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Myriam

Underrated Lana Songs

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Bel Air, omg. My soul leaves my body everytime I listen to it.

 

absolutely!!! genuinely one of her very best songs (its in my personal top 3), its a shame its not mentioned more often...its fuckin transcendent


it's just the way i feel

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Boy oh boy do I have a response to this topic  :hooker: Since this will probably be quite long I'll try to format it appropriately and not just have it as a huge wall of text!

 

Oh Say Can You See

I know the AKA album gets a lot of love in general, but I've seen a lot of people dismiss this track as useless and filler - I won't have it! Good lord, this song is divine. It's folk meets early Lana meets a Halloween edition of the Animal Crossing soundtrack. I know that's a weird and strangely specific mixture of references, but that's the only way I can describe it. It's so peaceful but so deeply melancholic and longing; The nighttime is almost ours. I can't even articulate what this song makes me feel. It's too magical to listen to on a regular basis, but it holds such a special place in my heart and I wish more people connected with this song the way I do. It's a beautiful, sad, quiet night translated into a 4-minute track.

 

Come When You Call Me America

Kind of like Oh Say Can You See, this song has a unique feel to it. It's one of Lana's weirder tracks - it's light and airy but jazzy and trip-hop-esque. It reminds me of a grown-up version of something from the Nights: Journey of Dreams soundtrack (yes, as you can tell, I'm big on video game soundtracks hahaha). It sounds the way silk feels. Maybe this song doesn't exactly count as underrated because it does have somewhat of a niche appeal, but I'm bringing it up because it's very beautiful, a little surreal and definitely one of my favourites that I never ever see mentioned!

 

Hope Is A Dangerous Thing

I'm forever seeing this at the bottom of people's NFR rankings and I guess I understand why - it's sparse, a pure piano ballad, pretty long and definitely quite a downer. Still, I feel that a lot of fans under-appreciate the lyrical power of this song; it's some of Lana's best writing to date. Lana has a lot of great lyrics but Hope is her at her most complex and most raw; there's something really special about a song that's so verbose yet still so raw and open and vulnerable. I probably sound super pretentious so pls feel free to call me a dickhead if it's appropriate  :creep: but lines like "Spilling my guts with the Bowery bums is the only love I've ever known" and "Shaking my ass is the only thing that's got this black narcissist off my back" really capture the loneliness and confusion of alcohol addiction for me (I've been an alcoholic for 4 years); "Hello, it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad / Calling from beyond the grave I just want to say hi, Dad" gets a lot of clownery online, but for me it's a heartbreaking lyric that shows the duality of fame and misery, as well as how hard it is to keep in touch with family and friends when going through a depression because it's easy to feel like a dead man walking; "A gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off" is a lyric so beautiful and touching yet so perfectly obscure that I don't even want to go into the million different meanings I've assigned to it! There's a lot of ways to convey meaning in a song - sometimes just a dope ass instrumental can do the talking - but this song is an example of how beautiful, well thought out, poetic lyrics can really speak to an audience. And also, did she lie? Hope really is a dangerous thing!

 

Sad Girl

There are soooo many things that make this song great. Among them is Lana's "sad but won't not fuck you the fuck up" attitude, but my favourite thing is that the instruments in this song are used remarkably well. While I love NFR (honestly I really really really do), this song demonstrates exactly why it hasn't knocked Ultraviolence off the top spot for me; there's some sonic depth and a constant sense of progression going on that's lacking in quite a lot of NFR cuts. It's jazzy, bluesy and it has so much to look forward to - I'm always excited to hear that Spanish-influenced guitar kick in during the second verse, then of course there's the glorious bridge. I know Lana fans love a sing-song moment, so why do I not hear more fans talking about how much they enjoy belting out "Watch what you say to meeeeee, careful who you're talking tooo!"? It's lost on me. This song deserves way more love than it gets and I know for sure it would sound incredible live, so I'm v v v v sad she hasn't performed it before.  :crossed:

 

Gramma

Another AKA song that doesn't get a lot of love - this one is always getting knocked out first or second in AKA Survivor games. Still, it's one of my favourites and I think it's really underrated because of the unique vibe it possesses: it's cheeky, bratty, fun, a little girly and definitely twisted. I know Lana's described this song as having an innocent meaning in prior interviews, but honestly? I'm not buying it! This song is undoubtedly naughty in a way that's SO wrong only Lizzy-era Lana could get away with it. Lana is (or rather was) so good at the whole ~feigning innocence roleplay~ thing. Maybe I love this song so much because I was a messed up kid - without being too TMI, this song reminds me of being a young teen and the early sexual experiences I had and how I knew it was bad but it also so wrong it's right, when I would sneak out of my own Grandma's house to do bad and stupid things, and all the feelings of excitement and wonder I had along with the feelings of fear, confusion, guilt, abuse and sadness. This song couples a playful cheery beat with ever-so-slightly sexually suggestive lyrics ("All I wanna do is play") and then some moments of darkness ("I don't wanna think I'm bad, Gramma") to create this strange, sinister atmosphere that's so representative of being essentially still a little girl taking on the big, exciting, scary, wonderful, terrible adult world - especially where men are involved. It also touches on that feeling of attention addiction: "I'm in love with everyone and I don't wanna think I'm wrong just for feelin' pretty" and "I wanna be the whole world's girl Gramma". There's a fine line between suggestive and outright controversial, and Lana, I believe, is just about on the 'suggestive' side - if anything my reading of this song could well be controversial! Still, there's some unbelievable skill in managing to write about such a topic in a way that's a little dark but still tongue-in-cheek without it coming across as mocking or exploitative. I really love this song and I honestly feel it stands out in her discography.

