Hope you enjoy my little Born To Die Bonus Reactions Video! I'll see you guys next for Paradise EP!! UNCUT Reaction Here ~~~ / cassreacts My Letterboxd Profile: letterboxd.com...
Bonus Tracks 1. Without You 6:39 2. Lolita 15:09 3. Lucky Ones 22:37 Music Videos 1. Born To Die 27:30 2. Video Games 35:00 3. National Anthem 38:40 4. Carmen 44:25 5. Summertime Sadness 47:34 Million Dollar Man Live Performance 50:57
Everytime Lana uses the baby voice as in Lolita and Off to the Races I interpret it as her portraying this sugar baby character. I think Lolita is just a full on character presentation of this persona and Off to the Races is a more nuanced look into this character's life, since she starts low, serious and cynical and turns on the Lolita voice only in the chorus.
Someone that appreciates Lolita? I knew I liked you. It’s such an underrated gem of Lana’s discography-the strings and teasing lyrics are indeed just so alluring every single listen.
Actually, Video Games was the first single, she recorded the video with her webcam and edited it herself (just with random footage of internet, films, etc [the drunk lady is Paz de la Huerta]) and then she just uploaded to youtube and it went virale. About National anthem, the 'trust no one' tattoo is real, it's not for the video, and the double ring is just aesthetic. The scene where she is playing Marilyn is just the first one where she is singing happy birthday.
if you don't recognize him, the man playing JFK in "National Anthem" is Rihanna's baby daddy A$AP Rocky. they have a collaboration a few albums down the road called "Groupie Love". also, a lot of the visuals and beautiful moments are just aesthetic. the deep meanings aren't everywhere. 🥰
Oh my god, you are diving in so deep!!! It's so appreciated and sweet that you really want to take suggestions, and go all in! But remember that if you feel too overwhelmed with people wanting you to react/analyze stuff, don't be afraid to take a step back from that :) Also! Thoughts on Lolita - you said it makes it seem like she's closing in on her prey. In my opinion, she's being closed in on by a predator. The fun, childish, dreamy lyrics contrast GREATLY against the horrific instrumentals. Like the narrator doesn't realize she's in trouble, very similar to the situation in Lolita.
@@officialcassreacts The (Kubrick) movie and the book are very different and lines up closer to your interpretation. I'm pretty certain Lana is more inspired by the movie, I think she's said that she really likes it. That changes things, the book is a lot more horrific than the movie.
I feel like you’d appreciate this personal story- the way I was introduced to Lana was through a friend in 8th grade. He told me he found this artist he thought I’d love and he sent me a couple of her lizzy grant era songs. A few weeks later I pulled an all nighter and at like 5am as I was all delirious and the sun was rising outside the Video Games music video started playing on mtv jams on my tv. I didn’t put it together at first that it was the same girl my friend had showed me. My jaw literally dropped at the song & the video. I remember saying out loud in my room all alone “WHO is that and WHAT is this” It was unlike anything I’d ever heard or seen before. I’ve been obsessed with her and her art ever since.
Lana actually used to make her own music videos! This song was put on MySpace and she had put together a bunch of clips. Abel (the weekend) saw this and fell in love and they ended up being bestfriends after he posted this song.
If you do Paradise EP next, you should do music videos and Tropico movie all in one, cause there are not many songs as it's an EP. It has also a Bonus Track called Burning Desire with music video too 😛 She used to do a lot of bonus content in the first few projects but not in the last albums I'm loving your reactions and can't wait to get to the last album that she released this year, I wish I could hear all of them again for the first time, what a journey😂
Also the summertime sadness official video was cut, it had an intro with clouds in the sky and a woman's voice saying "remember I'll always love you, bye". I can't remember if it was Lana's voice
there is a theory that she's using the name "carmen" (a charming girl) as a metaphor for drugs/alcohol and that she(drugs/alcohol) is seductive, alluring, tempting, and is appealing to anyone and everyone, that's why in the chorus she sings that the boys, the girls, they all like carmen. But so many people have different interpretations on this song tbh.
I think its clear that theres some reference to that, whether shes speaking from someone who has been involved actively as a user or been around people that struggle. In my mind theres no doubt that she's referencing addiction, a fast life, and the grief that comes with it. Not to mention the video literally cuts to "how does meth change your brain".
@@davidpatterson2925 the video does give more context and is much more clear about that but without the video some people see this song as being about a prostitue but it can be about both.
