

 

You're hot for God, but we all got a,

Hunch that maybe you've gone astray.

Control yourself, but it's so hard,

When you can look so good on Sunday.

I know he know,

That I know what he's thinkin'

I know he know.

I know he know,

That what he's teachin' is wrong,

But, honey, this preacher's song,

Has got me too far-gone.

Sicko, psycho, sicko,

But he's my beau.

Dresses up in rings and rollers,

Poses as a Holy Roller!

 

So talking about hypocritical pastors is no new theme for her.

[KillKillQueen 1,298]

She said her Catholic upbringing has influenced her writing. UV also has the Hundred Dollar Bill connection with the Ultraviolent swing line, and the Jim references. A lot of the concepts from the Lizzy-Early Lana days are reused on Ultraviolence. If she really does add on a EP, I wouldn't be shocked to hear Kinda Outta Luck or Playing Dangerous make their way back around, conceptually.

[radian 22]

I think the Jim in Ultraviolence is actually Jim Beam whiskey that she was also posing with in the Kinda Outta Luck video:

 

 

In the bridge she changes the pronouns from third person to second person (from "he used to call me/he hit me..." in the verses to "loving you was really hard/I love you forever"), making a distinction between Jim and the cult leader.

 

I agree with this. From the first time I heard UV I felt it was about going clean after being a user. Pretty much all the lyrics support the theory. Going clean can be a hard process (violent), but when she was using it felt like true love because she was drunk/high ("Jim raised me up, he hurt me but it felt like true love"). But it was ultimately bad for her, ("Jim taught me that loving him was never enough"). I could go further but I don't want to scare everyone off being a new member lol. I will say that I think the spoken portion towards the end, ("We could go back to New York", etc) could be read as her fantasizing about leaving fame behind and going back into anonymity (as much as she possibly could anyway), to start using again. Not that she would, of course, but I'm sure given how rocky fame has been for her the idea has crossed her mind.

[Wilde_child 490]

Um... Lana herself said it is about the "cult leader". I think it is a combination of this guy and the K character (or perhaps Jimmy Gnecco).