Lust For Life - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[GeminiLanaFan 49,138]

i know this is old news but rip cherry vid! did she ever actually film anything for it? for some reason my brain connects cherry vid rumors w that ig post of her marina fka twigs and that other girl, idk what happened w that tho. i think it was just people being excited but idk i jus remembered about this and i'm curious if we had any confirmed information about the mv

I dont’ Think it got passed the point of collecting objects to use them in it (remember the posts with the lighter?)

[slang 1,532]

My last in a "trilogy-of-terrible" for this thread, commemorating the leaving of the LFL era. I think the era was just fine, btw. Although this post is the most WTF of the three, as often said in movie trailers, it is based on a true story.

 

I recently finished Lust for Life (Irving Stone, 1934), the famous Van Gogh bio-novel, which LDR's last album-title prompted me to read. I was surprised by the amount of similarity I could notice between the lives of Vincent Van Gogh and LDR, that is: both coming from a well-to-do family, having a strong supportive sibling relationship, interest in doing significant social work, penchant for doomed love relationships, and Paul Gauguin as Lady Gaga. However, I hope that the mental-illness and untimely demise elements remain forever unshared.

 

Also near the end of the book, Vincent is painting a landscape in Arles and meets a mysterious woman, Maya, who apparently has been spying on him, extensively and covertly, all the while he's been learning to become a painter. From the description, I highly suspect a time-travelling mental incarnate (aka hallucination) of May Jailer. Shortly thereafter (and near the end of Vincent's life), Dr. Felix Rey (heh, heh, heh "happy Lana") treats Van Gogh for mental instability, but unlike Maya, this dude existed (I found him in Wikipedia). So it seems LDR can be trans-gender, as well as corporeally and mentally time-travel. The mind boggles at her powers.

[baddisease 17,942]

Honestly, I don't think that LFL was as bad as people claim that it was.

[Dark Angel 202,579]

Honestly, I don't think that LFL was as bad as people claim that it was.

 

I think it's more so underwhelming compared to her previous records

[four leaf clover 395]

i dont hate lfl. i do find it to be a weak point in her discography, but even then i find born to die (in terms of sound + lyrics) to be even weaker and much less mature. what breaks my heart about the lfl era is how lana couldnt come up with one specific theme for the album... and concept albums are like, her thing. but the theme for lfl was all over the place and i believe thats what made her add last-minute reckless collabs and production changes to songs, making lfl sound the way it did

 

i constantly sit and wonder what the original lfl was supposed to be. was it supposed to be 60s/70s woodstock and nature themed with daisies and flower crowns? was it supposed to be futuristic with space & technology themes like in the love music video? was it supposed to be witchy and reference wicca, hence the "spell" pictures, lfl album trailer where shes a witch, and a collab with stevie nicks? was it supposed to be a melodramatic & attitude-filled transition to more modern hip-hop and traps beats to reflect current pop culture? was it supposed to be patriotic, hence god bless america, and old-fashioned with acoustics guitars and mustangs? like... what was lust for life intended to be ??

 

either we will never know, or lana held onto the concepts and saved them for a future record that could potentially be norman fucking rockwell

 

(basically what im saying is she had 5 or 6 wonderful album concepts and then tried to smash them all together and ended up making lfl more of a disappointing mess than it should have been)

[UltraHeroin 8,803]

i dont hate lfl. i do find it to be a weak point in her discography, but even then i find born to die (in terms of sound + lyrics) to be even weaker and much less mature. what breaks my heart about the lfl era is how lana couldnt come up with one specific theme for the album... and concept albums are like, her thing. but the theme for lfl was all over the place and i believe thats what made her add last-minute reckless collabs and production changes to songs, making lfl sound the way it did

 

i constantly sit and wonder what the original lfl was supposed to be. was it supposed to be 60s/70s woodstock and nature themed with daisies and flower crowns? was it supposed to be futuristic with space & technology themes like in the love music video? was it supposed to be witchy and reference wicca, hence the "spell" pictures, lfl album trailer where shes a witch, and a collab with stevie nicks? was it supposed to be a melodramatic & attitude-filled transition to more modern hip-hop and traps beats to reflect current pop culture? was it supposed to be patriotic, hence god bless america, and old-fashioned with acoustics guitars and mustangs? like... what was lust for life intended to be ??

