Lana Del Rey

I thought it was "whispering"...

How do you whistle someone's name?

5.9

why the fuck does the non-youtube version clip and distort? is that an aesthetic decision these days?

Whistling as a language

In the Spanish canary island of La Gomera, a traditional whistled language named silbo gomero is still taught in school. Six separate whistling sounds are used to produce two vowels and four consonants, allowing this language to convey more than 4000 words. This language allowed people (e.g. shepherds) to communicate over long distances in the island, when other communication means were not available.

A wolf-whistle is a two-toned sound (like 'whip-woo') commonly made using the above technique to show approval of something or someone (originally a person thought to be sexually attractive).

'21C Joyce Carol Oates' is the funniest variation on 'gangsta Nancy Sinatra' yet

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(well maybe not funnier than 'white Morrisey')

you'll be laughing out the other side of your mouth when your grandkids are deconstructing "video games" in their first year intro to pop music course

LOL: http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2012/01/pop-quiz.html

Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, or grievously overworked quasi-meta record album promo art?

A. http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5523026f588340168e61f4b7f970c-800wi

B. http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5523026f588340168e61f4c12970c-800wi

C. http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5523026f588340168e61f4c99970c-800wi

dissertation on lesser works of early 21st century youtube divas

Middle Age: A Romance (2001)
I'll Take You There (2002)
The Tattooed Girl (2003)
The Falls (2004)
Missing Mom (2005)
Black Girl / White Girl (2006)
The Gravedigger's Daughter (2007)
My Sister, My Love (2008)
Little Bird of Heaven (2009)
A Fair Maiden (2010)
The Crosswicks Horror (Forthcoming)

you kidding me? I'd better be teaching that class! xp

Born to Die (2012)

;)

liked it more when it was about loser boyfriend ignoring her in favor of call of duty 4

it can still be about that if you want, it's a multivalent work open to various readings

notice she never actually *says* he plays video games in the song

LDR was just trying to punk ILG and it got out of hand, craaazy

liked it more when it was about loser boyfriend ignoring her in favor of call of duty 4

― his hands are a dirty fountain through which lives spurt (contenderizer), Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:40 PM (3 hours ago)

same here

odd future (syd the kid) remix

Makes me think of this contribution that belonged earlier in the thread:

And stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus
And won't stop until the cops come in
Video gaaaames

For worship someone who
Actively despises you
Video gaaaames

so anyway video games isn't really about video games, it's about a boyfriend who forced her to make sex vids. it all makes sense now, she's like a 21st century joyce carol oates.

where are you getting "forced" from

"forced" probably a poor word choice... but you say "get over here and play a video game" has an overtone of coercion or dominance.

and she doesn't say no, she's clearly party to her own objectification - favorite sundress/favorite perfume/it's all for you...

this is what drives the poignancy of the chorus. sung in a different style, these words could be celebratory, or defiant. but it sounds broken, remorseful, why? the implications are vague, and it's up to the listener to provide the answer. but it's wrapped up in her passivity, her surrender, she'll do anything in order to get a man to like her, even if those things sap her of happiness and self respect.

it's you, it's you, it's all for you
everything I do
I tell you all the time
heaven is a place on earth with you
tell me all the things you want to do
I heard that you like the bad girls
honey, is that true?
it's better than I ever even knew
they say that the world was built for two
only worth living if somebody is loving you
baby now you do

Kicking in the front seat
Sitting in the back seat
Video games

If I want to be a freak and
Sell it on the weekend
Video gaaaaames

^

kickin' in the front seat
sittin' in the back seat
video games

― maura, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 7:20 AM (2 days ago)

soz, thought it was a "new one". Credits to Maura then. I woke up this morning with that in my mind actually, so had to post it

but it's wrapped up in her passivity, her surrender, she'll do anything in order to get a man to like her, even if those things sap her of happiness and self respect.

for me the key to the song is what tim f wrote about it somewhere. the character in the song will do all those things - while also chiding the guy for still being more interested in his video games than her. the author of the song - the one telling you this story and performing the character - makes it clear that this is a fucked-up and unhealthy situation.

i mean, the fact that the character is being sapped of self-respect and happiness is right there in how the song's performed. if it was just a straightforward "here is how relationships work" love song you wouldn't get that.

