How Lana Can Help Us Cope With Trump

[Ultra Violet]

So this article came out yesterday (please tell me if there's a thread for articles, I just couldn't find one)

 

http://www.idolator.com/7655909/lana-del-rey-american-dream-trump

 

It's about how listening to her music can help us get through Trump being president. Some of its really interesting but some really corny too.

 

ONE PART that I am just so confused at is where the writer thought some lyrics of National Anthem were about her giving the man a blowjob on the way up to the Hamptons.

 

"He says to be cool but idk how yet, wind in my hair, hand on the back of my neck"

 

Like what!?

 

And they thought "I said can we party later on, he said yes, yes, yes" was him not even hearing her cause he was orgasming.

 

Am I the only one who thinks those lyrics are taken WAY out of context?

 

Can someone else read the article and see what they think?

[evilentity]

ONE PART that I am just so confused at is where the writer thought some lyrics of National Anthem were about her giving the man a blowjob on the way up to the Hamptons.

 

"He says to be cool but idk how yet, wind in my hair, hand on the back of my neck"

 

Like what!?

 

And they thought "I said can we party later on, he said yes, yes, yes" was him not even hearing her cause he was orgasming.

 

Am I the only one who thinks those lyrics are taken WAY out of context?

 

Can someone else read the article and see what they think?

I'd never thought of it that way before, and who knows if she intended it that way, but I think that's a really interesting interpretation. Definitely changes the way I experience the song a little.

 

I think this is a very timely and thought-provoking piece for Lana fans, even if ultimately I'm not sure I buy much of it. A lot of her themes are pretty relevant to the current American political moment-- there's a reason a lot of people have been wondering if she might be a Trump supporter despite all evidence of her actual political beliefs indicating otherwise-- but contrary to the article, I think she glorifies as much as she confronts "the dark side of the American dream". I'm really interested to see some discussion about this article.

[graham4anything]

I always thought that was what that line was about, what else would it be?

 

This is an interesting article and I have been saying some of those same things for years now.

 

and she is most certainly not a 2016 Trump backer, totally opposite

 

and why it is so important that she is in the 40s/50s/60s/70s so one has to go back then and put yourself in that time frame

 

(Just having ASAP Rocky as JFK should have been the first clue

 

as is the entire Ride monologue and song

 

but then people have mistaken and said Kris Kristofferson's "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" That he wrote in Me and Bobbie McGee was the opposite of what libertarians thought it did.

[Trash Magic]

holy sh.tthat is such a clever double entendre.  i'd never even thought about that. it actually gives the lyrics more substance. f.ck

[Trash Magic]

I also think they are giving her a lot of credit saying that the album born to die is a commentary on the racism of america lmfao.

[Constantine]

this reads like a review of the new Beyonce album. They give those bimbos too much credit!

[slang]

I also think they are giving her a lot of credit saying that the album born to die is a commentary on the racism of america lmfao.

Well maybe not the album born to die, but the video for National Anthem most definitely is all that. I remember the white supremacists calling her a "traitor to the white race" soon after its premier (these were random internet hits I found on my daily search for "lana del rey news" on google at the time). I mean the scene with their mixed-race children was put intentionally in the video to strike a nerve in those who think race is significant.

 

The problem with the article (in the sense that LDR might have reservations about it) is that escapism is not the answer (and the article hedges on this). On the other hand I don't think she has to write songs about voting democrat. I just hope (and I realize this probably isn't going to happen), her next album is called "solve et coagula" and has some weird songs in it. They don't have to be overly political or specific, just angry or angry/sad. If they are, then any injustice you want can be symbolically pinned to them. 

[LAman]

I always thought of NA as criticism of America and it's materialism. However, I didn't know that “Wind in my hair, hand on the back of my neck” was referring to Lana giving head.

[SuperMegaStan]

why does it sound like a buzzfeed article title? 

 

but since they gave UV and HM 4.5/5. i forgive u for this mess 

[July 21 fam]

I always thought of NA as criticism of America and it's materialism. However, I didn't know that “Wind in my hair, hand on the back of my neck” was referring to Lana giving head.

 

I didn't really think so either. My interpretation was just his arm basically around her but with his hand on the neck instead of shoulder!

[Ultra Violet]

I didn't really think so either. My interpretation was just his arm basically around her but with his hand on the neck instead of shoulder!

I thought it was her hand on the back of her neck :'D like cause she was nervous or something

I also think they are giving her a lot of credit saying that the album born to die is a commentary on the racism of america lmfao.

Yeah, the only thing shes said about BTD is that its about her own life and her own struggles. she certainly hasnt experienced racism or poverty, etc, herself. But she definitely stands against it, just not with the lyrics in her album :')

I actually used to worry about her possibly being a Trump supporter, because in the Ride monologue she says stuff like "I believe in the country America used to be" which i thought was very similar to Make America Gr8 Again...