The born to die mv is told from the perspective of the character in the afterlife (the cathedral and palace) reflecting upon her romantic life after the crash. I think that's the most accepted interpratation by fans lol😊
about the little bumo hair, she used to do a lot during that era, but sometimes she uses it, recently she used in "candy necklace" music video and even more recently on her live perfomance on "mita- são paulo"
The guy from Born to Die and Blue Jeans videos are the same! He also shows up in a future video from another album. I love the use of the crocodile metaphor in the Blue Jeans video! Basically he is the crocodille, that's why we see her riding it juxtaposed to her kissing him in the pool. She's comfortable with swimming in dangerous waters, and I believe the water is the relationship - hence the submerging/drawning motif in the music video. One of the crocodilles main killing methods is sneaking up on their pray, surprising them with a powerful bite, locking the animal like a beartrap and spinning their own body to remove body parts/pull the animal into water in order to drown them, I love the last part of the video cause that's what he's doing to her, spinning her to bring her down with him.
Since you said you’re a lyrics girl, I think you would love Ethel Cain. Her album Preacher’s Daughter is the story about about the life of the character Ethel Cain, which is also the singers stage name. Her real name is Hayden Anhedönia. There’s google docs and stuff online about the storyline and lore as well. She plans for it to be a trilogy, which the following two albums being about Ethel’s mother and grandmother. She also is writing a book and wants to make a movie! I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend!!!
A few predictions after watching your first reactions are: Paradise will solidify you as a stan Ultraviolence lyrics will hurt you Honeymoon will transport you - both lyrically and sonically - to another dimension Lust for life will give you a really fun time Nfr will give you a mental breakdown Chemtrails will probably become your favorite project Blue Banisters: a rollercoaster of emotions Ocean Blvd will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about this woman
Born to die has so many Americana themes…nation anthem…American flag…her born to die music video outfits are red, white, and blue/the album cover is red, white, and blue… her lyrics in blue jeans- white bikini off with my red nail polish, bright blue ripples… a lot of small details to pay attention to throughout the record.
I'm loving you reactions!! Some help with the videos: Born to die: they planned to end themselfes together, but she ended up dead, and he didn't. That's why she's looking away on the bed, aways with the white nightgown, she's a ghost. Blue jean: obviously he's dangerous, and that's why he's sometimes a man and sometimes a alligator. There's a (very controversial) theory that he's with her corpse, she's already dead. You'll see how the story continues with the mv Shades of cool (he's old now and remember their time together) and West Coast (how their life were and how it'd be if they both still alive). Both of them from Ultraviolence album. National anthem: keeping in mind that in Dark Paradise she explains her boyfriend passed away, it's a different way to see it, and she end the video saying "I loved him, and I still love him". You'll also love her videos Ride and Tropico, both from Paradise album. ❤️❤️ Her tattoos are real, she has "trust no one" in one hand and "paradise" at the other. Carmen: totally yes!! It's about drugs, and about her doing them and how her life was when she did it. It's so heartbreaking. Summertime sadness: the story about her friend who ended herself is just a theory never confirmed by Lana. Actually, now her last album came out (Ocean Blv), we can see it's about her boyfriend who passed away due to a car accident. She just changed it in the video for a girl friend. The girl in the video is her best friend and she's alive!!
I enjoyed the last video so much and I'm glad to see this one as well! I look forward to future Lana albums as well~ Btw, I feel like you're so sweet and warm, and I love the channel's atmosphere. Glad to have found it! :)))
I think the song Carmen is first and foremost autobiographical, but it's also referencing a character archetype found in classic operas that Lana identifies with a major phase of her life. Obviously from the title, the opera Carmen is one of them; but I think the person described in the song fits La Traviata even better than Carmen.
I personally love her million dollar man performance in her Budweiser sweater. And I’ve always interpreted “for the very last time IM FINE and I’m ready to go” as when you get frustrated and your “fine isn’t fine” and ready to go as in to leave or to go out. It’s that feeling of irritation and exhaustion. But that’s just my perspective.
I Looove that someone else appreciates Lolita & This is What makes us Girls as much as I do. I love those two songs in particular, but the entire album is 🔥🔥🔥
She changes lyrics to her songs during live performances often! PLEASE if you ever have the chance to see her live, GO!! You won’t regret it. It’s so special.
I don't know if you were ever a regular Pandora user, creating custom stations based on multiple artists, but that was definitely my main way of listening to music for a long time. And a custom station that I created, really enjoyed, and which helped me through some tough times was Lana + Lorde + Chaos Chaos. To me, they all add up to a great [Melancholy but Vivacious] and [Powerful-Romance yet Self-Exploring] vibe. So I really recommend checking out Lorde and Chaos Chaos! I'd also strongly recommend Florence + the Machine and Sigrid!
She's swimming in crocodile infested water, maybe to represent that this "person" or this "relationship" is dangerous but she knows that and she's taking the risk even though it could kill her (literally or figuretively). Also he's drowning her at the end, maybe to literally represent that that relationship and that person drags her down.
as far as i know, lana used to make most of her first music videos herself just by putting togheter clips of...literally anything (like for the video games mv)!
i cant wait for all of this! youll be so glad you listened to her discography when youre done, but it will be sad too since there will never be a next first time listening.