(re: the album, the worst thing is how horribly overproduced it is. like adele after watching the twin speaks dvd box set urgh)

and she doesn't say no, she's clearly party to her own objectification - favorite sundress/favorite perfume/it's all for you...

this is what drives the poignancy of the chorus. sung in a different style, these words could be celebratory, or defiant. but it sounds broken, remorseful, why? the implications are vague, and it's up to the listener to provide the answer. but it's wrapped up in her passivity, her surrender, she'll do anything in order to get a man to like her, even if those things sap her of happiness and self respect.

it's you, it's you, it's all for you
everything I do
I tell you all the time
heaven is a place on earth with you
tell me all the things you want to do
I heard that you like the bad girls
honey, is that true?
it's better than I ever even knew
they say that the world was built for two
only worth living if somebody is loving you
baby now you do

FYI, it's sung that way because that's the way she sings.

Especially after seeing her on SNL, I have no faith in her ability to do nuance and emotion; she is all blank effect wistfulness because that is what her singing voice sounds like; if anything, the songs are built around her limitations/inflexibility.

its kinda funny because i watched the SNL thing and was a little dumbfounded that people were so shocked and appalled mainly because to my ears she sounds terrible on the recordings and live so i dont really see the distinction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XrI6bZxsbxk

or rather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrI6bZxsbxk

lex, I don't think anybody's playing a video game - that's the common reading, but the actual lyrics are more vague and open to interpretation. and a song that can be read 3 diff ways is more interesting to me than one with a single meaning.

dan, my point has nothing to do with her limitations as a singer, just the gulf between the words and the delivery and how it makes the song interesting. if she were singing "you broke my heart, you heartless jerk" in the same tone it'd be boring - maybe the same song amateurist is hearing? either way, she does have other modes of singing as can be heard on the album (that's not an entreaty to listen to the album btw, it's pretty bad).

looool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GdqZm9x7jw

Denny's is a place on earth with food
Eat too much and yr lunch yr gonna lose
I heard you like pancakes with hoooooooney
IS THAT TRUE???

Tbh E3 I feel like you're literalizing stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be literalized; the song itself with its tensions has more than enough pathos without trying to suggest a sensational narrative of loss & degradation a la Novacane: as lex and Tim F, hearing the dramatic tension between the chorus--which imo does a fantastic job of embodying someone rapturously emptying herself out into another, or onto an idealized version of another--and the weariness-tinged verses, where she coolly takes stock of her situation and leaves it wanting. Yes, the song intimates tragedy because it's fucked up but the fucked-upness is all internal; we can see this romance come to a bad end because she can. She knows better but can't help herselfm. That's why we need not invent any sort of dark and degrading backstory to augment this--in the song we are already hearing her degrade her own erotic idealism in real time

seriously, what song are you guys listening to, because it isn't "Video Games"

I think I'm just listening to myself talk at this point DJP

I had no idea the songs her lawyers wrote had so many layers

Well that's what happens when you go to an alpha-male law school

it's almost seems as though you don't like the song dan

idk, don't feel like I'm literalizing anything, the sordid backstory is reading between the lines as much as believing it's about a neglectful boyfriend who plays video games. I guess the larger point is that the song isn't really what I thought it was about because I accepted the video games stuff at face value, and there are other possible readings. just goes to show what the right lawyers can do for you.

xp to DAM

Anyone posted this already (apols if so)
?
http://phatfriend.com/2010/01/12/it-might-blow-up-but-it-wont-go-pop/

http://phatfriend.com/2012/01/25/before-lana-del-ray/

Producer Blockhead worked with LDR, first post is from 2010, second is since then with a link to the track they worked on.

Interesting posts.

Yeah thanks for that Kinder

seriously, what song are you guys listening to, because it isn't "Video Games"

― I spend a lot of time thinking about apricots (DJP), Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

seriously, i don't think i've seen such mirthless exegesis of a totally unworthy song since.. o wait this is ilm, right.

mirthless exegesis
eatin reeses pieces
video games

^these keep getting better and better