And then I thought shed support Trump because of her obsession with high class, rich men, big companies, etc ( in her SONGS, maybe not so much in her personal life)..

 

I was just SO relieved when i found out she was a big Obama supporter

[Sitar]

Cute points in the article but she undoes a lot of them on Honeymoon. That album/the sound she's tending toward isn't quite as obsessed with America, though it did serve strong escapism themes

 

But National Anthem being about road head and the verses subtly contrasting submissive Lana with femme fatale Lana? Loving this concept

[PrettyBaby]

Overall, a great article. I sort of went through this five years ago, though. Living in a Republican-dominated county under an Obama administration, there was so much backlash against anything with the faintest hint of liberalism. Lana's music was a great comfort to me then. Sometimes the surest step toward clarity is simply looking around and saying, "This makes no sense." I actually suspect that under a Trump administration, conservative pockets will tend to relax a little now. I'm just trying not to grow complacent in response.

 

As for "National Anthem," I think of the first verse as the young, inexperienced party-girl-wannabe, and things don't get overtly sexual until the second verse. Of course the situation is ripe for "road head," so the article writer's interpretation is certainly plausible. But I don't think it's "about" that. It's okay, though, I think, to take liberties with artistic interpretation. (In fact, I wish many fake news peddlers/commentators would stick to more artistic pursuits, where reasoning that begins and ends with inductive analysis is more appropriate... don't even get me started... )

[DeadAgainst]

Are we just going to ignore this thievery

 

 

 

"National Anthem" is also about the assassination of a powerful black president, just as Trump is doing with Obama's legacy

[missdelreyxo]

the reaching 

[CatchTheBreeze]

I'm not quite sure if the author is really on point with his analysis but I like the article anyways and the theories sound interesting. It's always nice if someone in the media takes her albums seriously and treats her with respect (instead of just focussing on looks etc.).

[Kommando]

I actually used to worry about her possibly being a Trump supporter, because in the Ride monologue she says stuff like "I believe in the country America used to be" which i thought was very similar to Make America Gr8 Again...

 

I guess we usually think of this statement as a nostalgia-Reagan kind of thing, but really I think she refers to what America "used to be" as when it really believed in the idea of democracy, in every sense of the word ; and when democracy was more than a theorical idea. People like Emerson, Whitman, the Beats, Thoreau, etc... Even the weird hippy loner (Eden Ahbez) who composed the music she uses for her interludes now. They all believed in the potential within every human being and in the sense of community and the meaningfulness of art. This is obviously an important theme for her, as well as America, the land, as an inspiration. Just like the Transcendentalists, who she obviously studied in her philosophy class in Fordham & her personal readings (Whitman etc.). That is to me, what she meant by "the country America used to be".

 

And therefore it's why she can "help us cope", in that she represents values that are at odds with the ones Trump promotes

[Ultra Violet]

I guess we usually think of this statement as a nostalgia-Reagan kind of thing, but really I think she refers to what America "used to be" as when it really believed in the idea of democracy, in every sense of the word ; and when democracy was more than a theorical idea. People like Emerson, Whitman, the Beats, Thoreau, etc... Even the weird hippy loner (Eden Ahbez) who composed the music she uses for her interludes now. They all believed in the potential within every human being and in the sense of community and the meaningfulness of art. This is obviously an important theme for her, as well as America, the land, as an inspiration. Just like the Transcendentalists, who she obviously studied in her philosophy class in Fordham & her personal readings (Whitman etc.). That is to me, what she meant by "the country America used to be".

 

And therefore it's why she can "help us cope", in that she represents values that are at odds with the ones Trump promotes

Wow thanks for your perspective! Having never been to America I think I veered towards the pessimistic view (black slavery,shooting anyone who moves- wild west style, environmentally destructive) on what America used to be. Even still, at the time it was the land of The Free compared to the test of the world.

I guess Lana just wants America to stay free, as the decades roll on, and have democracy.

[AnarKissed]

Nation Anthem was never one of my favorite Paradise songs, I would usually skip it back when I was listening to the album regularly. I don't think the lyric about "wind in my hair...etc." is about "road head". At least, I never interpreted it that way. Lana Del Rey's song Religion is about her giving a blowjob; National Anthem, not so much. I think the article in question is somewhat convoluted. I hope and trust that L.D.R. is a person who loves freedom, and wishes that individuals remain free to do as they please as long as it doesn't harm anyone. Since she is from the wealthy class, sometimes I wonder if she may have...republican leanings, as far as keeping the super rich Firmly in power, perpetually. But I hope it's not so! Referring back to the article, in my Humble opinion, the time for escapism is over, and it's been over for some time now.