Meanings of Lana Songs

[Valentino 885]

"What's the meaning of this song?" This is a thread where we indulge our inner literature major while also answering the question - "Is Lana really that repetitive with her themes?"
 
This is not about real life people. This about looking at songs by themselves, without outside context to help you understand. What textual evidence do we have for each song's meaning? In an effort to keep this distinct from Lanalysis, the topic is limited to looking at a text instead of pointing to interviews. Obviously if we want to talk about Lana's intentions, we need to look at what she says, but here we're looking at what the song says, not what any authority (Lana, a video, a single cover, etc.) says about the song.
 
These aren't meant to be authoritative conclusions. There's a lot of people here who have different views on these songs and I wanna hear about them, which is why I made this thread. Moreover, these are very superficial descriptions. I'm pretty sure there's more to "Oh say can you see" and "West Coast" than I've written here. Write your opinions on what Lana's songs mean! There are some songs (especially Sirens-era stuff) that I have a very hard time making any sense out of, so if anyone has ideas on that, please spit them out.

 

Sirens

Drive-By - recounting a story of a friend who got arrested, and feeling hurt by his absence
Next To Me - girl attempts to seduce married man
A Star For Nick - a girl proclaims she will become a star and ignores a naysayer
My Momma - talking about a relationship that is not approved of by her mother, fearing that her mother might even steal him
Bad Disease - upon observing the world around her, a woman withdraws into alcoholism, begging for help
Out With A Bang - some kind of romance? literally who knows
Dear Elliot - a troublesome man leaves a woman, who wonders why he left
Try Tonight - a man and his addiction
Peace - finding inner peace and silence
How Do You Know Me So Well - a relationship that started out well quickly descends into bickering
Pretty Baby - a woman demands that if her lover does not in fact lover her, he leave
Aviation - a woman wants to start over by becoming a pilot
Move - who knows
Junky Pride - reluctantly, a woman leaves a drug-addled man
Birds Of A Feather - reminiscing about meeting a man and feeling a kinship with him
For You - lana is tired? no clue
Wait - a girl warns a young boy who is about to down the same dark path she went
Blizzard - reminiscing about an average day
You, Mister - a man is on her mind
There's Nothing To Be Sorry About - her lover leaves and she's frightened about what will happen to him
More Mountains - life can't be planned, live spontaneously?
In Wendy - catching up with an old friend?

 

 

Lana Del Ray

 

Kill Kill - a woman reminisces about her romance with a dying man
Queen Of The Gas Station - a woman flirts with a stranger while relishing in small-town americana
Oh Say Can You See - a woman awaits night time with her lover? a hard song to summarize
Gramma - a woman who's been leading a crazy life begs grandma for approval
For K Part 2 - recalling falling in love with a beautiful musician
Jump - romance with a man, drugs, contemplating suicide
Mermaid Motel - a girl talks about her romance
Raise Me Up - freeing oneself from external judgment, proceeding to flirt with a guy
Pawn Shop Blues - choosing spiritual enlightment and poverty over worldly pleasures
Brite Lites - seeking attention
Put Me In A Movie - manipulating a man by appealing to his desires to achieve a goal
Smarty - romance
Yayo - trailer trash dreams of escaping with her love

 

 

 

Born to die

 

 
Born to die - fatalism, some romance
Off To The Races - eternal  romance with a criminal in glamorous locales
Blue Jeans - eternal love for a criminal
Video Games - obsessed love for someone who ignores her
Diet Mountain Dew - love
National Anthem - love, the 'new american dream'
Dark Paradise - eternal love for a dead guy
Radio - love found through fame lifts someone out of tough times
Carmen - teenager indulges in hedonism to cover up emptiness in the life
Million Dollar Man - doomed romance with a rich man (criminal?)
Summertime Sadness - final night with a doomed romance, surviving
This Is What Makes Us Girls - remembering teenage hedonism
Without You - worldly goods can't heal the wounds of a doomed romance
Lolita - a girl used to be a tease,  but is now in love with some guy
Lucky Ones - girl in love with a criminal tries to leave town

 

 

Paradise

 

Ride - saying goodbye to indulging in sadness, celebrating one's insanity
American - love with a guy
Cola - carnal relationship with a married man
Body Electric - mourning a lost relationship; her influences
Blue Velvet - recalling a romance
Gods and Monsters - moral degeneration chasing one's dreams
Yayo - trailer trash dreams of escaping with her love
Bel Air - reuniting with a long-lost lover
Burning Desire - she's horny but he's not there so she has to touch herself

 

 

 

Ultraviolence

 
Cruel World - leaving a man who was in love with her
Ultraviolence - eternal love with an abusive cult leader
Shades of Cool - mourning relationship with a depressed man
Brooklyn Baby - ignoring those who think she's stupid, celebrating her influences
West Coast - being in love?
Sad Girl - a girl chooses to be a guy's mistress because of how incredible he is, dismissing those who don't understand
Pretty When You Cry - emotional abuse
Money Power Glory - condemning hypocrites while embracing one's dark urges
Fucked My Way Up To The Top - putting down an imitator and celebrating her success
Old Money - reminiscing about an old life and romance
The Other Woman - the other woman has time to do frivolous stuff because she isn't occupied with real relationships
Black Beauty - attempting to get through to a depressed boyfriend
Guns and Roses - romance with a guy who was hard to love?