 

either we will never know, or lana held onto the concepts and saved them for a future record that could potentially be norman fucking rockwell

 

(basically what im saying is she had 5 or 6 wonderful album concepts and then tried to smash them all together and ended up making lfl more of a disappointing mess than it should have been)

Amazing post. My thoughts exactly 

[cherryblossoms 10,420]

i constantly sit and wonder what the original lfl was supposed to be. was it supposed to be 60s/70s woodstock and nature themed with daisies and flower crowns? was it supposed to be futuristic with space & technology themes like in the love music video? was it supposed to be witchy and reference wicca, hence the "spell" pictures, lfl album trailer where shes a witch, and a collab with stevie nicks? was it supposed to be a melodramatic & attitude-filled transition to more modern hip-hop and traps beats to reflect current pop culture? was it supposed to be patriotic, hence god bless america, and old-fashioned with acoustics guitars and mustangs? like... what was lust for life intended to be ??

 

 

Well based on everything she’s said about the writing process, it was supposed to be more in the vein of Honeymoon sound-wise with early Joan Baez and Shangri-Las influences. But after all the political turmoil she wanted to “update” the sound so it would be more connected to the present or something.

So yeah. It’s really anyone’s guess but I’m inclined to believe it was a hybrid of more guitar/folk oriented tracks (Yosemite, Architecture) alongside tracks that had a similar vibe to Honeymoon (explains the orchestral sound in the demo versions of Love & 13 Beaches)

 

Older tracklists of LFL probably featured these songs as they were the earliest songs written for the record:

Love

13 Beaches

Groupie Love

Get Free / Malibu

Beautiful People Beautiful Problems

Heroin

Yosemite

Architecture

 

Interesting bit where she talks about why the theme of LFL changed the way it did and wasn’t so serious.

“I’m thinking about that. It goes in line with how I thought I was going to be in this more grown-up zone [writing this record], but actually I’m still somewhere right in the middle. When I think of that song I think of nighttime and this idea of, I don’t know, breaking into somewhere and carving up and kissing. That’s fun for me; like the place where I’m not 100 per cent in something really solid relationship-wise, where you’re still going out and meeting new people and all that stuff. And also, this Hollywood-centric environment is still an important thing that gives me life, being in town and the characters and the constant heatwave. It’s a little bit of a cliché – I totally get it; but I still feel like it enhances something in me that’s already cooking.”

[annedauphine 35,924]

In late 2014 / early 2015 I wrote a poem rhyming summer with bummer and I think about that CONSTANTLY

[WildMustang 14,760]

13 beaches could have been that song but someone messed up with the production in chorus..the verses are amazing

[TrashMagiq 58,677]

remember when lana decided not to put 2 songs she was passionate about on the album because they wouldn’t fit in, despite the album not being cohesive at all

 

justice for roses bloom for you

dont rlly care about yosemite tbh because like idk her but justice for her too please

also The Next Best American Record, never forget, got no clue it she was passionate about this song or not but like, it’s literally the best song from the LfL era and deserves justice. Also yes, it’s The Next Best American Record, she called it that so like shh, justice for TNBAR.

[13bitches 6,176]

#LustForLisa

[poetic jess 2,340]

remember when lana decided not to put 2 songs she was passionate about on the album because they wouldn’t fit in, despite the album not being cohesive at all

 

justice for roses bloom for you

dont rlly care about yosemite tbh because like idk her but justice for her too please

also The Next Best American Record, never forget, got no clue it she was passionate about this song or not but like, it’s literally the best song from the LfL era and deserves justice. Also yes, it’s The Next Best American Record, she called it that so like shh, justice for TNBAR.

I swear, RBFY could've been THAT song. It has so much potential based on the lyrics alone.

[cognaclilac 1,538]

#LustForLisa

 

 

?

[13bitches 6,176]

 

?

Lisa is the name of a woman who obtained a copy of LFL a day or two before its release bc her local store put it out too early or smth. She posted a video to Instagram of Tomorrow Never Came playing in the background. People blew up her IG she became somewhat of a not-quite-a-meme for a short time on here

 

?

Lisa is the name of a woman who obtained a copy of LFL a day or two before its release bc her local store put it out too early or smth. She posted a video to Instagram of Tomorrow Never Came playing in the background. People blew up her IG she became somewhat of a not-quite-a-meme for a short time on here

[American Whore 51,487]

Random post:

 

This should’ve been the album cover

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXGZvDMB2BH/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1hdk7tcs1d8ma

[99centlips 8,526]

Random post:

 

This should’ve been the album cover

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXGZvDMB2BH/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1hdk7tcs1d8ma

Any of those shots from that shoot would’ve been better

[99centlips 8,526]

Random post:

 

This should’ve been the album cover

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXGZvDMB2BH/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1hdk7tcs1d8ma

Any of those shots from that shoot would’ve been better

[ivy 1,693]

Okay, buckle up, because I've been delving into some of the symbolism of Cherry and 13 Beaches... Why? Because I think that LFL (as an album) deserves a second chance and maybe we can find something interesting in the lyrics.

