Lana and the Elements

[delreyfreak 5,342]

Firstly, I would just like to apologize if this thread makes no sense or is really poorly written or confusing. it's a really abstract concept and therefore difficult to explain.

 

So I had this weird thought about Lana's albums/songs the other day. Each album is quite a different body of work, consisting of very different moods and atmospheres. For example, AKA has this southern coastal vibe, Born to Die has a very polished, Hollywood sadcore vibe; Paradise is a tale of redemption, while UV is dark, brooding and has a lo-fi rock atmosphere and Honeymoon is a calm, soothing, jazz-influenced record with trap elements.

 

I found it was interesting comparing Lana's albums/songs to the four common elements: earth, fire, water and air.

 

I don't quite know how to word this, but I have strange associations between these elements and Lana's music. I've decided to explain my ideas about the elements on each of Lana's albums:

 

AKA (mainly water, also some earth and air, not much fire)

• has a lot of water elements, obviously due to the coastal vibe that David Kahne brought to the album.
  
• It also feels quite earthy, as it's very modest and not overproduced. There's a lot of coastal and earthly lyric references also ("I'm in love lying in the sand" / "palm trees in black and white" / "I'm in the shower" etc.)
  
• There's also a few references to stars, which brings to mind the element of air (for example "69 million stars", "keep out the stars" etc.) "Spirits creeping in my yard" also reminds me of air.
  
• I don't sense much fire in AKA tbh.
  

 

Born To Die (fire, water)

• Doesn't have as much earth as her other albums, as it's quite polished and overproduced, and doesn't feel as natural as her last albums.
  
• It has a lot of fire (she also references fire a lot throughout the album: "fire of my loins" and so on)
  
• a little bit of ocean ("lying in the ocean singing your song", etc.)
  

Paradise (fire and air)

• I mainly just get fire from Paradise. 
  
• "I've got a burning desire for you" ---> fire
  
• "I sing the body electric" ---> fire
  
• "I'm on fire, baby, I'm on fire"
  
• Yayo and Bel Air feel like "air" songs to me.
  

Ultraviolence (all four elements)

• for me has the most of all elements.
  
• It's earthy because it's so organic and raw and honest. And there's a lot of references to flowers/fruits, i.e. "blue hydrangea"/ "deadly nightshade"/ "poison ivy" / "cherries in the spring" / "guns and roses" and so on. Also, "feathers in my hair" feels very earthly too me.
  
• There's a lot of air from the reverb (e.g. "I'm free..." in Brooklyn Baby, those kinds of moments feel like air to me. Plus, there's the lyric "I think we're like the WIND and sea", "I'm cooling down", "I can see my baby SWINGING").
  
• There's A LOT of fire, and I definitely think Lana's description of UV sounding like "blue fire" is definitely accurate in my opinion. Plus, she makes a lot of references to fire ("he's got the fire and he walks with it"/ "his Parliament's on fire"/ "I think we're like FIRE", "you're burning up", "I'm feeling hot to the touch", "I'm feeling hotter than fire", "I'm on fire, baby", "turn it up HOT" etc.) "Hot, hot weather in the summer" could also be a reference to fire.
  
• Water: "like the wind and SEA", a coastal vibe on a lot of songs, particularly Florida Kilos, West Coast. Pretty when you cry ---> water. Riviera girls --> riviera = water. "Sun and OCEAN BLUE".
  
• "his strange weather" --> all the elements
  

 

Honeymoon (air, some water)

• I feel like Honeymoon is so different to her other albums because it has so much AIR. Like, all the songs sound like air to me, the way they are smooth and have such slow tempos, like a cool breeze drifting along. It's hard to explain, but I just hear air in all of the songs.
  
• She even says "SLOW dance to rock music" this to me indicates air so much. And she also sings about dancing in God Knows I Tried. And just listen to the chorus of Salvatore, to me it sounds so much like air with the "aaaaah, cacciatore" and so on in the chorus.
  
• "High by the beach", "rushing up to the WATER where the ice meets", "let the ocean wash away", "like aquamarine, ocean blue", "rapping in the summer rain" and so on --> some water elements
  
• Apart from the lyrics, I don't HEAR fire or earth. Yes, there's a few lyrics like "and fire that surrounds you", "flames so hot that they turn blue", "through the fire, we're born again" and so on that make allusions to these elements but I just don't hear them in the songs.
  

