Religion

[Trash Magic 28,467]

This could have been on Born To Die

[GodBlessMe 2,141]

It never was about the money or the troubles

[May 13,313]

It never was about the money or the troubles

 

it's definitely 'drugs' imo

[whothrowsashoe 255]

OMG IS DEAD long live oh my lana!

[slang 1,533]

Here's an alternative interpretation of Religion. Well this is just for fun, of course.

 

So in this interview

http://thequietus.com/articles/07106-lana-del-rey-interview

<<<<<<<<<< thequietus quote>>>>>>>>>>

Interviewer: You also told Pitchfork that God has saved your life a million times, which strikes me as in opposition to your music. Because, in films based in small town America, religion is frequently a patriarchal, repressive and evil presence, with the archetype you portray acting as a force in subverting it.

LDR: I think there’s a division of organised religion similar to what you’ve described. But where I’m concerned, my understanding of God has come from my own personal experiences… because I was in trouble so many times in New York that if you were me, you would believe in God too. When things get bad enough, your only resort is to lie in bed and start praying. I dunno about congregating once a week in a church and all that, but when I heard there is a divine power you can call on, I did. I suppose my approach to religion is like my approach to music - I take what I want and leave the rest.

 

Interviewer: What kind of ‘trouble’?

LDR: Any and all. When I was in New York I had nowhere to live, and I was trying to find a way to be a musician… Just trying to survive, which is fucking hard by the way. So I got myself into a lot of situations I didn’t plan on. [Pauses] I think what I was going for was something beautiful, but I kinda got myself into trouble along the way. Sorry, that’s pretty vague.

<<<<<<<< endQuote>>>>>>>>>>>

 

So maybe 'Religion' really is just about her relationship to religion.  (I'll call that interpretation B) and not her devotion to some guy (interpretation A). So when she sings:

 

"It never was about the money or the drugs

For you there's only love

For you there's only love

It never was about the party or the clubs

For you there's only love

 

Cause you're my religion

You're how I'm living

When all my friends say I should take some space

Well I can't envision, that for a minute

When I'm down on my knees, you're how I pray

I need your love

I need your love

I need your love"

 

She is singing about partaking in a dangerous lifestyle, which is, in fact, the thing her friends warn her to "take some space" from, but that she won't do that, and that multiple divine interventions have saved her ("You're how I'm living"). So when she sings "For you there's only love", 'you' is a reference to Jesus or God. Then there's that line about being "down on my knees". Provocative yes, but being down on ones knees is also the posture of begging (e.g., "save my ass, please").

 

BTW, Nicole Dollanganger has an earlier song called "700 Club", which is topically the same as Religion, under interpretation A. ND's song is certainly good enough to have influenced LDR (and Nicole also has a "knees" line too, and the contrast between hers and LDR's is interesting). 

 

Here are the lyrics from Nicole's bandcamp page:

http://nicoledollanganger.bandcamp.com/album/ode-to-dawn-wiener-embarrassing-love-songs

 

700 Club

 

virgin mary, jesus christ 

think i just found the light in your eyes 

think i just became as religious as they come 

i think i just found god 

dumb founded by the glow of your gold halo 

oh god i can't believe i'm staring at a living angel 

 

give me a bible, i'll put my hand on it 

give me a pen to join the 700 club 

baptisms baby, dip me in the lake 

pour the holy water i'll drink the whole cup 

 

cause i never believed there was a heaven til i found you 

and i never prayed [like] the church always told me to 

but now you can count on me to get on my knees for you 

 

virgin mary, jesus christ 

who would have thought all those church signs were right? 

the lord did come and he is my savior 

i'm a good girl now i'm a believer 

i don't have blind faith cause i've got proof 

i know angels are real now that i've found you

 

For me, there is no Interpretation B for 700 Club; it's entirely unambiguous, imo. Yet 700 club has all sorts of references to religion in it: artifacts, organizations, ceremonies, major players. 'Religion', on the other hand, has virtually no such direct references, although (for me) 'Religion' has an intro verse reminiscent of the ideas of "total depravity" and "predestination", which I got from the wikipedia page on Calvinism, which is a form of Christian religious thought. I also get "paradise" references, in the later versus, in terms of being safe (invulnerable to storms) and happy (no need to survive, just play).

[delreyfreak 5,342]

Posted this on the "Best LDR Musical Moment" thread, but thought I'd post it here too:

 

The pre-chorus of Religion slays me every time. Overall, the song isn't as good as some of the others on Honeymoon, but that pre-chorus just hits me every time, it's emotional and moving and I feel like it's one of the first times where she's literally said that she doesn't care about the money, the partying & the good life in general, but more about the love she felt. Like it's a nice contrast after so many songs like National Anthem ("money is the anthem of success" among many other similar references), Money Power Glory (even if it was sarcastic), Bel Air (an affluent area), Cola ("I wear my diamonds on Skid Road - showing off her wealth to a poor neighbourhood), Million Dollar Man ("one for the money"), Off to the Races (all the casino references), etc. which all focus on how important money/wealth is to her. Idk, that part of Religion just always gets me. Such poignant lyricism and an emotional melody.

[WaitForLife 5,250]

now my little bit of love for this song is gone

[Moon Driver 226]

i think that the lyrics of this song is ambiguous

 

maybe for her religion is her lover and her lover is like god (who she follows always)

or it's just god who knows... 

[Lad 8,801]

I feel like she wanted to do something like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" for this song. I've had this thought sitting around in my head for a while.