 

Let me start off by saying that I've tried to support my arguments with some literature (as will become apparent), so please be kind when you disagree with any of this

 

 

Often flowers and fruits are purely decorative. However, when they figure prominently in the main composition (...), they usually make a specific symbolic reference." (A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art by Gertrude Grace Sill, 2011)

I'd like to argue that the fruit mentioned in Cherry and 13 Beaches have symbolic meanings and that they refer to reflections on fame and Hollywood. 

 

First, let's take a look at the following line of Cherry:

 

"My cherries and wine, rosemary, and thyme, and all of my peaches are ruined".

What does she actually mean by this? It's hard to tell, because it doesn't make any sense in the literal sense, but if we look at the symbolic meaning, we get this:

 

 

Cherry: "The cherry has been called the fruit of Paradise because of its beautiful red color, its round shape, and the sweetness of its ripened fruit. It is the symbol of sweet, pleasing character, the result of good deeds. When held by the Infant Christ it refers to the delights of the blessed. As one of the trees in the Garden of Paradise, the cherry with its abundant fruit becomes the symbol of eternal life." (A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art by Gertrude Grace Sill, 2011)

 

Peach: "The peach symbolizes the virtues of a charitable tongue and heart - a charitable nature in general, akin to the seed within the pit of the peach. It is also symbolic of the quietness of virtue, which does not call attention to itself." (A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art by Gertrude Grace Sill, 2011)

 

Now, if we interpret cherries as "the delights of the blessed" and peaches as "the quietness of virtue", we could argue that what Lana is saying is actually:

"I'm blessed to be famous because it gave me a lot. I try to stay out of the public's eye, but paparazzi always seem to find me", i.e. her delights and quietness are ruined.

 

Moreover, her "rose garden dreams" (or how she pictured what it'd be like to be a famous Hollywood star) were not as carefree as she had imagined; the reality is that "it's like smiling with the firing squad against you" and that "you just stay lined up ('cause what can you do?)". With the firing squad possibly referring to paparazzi or camera men at red carpet events. 

 

Next, let's look at 13 Beaches:

 

"With dripping peaches I'm camera ready, almost all the time"

13 Beaches seems to be a continuation of the same themes in Cherry - her struggles with fame and Hollywood. Whereas in Cherry her cherries and peaches were completely ruined, in 13 Beaches she seems to be more accepting of being photographed, but we shouldn't forget that her peaches are in fact "dripping".

 

It's as if she was saying first "Leave me alone", and now she says "I still want to be left alone, but alright, sometimes you may go ahead and take your pictures". 

 

 

Sorry for the essay, I kinda got lost in my own thought process lol, so it might not seem very coherent.

[UltraHeroin 8,803]

Okay, buckle up, because I've been delving into some of the symbolism of Cherry and 13 Beaches... Why? Because I think that LFL (as an album) deserves a second chance and maybe we can find something interesting in the lyrics.

 

Let me start off by saying that I've tried to support my arguments with some literature (as will become apparent), so please be kind when you disagree with any of this

 

I'd like to argue that the fruit mentioned in Cherry and 13 Beaches have symbolic meanings and that they refer to reflections on fame and Hollywood. 

 

First, let's take a look at the following line of Cherry:

What does she actually mean by this? It's hard to tell, because it doesn't make any sense in the literal sense, but if we look at the symbolic meaning, we get this:

 

 

Now, if we interpret cherries as "the delights of the blessed" and peaches as "the quietness of virtue", we could argue that what Lana is saying is actually:

"I'm blessed to be famous because it gave me a lot. I try to stay out of the public's eye, but paparazzi always seem to find me", i.e. her delights and quietness are ruined.

 

Moreover, her "rose garden dreams" (or how she pictured what it'd be like to be a famous Hollywood star) were not as carefree as she had imagined; the reality is that "it's like smiling with the firing squad against you" and that "you just stay lined up ('cause what can you do?)". With the firing squad possibly referring to paparazzi or camera men at red carpet events. 

 

Next, let's look at 13 Beaches:

13 Beaches seems to be a continuation of the same themes in Cherry - her struggles with fame and Hollywood. Whereas in Cherry her cherries and peaches were completely ruined, in 13 Beaches she seems to be more accepting of being photographed, but we shouldn't forget that her peaches are in fact "dripping".

 

It's as if she was saying first "Leave me alone", and now she says "I still want to be left alone, but alright, sometimes you may go ahead and take your pictures". 

 

 

 

Sorry for the essay, I kinda got lost in my own thought process lol, so it might not seem very coherent.

whoa, I just love your theories, this was fun to read

[ivy 1,693]

whoa, I just love your theories, this was fun to read

 

Ah thank you Ultra!   

 

I'm working on another analysis of symbols on Honeymoon, so stay tuned