 

I feel like the reason Ultraviolence is my favourite Lana album is because I can feel all of the elements. I know that sounds so weird but it's just such an intense album and I can't think of anything that feels missing.

 

So anyway, what do you think about Lana's albums/songs in relation to the elements? What elements do you hear the most in Lana's music?  Are there any particular songs that really stand out as having particular elements?

[SoftcoreBabyface 262]

I've thought of Lana's use of traditional themes from classic poetry before, I feel like she tries to tie those classic themes into a contemporary style. I don't think it's accidental or unintentional and it seems to be that maybe once she was told that we don't write lyrics like that anymore because it's cliché, and she did it anyway but made sure to do it with a twist. I say this not as fact but because of what we know happened when she was writing "Kill Kill" or originally "The Ocean" plus the comments she made about "us really needing poetry now more than ever". I feel like her inspirations in poetry (walt, beat poets, T.S. Eliot, etc) had an influence in her writing style and the industry business people reacted like "no no no, you vapid thing, we're going to sell you as an object." and there lies Lana's struggle to succeed in today's business acumen while still holding onto her inspirations/influences. I also find it interesting that Lana being a Gemini, which is a sun sign but also is the element of air, I feel like that is such a dangerous/powerful mix. Wind exciting the fire encouraging and egging it on.. makes no sense unless you think about how some people are very conflicted or ambivalent. 

[DeadAgainst 1,515]

AKA - Water ("Kill Kill" = "The Ocean," "Mermaid Motel")

BTD - Air (the "airy" strings)

Paradise - Fire ("Paradise is a hell-colored flame sky")

Ultraviolence - Earth ("organic" production)

Honeymoon - Ether

[Atom Heart 1,931]

Lana is the avatar

[WhiteHydrangea 4,216]

Lana is the avatar

 

No, We all are. The Avatar is a state of mind.

[Thunder Revenant 20,961]

How does an album have ... "earth"?

Like ok, AKA sounds very organic andParadise &  Honeymoon ... I can see the "air-y" thing about it. Ultraviolence also has an organic sound and I see how one could connect water/fire with it ....

But you are overdoing it a bit in my opinion, like just because she MENTIONS an elemnt, this does not automatically give the album an "elemental feeling". Especially with Born To Die, which is not "organic" at all and the mentioning of fire is a quote.

[apricockjuice 332]

How does an album have ... "earth"?

Like ok, AKA sounds very organic andParadise &  Honeymoon ... I can see the "air-y" thing about it. Ultraviolence also has an organic sound and I see how one could connect water/fire with it ....

But you are overdoing it a bit in my opinion, like just because she MENTIONS an elemnt, this does not automatically give the album an "elemental feeling". Especially with Born To Die, which is not "organic" at all and the mentioning of fire is a quote.

 

I agree tbh, though I do really like the idea of the thread. None of the elements that she references in the music ends up translating into my associations, they're just kinda there because of how the records sound.

 

• AKA - I don't get anything overly 'elemental' from this one, but if I had to I'd say air (it's really more along the lines of static electricity in the air though).
• Born To Die - very clearly air for me
• Paradise - earth
• Ultraviolence - water, the whole album just sounds wet to me
• Honeymoon - fire

[PARADIXO 32,976]

How does an album have ... "earth"?

Like ok, AKA sounds very organic andParadise &  Honeymoon ... I can see the "air-y" thing about it. Ultraviolence also has an organic sound and I see how one could connect water/fire with it ....

But you are overdoing it a bit in my opinion, like just because she MENTIONS an elemnt, this does not automatically give the album an "elemental feeling". Especially with Born To Die, which is not "organic" at all and the mentioning of fire is a quote.

 

king of negativism

[Thunder Revenant 20,961]

king of negativism

[TRASHBABY 346]

How does an album have ... "earth"?

Like ok, AKA sounds very organic andParadise &  Honeymoon ... I can see the "air-y" thing about it. Ultraviolence also has an organic sound and I see how one could connect water/fire with it ....

But you are overdoing it a bit in my opinion, like just because she MENTIONS an elemnt, this does not automatically give the album an "elemental feeling". Especially with Born To Die, which is not "organic" at all and the mentioning of fire is a quote.

 

you dont have to be so serious and critical, cacciatore is just posting their thoughts. isnt this part of lanaboards meant to be a bit of fun 

[DeadAgainst 1,515]

Queen of Alchemy

[letsescapelizzy 672]

think we are all fuckin bored shitless atm.. tbh..

we all need excitement.. anyone going to moscow this summer?