Florida Kilos - drugs and love

Flipside - cutting off a relationship while leaving possibility to return in the future
Is This Happiness - relationship with a depressed man

 

 

Honeymoon

 

Honeymoon - the beginning of a dark relationship
Music to Watch Boys To - boys are disposable toys in a bemused woman's game
Terrence Loves You - Dealing with deep loss, attempting to connect to a person who continually drifts away
God Knows I Tried - a woman finds happiness in isolation after fame removes her drive, and begs god to understand her unhappiness is not out of laziness
High By The Beach - ending a toxic relationship
Freak - love?
Art Deco - young woman tries to find herself in hedonism
Burnt Norton - the future is an abstraction, the past is gone, live the present?
Religion - a woman refuses to leave a relationship her friends are worried about
Salvatore - a carnal relationship with a foreign man, who is often ignored for frozen treats
The Blackest Day - a man leaves Lana out of a misunderstanding, and she desperately tries to fill her life with meaning afterwards
24 - a murderous, amorous man's life is chronicled
Swan Song - a woman encourages her lover to run away from their collective responsibilities in favor of freedom
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - let people realize her good intention, and not focus on her mistakes

 

 

 

From a quick glance, BTD definitely looks like the album that most centers itself around a single theme, that theme being love, particularly eternal love and lost love. UV deals with depression, relationships that are illicit or don't work, and criticisms of Lana (BrBaby, FMWUTTT, MPG, even UV?). Honeymoon goes back to some old themes, while also talking about her relationship with fame (GKIT, SS, DLMBM) and some one-off themes, like "a foreign man is often ignored for frozen treats" and "an amorous murderer's life is chronicled while Lana is fascinated with the length of the Earth's rotation." God only knows what the hell Sirens is about - lots of talk about addiction, and other peoples' lives? AKA seems more consistent in terms of dealing with classic Lana themes like kitschy Americana (trailers, motels, gas stations).

 

What are your thoughts?

[WaitForLife 5,238]

i like them and agree but Sirens could be about addiction to alcohol or something like that

[TRENCH 15,450]

I do agree that "High By The Beach = ending a toxic relationship"

the song is very self explanatory, but some lines go a bit deeper and can have multiple meanings such as:

 

Loving you is hard, being here is harder

You take the wheel

Loving this guy is just plain difficult, and it is so as he is in total control of the relationship

 

When you would pay tribute to me

This line has so many meanings, it could mean when he would show her affection, or simply said how he loved her, to the commentators on YouTube thinking that its about the paparazzi (but remember: MEANING OF MUSIC VIDEO ≠ MEANING OF SONG)

 

Peace by vengeance
Brings the end

For Lana here, revenge is the only way she can have closure after ending this relationship that was "getting out of hand".  As we know, Lana likes to cling to the very end of every relationship but for this one, she had to put herself first.

[Limelight 4,708]

I don't like the names Move and How Do You Know Me So Well. Find My Own Way and I'm Indebted To You are way better

[Creyk 11,699]

I don't like the names Move and How Do You Know Me So Well. Find My Own Way and I'm Indebted To You are way better

I agree. Move is a shit name Find My Own Way is so much better.

[fork2 90]

I think Gun & Roses is regret about a relationship that she walked away from.

[fork2 90]

Also For You (For Charlie) is about (I think) homosexuality. "His man, her man". and trying to repress the urges "All these feelings, I'm tired of them. Taking over my life again."

[fork2 90]

I also saw someone bring up, in a different thread, that they thought Bel Air might be about an abortion and the regret/sadness following. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's plausible...Lana herself that this song is the most personal.

"I don't wanna be bad, I won't cheat you no more." Now that Lana has died and is at heaven's gates, she wants to see her baby and is so apologetic after cheating the baby out of a life. She wants to mother her baby and turn over a new life as an angel.

"Spotlight, bad baby. You've got a flair, for the violentest kind of love anywhere out there." Lana seems to have been in relationships with multiple bad guys. So maybe, she viewed the baby as having inherited the father's violent/sadistic streak.

"Don't be afraid of me, don't be ashamed." Lana is regretting the abortion and wants her baby to know that she will not harm the baby anymore. She doesn't want her baby to be ashamed of being a mistake.

This could be, and probably is, completely off. Just a different perspective.

[letsescapelizzy 672]

For me, there is such a massive duality and variance in the 'percieved' 'meaning' of many of Lana's songs, as well as other artists too.

they can have such a dual and often opposite meaning to me..