 

In Wendy, More Mountains, There Is Nothing To Be Sorry About

As a fanbase we tend to neglect a lot of Lana's more singer-songwriter-y type stuff, but these songs right here...... goddamn. She has a TONNE of folksy gems, but these are some of my favourites and I never EVER hear them mentioned. More Mountains is bleak and existential; In Wendy is sweet and a little blue; There Is Nothing To Be Sorry About is legitimately devastating and I genuinely can't listen to it without crying. "Remember me the way I was six months ago"... nahhhh man I just  :poordat:  A lot of Lana fans actually haven't heard these songs; this is your sign to GO AND LISTEN TO THEM! I think the only reason these songs are so underrated is because so many people completely forget about them, but wow, they take my breath away.

 

Ok sorry for the huge post LOL I have a lot of feelings ok


Wq9zHLl.jpg

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Yayo is truly beautiful

AKA version is stunning

Boy oh boy do I have a response to this topic  :hooker: Since this will probably be quite long I'll try to format it appropriately and not just have it as a huge wall of text!

 

Oh Say Can You See

I know the AKA album gets a lot of love in general, but I've seen a lot of people dismiss this track as useless and filler - I won't have it! Good lord, this song is divine. It's folk meets early Lana meets a Halloween edition of the Animal Crossing soundtrack. I know that's a weird and strangely specific mixture of references, but that's the only way I can describe it. It's so peaceful but so deeply melancholic and longing; The nighttime is almost ours. I can't even articulate what this song makes me feel. It's too magical to listen to on a regular basis, but it holds such a special place in my heart and I wish more people connected with this song the way I do. It's a beautiful, sad, quiet night translated into a 4-minute track.

oh say can you see is probably the most beautiful track i've ever heard i love it so much


Lana Del Rey Honeymoon GIF

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Boy oh boy do I have a response to this topic  :hooker: Since this will probably be quite long I'll try to format it appropriately and not just have it as a huge wall of text!

 

Oh Say Can You See

I know the AKA album gets a lot of love in general, but I've seen a lot of people dismiss this track as useless and filler - I won't have it! Good lord, this song is divine. It's folk meets early Lana meets a Halloween edition of the Animal Crossing soundtrack. I know that's a weird and strangely specific mixture of references, but that's the only way I can describe it. It's so peaceful but so deeply melancholic and longing; The nighttime is almost ours. I can't even articulate what this song makes me feel. It's too magical to listen to on a regular basis, but it holds such a special place in my heart and I wish more people connected with this song the way I do. It's a beautiful, sad, quiet night translated into a 4-minute track.

 

Come When You Call Me America

Kind of like Oh Say Can You See, this song has a unique feel to it. It's one of Lana's weirder tracks - it's light and airy but jazzy and trip-hop-esque. It reminds me of a grown-up version of something from the Nights: Journey of Dreams soundtrack (yes, as you can tell, I'm big on video game soundtracks hahaha). It sounds the way silk feels. Maybe this song doesn't exactly count as underrated because it does have somewhat of a niche appeal, but I'm bringing it up because it's very beautiful, a little surreal and definitely one of my favourites that I never ever see mentioned!

 

Hope Is A Dangerous Thing

I'm forever seeing this at the bottom of people's NFR rankings and I guess I understand why - it's sparse, a pure piano ballad, pretty long and definitely quite a downer. Still, I feel that a lot of fans under-appreciate the lyrical power of this song; it's some of Lana's best writing to date. Lana has a lot of great lyrics but Hope is her at her most complex and most raw; there's something really special about a song that's so verbose yet still so raw and open and vulnerable. I probably sound super pretentious so pls feel free to call me a dickhead if it's appropriate  :creep: but lines like "Spilling my guts with the Bowery bums is the only love I've ever known" and "Shaking my ass is the only thing that's got this black narcissist off my back" really capture the loneliness and confusion of alcohol addiction for me (I've been an alcoholic for 4 years); "Hello, it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad / Calling from beyond the grave I just want to say hi, Dad" gets a lot of clownery online, but for me it's a heartbreaking lyric that shows the duality of fame and misery, as well as how hard it is to keep in touch with family and friends when going through a depression because it's easy to feel like a dead man walking; "A gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off" is a lyric so beautiful and touching yet so perfectly obscure that I don't even want to go into the million different meanings I've assigned to it! There's a lot of ways to convey meaning in a song - sometimes just a dope ass instrumental can do the talking - but this song is an example of how beautiful, well thought out, poetic lyrics can really speak to an audience. And also, did she lie? Hope really is a dangerous thing!

