Swan Song

[Jazzmin 302]

I think it's safe to stop tyring to think that Lana may ever sing to "Lizzy" or reverse. She is not schizophrenic or anything, she said multiple times that she is the same person, who grew up, of course, but still the same.

 

You don't need to be schizophrenic to use this form of narration (or whatever you call this in songs). It might be just a means to express your concept. I'm positive Lana's capable of that, even if she prefers to stay in her comfort zone of red party dresses (which I don't necessarily mind, it might just keep her from spreading her wings). And even if I think "Swan Song" definitely isn't about her past self or something like this.  

 

 

I don't know where you're all getting these negative interpretations. The song clearly is about quitting your jobs and just spending the rest of your life with your love, in a world where that's not possible

Because the literal meaning of the phrase "swan song" implies that? And Lana often toys with the idea of death in her songs, and not only that, she doesn't even mind killing herself in her art (if you want straightforward examples: the BTD & SS music videos). I don't argue it's not metaphorical but what I'm saying is just that people get these negative interpretations for a reason.

 

I actually kind of feel this way too because the line "And I will never sing again" does feel suicidal to me in a sense: I can't envision Lana giving up singing, she seems to fucking love it, how else do you explain that plethora of unreleased songs and the fact that she releases a new album every year or so? And she's herself said it in many interviews it's fun to her.

 

 

i think she is comparing herself a cult leader by saying "put your white tennis shoes on and follow me"

kinda being like if you follow me, you'll have a clean start

So do I! I'm pretty sure it was intended, Lana is a sucker for religious/cult imagery and the like (I mean as ideas that fit her songs)

[BabyBlue 677]

You don't need to be schizophrenic to use this form of narration (or whatever you call this in songs). It might be just a means to express your concept. I'm positive Lana's capable of that, even if she prefers to stay in her comfort zone of red party dresses (which I don't necessarily mind, it might just keep her from spreading her wings). And even if I think "Swan Song" definitely isn't about her past self or something like this.

 

 

Because the literal meaning of the phrase "swan song" implies that? And Lana often toys with the idea of death in her songs, and not only that, she doesn't even mind killing herself in her art (if you want straightforward examples: the BTD & SS music videos). I don't argue it's not metaphorical but what I'm saying is just that people get these negative interpretations for a reason.

 

I actually kind of feel this way too because the line "And I will never sing again" does feel suicidal to me in a sense: I can't envision Lana giving up singing, she seems to fucking love it, how else do you explain that plethora of unreleased songs and the fact that she releases a new album every year or so? And she's herself said it in many interviews it's fun to her.

 

 

 

So do I! I'm pretty sure it was intended, Lana is a sucker for religious/cult imagery and the like (I mean as ideas that fit her songs)

ARTPOP is the swan song of the ARTPOP album, Swan Song doesn't mean last work before death, it means last work before retirement.

[Jazzmin 302]

ARTPOP is the swan song of the ARTPOP album, Swan Song doesn't mean last work before death, it means last work before retirement.

 

You're right! I meant going to tha basics, the antic belief about actual swans singing before their death from which the metaphor is derived. And according to some definitions it can actually mean last work before death; although it's probably very rarely used like this in English, if ever.

 

The swan song (Ancient Greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα; Latin: carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_song

(btw, I thought it was "cantus cycneus" in Latin o_O )

 

And cast aside any boring definitions, which aren't in aid of anything here because it's the way most people use it that matters, and my own feelings, which are irrelevant because the use of it might be different in my mother tongue, what you wrote still doesn't rule out the possibility that an artist may intend to end their life once they've sung their "swan song". Again, the chorus doesn't really say the Lana from "Swan Song" does. But nor does it say she doesn't. If you ask my opinion (yes, I know you don't ), I see it just as a song about Lana and her lover leaving the world they've been living in until now and you can understand it however you want.

[Say Yes to Heaven 27,600]

Confirmed by Lana herself in a DM to @@Eclipse 

 

Dive in, dive deep and dive blue, my sweet

[TRENCH 15,450]

Confirmed by Lana herself in a DM to @@Eclipse 

 

Dive in, dive deep and dive blue, my sweet

i wanna see the receipts

[Say Yes to Heaven 27,600]

i wanna see the receipts

They're coming, but holding out until he posts the PWYC bridge lyrics.

[net wurker 1,891]

I can't shake the "suicide" angle. 

 

To me it sounds like she is describing her and her lover committing suicide by means of them swimming out into the ocean and never swimming back.

[triangles19 2,463]

I can't shake the "suicide" angle. 

 

To me it sounds like she is describing her and her lover committing suicide by means of them swimming out into the ocean and never swimming back.

 

I have the exact same image.

 

Swan Song is my favorite LDR song, so deep, gracious and humble (and the production is absolutely perfect). My personnal point of view is that it's a total resignation song, but not a ask-for-help song (it's not miserly) : they don't fit to this world so they have to go. It's the exact definition of suicide (to me), but I love the idea that you read it the way you want, it reveal if you're an "optimistic", or a "pessimistic" person.  Such a cathartic song.

[Constantine 4,075]

her best song

[cranekiss 9,728]

underrated gem, wish it got more love. i've never seen anyone mention it ever

[Let the Light In 18,719]

Many pop stars — Bowie! Elton! Eminem! — reinvent themselves, but purists fell over each to denounce the new-look Del Rey as a fraud, an industry construct and fake feminist. This criticism got to her. “I will never sing again,” she laments in Swan Song, released four years after the giddy heights of Video Games.“When I hear Swan Song now I think, ‘Oh girl, they brought you to that point. That sucks for you,’” Del Rey says with a sigh. “I get dressed up for my shows while some folks don’t. For some reason that was a problem. I had books thrown at me in San Francisco by liberal female groups. I’ve been punched in the face in Brooklyn. Ten years ago, mentally I badly needed some beauty to come out of the chaos. For something to make sense.” She sighs again. “I’ve been on guard for so long.”

[honeyxomoon 25]

her most criminally underrated released song!!! I said what I said

[DYKTTAHOLB 264]

This is her top 1 best written song nobody can change my mind.