 

like for example, my user name here.. could mean "hey Lizzy, lets escape baby.. ", or it can mean, lets escape this Lizzy girl.. ..

 

So the songs and the ambigious and often sardonic lyrics often represent 2 opposing meanings.. guess its whatever you want it to mean..

[Creyk 11,699]

I also saw someone bring up, in a different thread, that they thought Bel Air might be about an abortion and the regret/sadness following. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's plausible...Lana herself that this song is the most personal.

 

"I don't wanna be bad, I won't cheat you no more." Now that Lana has died and is at heaven's gates, she wants to see her baby and is so apologetic after cheating the baby out of a life. She wants to mother her baby and turn over a new life as an angel.

 

"Spotlight, bad baby. You've got a flair, for the violentest kind of love anywhere out there." Lana seems to have been in relationships with multiple bad guys. So maybe, she viewed the baby as having inherited the father's violent/sadistic streak.

 

"Don't be afraid of me, don't be ashamed." Lana is regretting the abortion and wants her baby to know that she will not harm the baby anymore. She doesn't want her baby to be ashamed of being a mistake.

 

This could be, and probably is, completely off. Just a different perspective.

She said that Bel Air is about reclaiming innocence lost, and that is also why there are playground sounds at the end, reflecting the innocence of childhood. It makes sense in the context of Tropico, and it's juxtaposition with Gods and Monsters

[graham4anything 2,859]

I think everything recorded as Lana Del Rey is a life road trip, in the proper albums (not bonus or extra songs, but the start to finish of the songs intended prior to bonus/extra)

 

Born to Die is NYC and ending with "This is what makes us girls" shows the trip has begun

Paradise is going from NYC to the West Coast and the land of Gods and Monsters (which is Hollywood itself) and the proverbial traveling through the vast land and different areas of America itself to arrive 3000 miles later.

Ultraviolence is arriving in California and totally absorbing the Santa Monica/Malibu lifestyle and creativity and seeing the difference between NYC/L.A.

Honeymoon is a self-reflection, possibly all the songs being Elizabeth vs. Lana which imho is implied in the bus photo itself- it is Elizabeth on a tour with her sister to see the houses of the stars, one of which is the proverbial house of Lana Del Rey. Having her sister take the photo for the album would be like most people on a tour of the stars,

having a relative take their picture looking out

Possible is the creation Lana has led to more complications in an already complicated life of Elizabeth Grant.

 

and the bonus songs stray somewhat which is why they are not in the album proper itself.

 

So each one a chapter in the on-going life of Elizabeth Grant. Almost like an anthology show like The Fugitive or Route 66 and each brings a fuller picture of the star/featured person it is about.

 

Which is also why it almost demands listening in the order it has. So one needs to start at Cut #1 and continue to the last and then press rewind and start again.

 

as one awaits what the next chapter after Honeymoon is...Rebirth? Redemption? Childbirth? Suburbia?

 

(awaiting reply that this has nothing to do with the OP).

[letsescapelizzy 672]

the meanings of songs, will change for a given mood you are in at the time..

 

sometimes a really sad downer song uplifts and vice versa..

 

our moods and state of mind at the time greatly effects the message we can take from a tone/song i find..

[TheBoss 13,508]

The first time I listened to TBD I thought it was about literally losing her baby  It would've been even darker tho

[Creyk 11,699]

The first time I listened to TBD I thought it was about literally losing her baby  It would've been even darker tho

I thought it was about a miscarriage as well. I had such high hopes....

 

 

But based on what Barrie said about how Lana broke up with him, it actually make so much sense. It just became one of her most straightforward songs.

[Tristesse 1,765]

The story of the songs, their "meaning" is to my opinion not to be taken at face value, it is more about the feeling I guess, I always think of her songs as more surreal than they seem.

But I may be delusional, the esoteric interpretation topic of her songs blew my mind too hard

[delreyfreak 5,342]

Salvatore - a carnal relationship with a foreign man, who is often ignored for frozen treats

This one made me laugh 

[Chris Cuomo 3,320]

I always thought the "when you would pay tribute to me" line was about how she wasn't really interested in the acclaim she received for Ultraviolence as those same sites/music journalists who reviewed it had bashed her just two years prior with born to die. Idk

[ZeroZero 2,225]

Also For You (For Charlie) is about (I think) homosexuality. "His man, her man". and trying to repress the urges "All these feelings, I'm tired of them. Taking over my life again."

I always thought Wait had more of a connection to Charlie, but if he's gay I ain't mad

[ZeroZero 2,225]

The first time I listened to TBD I thought it was about literally losing her baby It would've been even darker tho

"It's not easy for me to talk about" that'd be so sad

[TheBoss 13,508]

"It's not easy for me to talk about" that'd be so sad

 

Ikr it'd be so deep and sad