I loved all songs from BTD, deluxe included, but "Without you" i started listening after my SO told me something he felt what strangely coincided with the lyrics of this song and a few days later i felt drawn to listen to it and that relationship has so much more sense to me now😮❤
the story of summertime sadness being about her friend committing suicide isn’t actually supported by any evidence I think it originated from the music videos and not viceversa. in an interview she actually said that she wrote summertime sadness when she was in Santa Monica feeling the electricity of the summer. as for the video the actress said in an interview that is is just about love in general and how relationships can go so I think that the friend thing is just a fan made thing
Video games was the first video she released, she made it entirely using her iphone, so that's why it has amateur and is so 2011 tumblr coded hahahaha. It's great tho.
18:13 So one of the reasons why Lolita is so controversial (besides its disturbing/dark premise) is that the protagonist, Humbert, is a highly unreliable narrator. Since the book is written in first person, we only get his POV, and he believes Lolita is this promiscuous girl trying to seduce him and that she is complicit in their "romance", which is probably not true since she's only 12. This is why Lana takes on that role/persona in the song as Lolita.
It’s the same guy in the born to die and blue jeans music videos I don’t know if you noticed! But I love this reacting to all the music videos at once! Also for national anthem some info she played a role of both Marlyn and Jackie and the guy who represented JFK is a famous rapper ASAP Rocky they actually collaborated on few songs together. Plus the poem at the end I believe is real letter Jackie Kennedy has written about JFK. For summer time sadness it’s an actress Jaimie King who is portraying her friend. Although Lana and Jaimie are actually good friends in real life why the footage felt so real and organic probably.
In radio the thing about cinamonn is that isnt sweet, so she is sarcastic about how her Life is fucking perfect (you can also notice that in the tone of her voice)
Hey lyrics girlie! Not sure if you’ve ever listened to Tori Amos - if not would highly recommend. Her first album Little Earthquakes is ahhhmazing. Came out in 1992 so it’s admittedly been out a minute but her lyrics and piano work is soooo good. So much fun watching you on this Lana journey! 😊
I think in summer time sadnesses when it says kiss me hard before u go and baby ur the best it’s from the friends point of view bc she’s saying goodbye before she’s gonna die
idk but my theory of summertime sadness video is that lana is already dead in that video since shes in all white and like shots of her in smoke and the other girl is the one whos singing the song ("i got my red dress on tonight" and the girl is in a red dress) and then when she jumps off theres a clip where her friend is too in white and smoke around her, like idk i maybe completely wrong and thats some sort of lana shit that my brain cannot reach lmao
Whilst lana was in boarding school, she supposedly had a fling with one of her teachers / tutors - whom she references in a lottt of unreleased music, primarily the song “boarding school”. I think this heavily influenced the BTD vibe and especially the song lolita
In the Video Games video the girl that keeps falling down is Paz De La Huerta she's an actor who was one of the many women who was SA by Harvey Weinstein. Around the time of the video she was a Paparazzi target cause of her partying lifestyle. They would follow her all over L.A. to get pictures of her as she had a drinking problem at the time.
I have never heard the Carmen being a representation for drugs theory, but I adore it! It makes so much sense. I thought it was just loosely about Lana's life (being a young alcoholic etc), but the drug theory fits better imo
I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler (does music have spoilers like TV?!), but she definitely seems to be singing more as Elizabeth Grant later on. She talks about her family members by name, and there is a song about her family called The Grants!
about the lolita song, i feel like she's playing on the idea that the book is from the old man's pov, lolita is 12 and he acts like she's a seductress to justify his own actions so to me she's trying to play the part knowing it's not real and lolita is an actual victim bc that's what predatory men want us to believe so it's a very nuanced and satirical narrative she's displaying
Loving the Lana videos! And really enjoy the way you disect her lyrics! If you're looking for a non-Lana album recommendation, I want suggest either "Golden Hour" by Kacey Musgrave (It's psychedelic country and Kacey's voice is so unique) or "That! Feels Good" by Jessie Ware (which has brought me so much joy. It's a dance/Disco album, but the lyrics and feeling behind is so positive.)
Lana’s journey is one of authenticity and vulnerability. Her music gets better and better, more personal and true to her as it goes on. Born to Die is an iconic era, but probably the most gimmicky of her work as far as aesthetics and persona she embodies. I’m really excited for you to delve in more to her discography. You’re in for a treat!
this song is dedicated to aaron greene his ex boyfirend who commited suicide. you need to know this to hear did you know theresa tunel under ocean boulevard PLEASE
I love that you appreciated the live performance and just the soulful, care free, raw vocals and performance. I didnt think of it but she totally does give amy winehouse vibes. She doesn't perform like that anymore or experiment with her voice the same way. She actually makea fun of herself for this performance hahah I love it though