 

Sad Girl

There are soooo many things that make this song great. Among them is Lana's "sad but won't not fuck you the fuck up" attitude, but my favourite thing is that the instruments in this song are used remarkably well. While I love NFR (honestly I really really really do), this song demonstrates exactly why it hasn't knocked Ultraviolence off the top spot for me; there's some sonic depth and a constant sense of progression going on that's lacking in quite a lot of NFR cuts. It's jazzy, bluesy and it has so much to look forward to - I'm always excited to hear that Spanish-influenced guitar kick in during the second verse, then of course there's the glorious bridge. I know Lana fans love a sing-song moment, so why do I not hear more fans talking about how much they enjoy belting out "Watch what you say to meeeeee, careful who you're talking tooo!"? It's lost on me. This song deserves way more love than it gets and I know for sure it would sound incredible live, so I'm v v v v sad she hasn't performed it before.  :crossed:

 

Gramma

Another AKA song that doesn't get a lot of love - this one is always getting knocked out first or second in AKA Survivor games. Still, it's one of my favourites and I think it's really underrated because of the unique vibe it possesses: it's cheeky, bratty, fun, a little girly and definitely twisted. I know Lana's described this song as having an innocent meaning in prior interviews, but honestly? I'm not buying it! This song is undoubtedly naughty in a way that's SO wrong only Lizzy-era Lana could get away with it. Lana is (or rather was) so good at the whole ~feigning innocence roleplay~ thing. Maybe I love this song so much because I was a messed up kid - without being too TMI, this song reminds me of being a young teen and the early sexual experiences I had and how I knew it was bad but it also so wrong it's right, when I would sneak out of my own Grandma's house to do bad and stupid things, and all the feelings of excitement and wonder I had along with the feelings of fear, confusion, guilt, abuse and sadness. This song couples a playful cheery beat with ever-so-slightly sexually suggestive lyrics ("All I wanna do is play") and then some moments of darkness ("I don't wanna think I'm bad, Gramma") to create this strange, sinister atmosphere that's so representative of being essentially still a little girl taking on the big, exciting, scary, wonderful, terrible adult world - especially where men are involved. It also touches on that feeling of attention addiction: "I'm in love with everyone and I don't wanna think I'm wrong just for feelin' pretty" and "I wanna be the whole world's girl Gramma". There's a fine line between suggestive and outright controversial, and Lana, I believe, is just about on the 'suggestive' side - if anything my reading of this song could well be controversial! Still, there's some unbelievable skill in managing to write about such a topic in a way that's a little dark but still tongue-in-cheek without it coming across as mocking or exploitative. I really love this song and I honestly feel it stands out in her discography.

 

In Wendy, More Mountains, There Is Nothing To Be Sorry About

As a fanbase we tend to neglect a lot of Lana's more singer-songwriter-y type stuff, but these songs right here...... goddamn. She has a TONNE of folksy gems, but these are some of my favourites and I never EVER hear them mentioned. More Mountains is bleak and existential; In Wendy is sweet and a little blue; There Is Nothing To Be Sorry About is legitimately devastating and I genuinely can't listen to it without crying. "Remember me the way I was six months ago"... nahhhh man I just  :poordat:  A lot of Lana fans actually haven't heard these songs; this is your sign to GO AND LISTEN TO THEM! I think the only reason these songs are so underrated is because so many people completely forget about them, but wow, they take my breath away.

 

Ok sorry for the huge post LOL I have a lot of feelings ok

 

you are like my favorite person ever now. taste.


869-DEC9-E-0-FB4-4-EAF-82-CA-790-EF45189

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Religion and 24 immediately came to mind for me. :flutter:


If by not 'up to par' you mean distilling the worst elements that only kind of work in songs, sure. I could put a dictionary audiobook on shuffle and put it to an instrumental of old money and some of y'all would still be saying it's 50/50 lmfao.

8LQ1.gif

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lana songs:

 

1949

1949 (demo)

kill kill

the ocean

try tonight

out with a bang

disco

you're gonna love me

bad boy

hundred dollar bill

jealous girl

dangerous girl

moi je joue

st. tropez

ghetto baby

get drunk

oooh baby

girl that got away

go go dancer

change

on our way

i don't wanna go

put me in a movie


869-DEC9-E-0-FB4-4-EAF-82-CA-790-EF45189

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Born To Die

Some of you bitches don't give it the RESPEKT it deserves just because she's old. But the truth is, it's her visual peak with fantastic lyrics and no one can take that away from her.

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