[Jazzmin 302]

BTW, Nicole Dollanganger has an earlier song called "700 Club", which is topically the same as Religion, under interpretation A. ND's song is certainly good enough to have influenced LDR (and Nicole also has a "knees" line too, and the contrast between hers and LDR's is interesting). 

 

Here are the lyrics from Nicole's bandcamp page:

http://nicoledollanganger.bandcamp.com/album/ode-to-dawn-wiener-embarrassing-love-songs

 

700 Club

 [the lyrics]

 

You beat me to it! (which comes as no surprise if I get myself to post several months after the release ; the fact that I respond to an old post may also seem to make no sense but it's such nutritional food for thought so...) I know the down-on-my-knees thing might seem a very plain double entendre which didn't necessarily need to have been written by a lyrical genius but in both songs the writers made great use of it IMHO. And yeah, it never ceases to amaze me how many phrases and motifs ND & LDR have in common. They both quote the very same song, the Americana imaginary, which Lana's so infatuated with, is also woven into Nicole's newest album. Although I highly doubt Nicole could've influenced Lana - maybe I just don't stay up-to-date with things... but well, as far as I know, Lana has never ever hinted that she'd stumbled upon the skeletal lullabies of a certain Stouffville angel. And she would have if it were the case. After all, that woman loves her "masters of every genre", hardly ever mentions anyone else (does she ever?), doesn't get tired of the first pages of "Lolita" despite having read them umpteen times (a fact mentioned roughly halfway through the broadcast) so I think she mostly plays the same records over and over again (can't find a proof but I guess you can see the logic of that, given her admiration for Kurt Cobain or Elvis), which in turn makes me suppose Lana won't be particularly keen on trawling the Internet on the lookout for as-yet-unknown singers. Or up-and-coming ones, for that matter. The other way round then? But Nicole sang "he hit me and it felt like a kiss" before Lana did!

 

So I'd rather put it down to the purely coincidental affinity of their souls, pretentious as it sounds.

 

Here's an alternative interpretation of Religion. Well this is just for fun, of course.

 

So in this interview

http://thequietus.com/articles/07106-lana-del-rey-interview

<<<<<<<<<< thequietus quote>>>>>>>>>>

Interviewer: You also told Pitchfork that God has saved your life a million times, which strikes me as in opposition to your music. Because, in films based in small town America, religion is frequently a patriarchal, repressive and evil presence, with the archetype you portray acting as a force in subverting it.

LDR: I think there’s a division of organised religion similar to what you’ve described. But where I’m concerned, my understanding of God has come from my own personal experiences… because I was in trouble so many times in New York that if you were me, you would believe in God too. When things get bad enough, your only resort is to lie in bed and start praying. I dunno about congregating once a week in a church and all that, but when I heard there is a divine power you can call on, I did. I suppose my approach to religion is like my approach to music - I take what I want and leave the rest.

 

Interviewer: What kind of ‘trouble’?

LDR: Any and all. When I was in New York I had nowhere to live, and I was trying to find a way to be a musician… Just trying to survive, which is fucking hard by the way. So I got myself into a lot of situations I didn’t plan on. [Pauses] I think what I was going for was something beautiful, but I kinda got myself into trouble along the way. Sorry, that’s pretty vague.

<<<<<<<< endQuote>>>>>>>>>>>

 

So maybe 'Religion' really is just about her relationship to religion. (I'll call that interpretation B) and not her devotion to some guy (interpretation A). So when she sings:

 

"It never was about the money or the drugs

For you there's only love

For you there's only love

It never was about the party or the clubs

For you there's only love

 

Cause you're my religion

You're how I'm living

When all my friends say I should take some space

Well I can't envision, that for a minute

When I'm down on my knees, you're how I pray

I need your love

I need your love

I need your love"

 

She is singing about partaking in a dangerous lifestyle, which is, in fact, the thing her friends warn her to "take some space" from, but that she won't do that, and that multiple divine interventions have saved her ("You're how I'm living"). So when she sings "For you there's only love", 'you' is a reference to Jesus or God. Then there's that line about being "down on my knees". Provocative yes, but being down on ones knees is also the posture of begging (e.g., "save my ass, please").

 

Did you notice that she uses the very same concept in "Bad Disease"? "I got a bad disease / It's got me down on my knees" In that context her posture comes across as a scarcely erotic one. It's more, yeah, like you said, begging, I'd even risk - humiliation. Especially that a moment earlier she sings: "Oh my god", taking on a very desperate tone like in "The Blackest Day". In my view, this little common figure of speech perfectly reflects "the depths of utter desperation" she's going through in the song, when uttered by her emotional voice.

[13bitches 6,177]

A song!

[clementines 9,912]

imagine what this demo sounds like, i imagine she sang it super high with basic and raw production

[YourGirl666 13,254]

This song is so underrated. I love how it can be about blowjobs, God, a lover... we'll never know. The final chorus and post chorus part is an album highlight. I can totally see a STINT demo existing, with a similar sound to the God Knows one. I wish we had a live performance too

[blackenedrussianpoetry 2,523]

The second pre chrous sounds like “with you” not “for you” repeated… after hearing it clear with earphones

[Embach 45,051]

Oh how I adore Religion. It's so sensual but so soft and warm. I love how honest she is in the lyrics and I love how the guitars blend with soft beats in the chorus too. And the beautiful siren-y noises in the background when she says "Hallelujah, I need your love", sounds so heavenly. One of her best songs for sure!