“Lana Del Rey (who [Tiny Mix Tapes] honestly never cared about to begin with) …” –Ze Pequeno, TMT
“She captures the present moment better than any infantilizing shirt design on Etsy.” –Elliott Sharp, TMT
“[Born to Die] is the most unintentionally depressing thing I have listened to in a long time.” –Ben Pearson, TMT
“I know a lot of different people. When they are drunk, in the dark of the night they all want the same thing. They all want to be famous. It’s innately human to want other people to bear witness to your life. It’s important for people to be watched. They don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be alone.” –Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Elizabeth Grant
Thematic Index for Born to Die by Lana Del Rey
Note: Every index is created through an act of interpretation. Dominant figures and themes emerge from the words to form patterns that reveal a skeletal “whole,” and all the indexer can do, in good faith and with hermeneutic grace, is allow this skeleton to rise, to dwell, to utter. Here, the risen skeleton is Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. [The first numbers refer to the track number (see below), while the second numbers refer, vertically, to a line from each song’s lyrics (as given in their most recent, and finalized, form).] I have done my best to place the album, as a series of utterances, in its agony and vacuity, in its depth, in its lonely sincerity, with its unnameable masks on, at the center of an endlessly conflicted, hip niche within contemporary capitalism, to show itself. In that place is a woman, a name, two, maybe more, and here she is in part, I think. So listen along; listen to these bones howl their fragmented song. –Nathan Shaffer, TMT
Affirmation, final words, (“it’s all going to happen”), 12.96-12.98; see Hope.
Alcohol, (Bacardi chasers) 2.28, 2.73; (beer) 4.4; (“black cristal”) 2.19; (cherry schnapps) 12.48; (cognac) 2.60; (liquor, top shelf) 9.4, 9.79; (“Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice”) 12.7.
American Dream, 6.71-6.74, 8.27-8.28.
Apologies, (inconsequential) 2.101.
Auto-Tune, (inauthenticity of) 9.23, 9.49, 9.72.
Boredom, (video games) 4.6, 4.13, 4.43, 5.40-5.45.
Born to Die, see Elizabeth Grant, Lana Del Rey.
Boy, see Codependency, People Who Are Not Lana Del Rey.
Brands, (7-Eleven) 5.66; (Bacardi) 2.28, 2.73; (Bugatti) 6.8; (Diet Mountain Dew) 5.6, 5.26, 5.46, 5.58, 5.73; (Pabst Blue Ribbon) 12.7; (Pontiac) 5.67; see also Lana Del Rey.
Childhood, (unhappy) 1.39-1.43.
Cities, (nondescript) 1.8.
Clichés, (American Dream as) see American Dream; (dancin’ in the dark in pale moon light) 11.7; (last words as) 1.32, 1.59, 1.78 ; (finish lines) 1.2; (geographically based) see Cities, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City; (“ride or die”) 3.59; (“one for the money, two for the show”) 10.13-10.14, 10.37-10.38, 10.48-10.49; (roads as) 1.20, 1.24, 1.48, 1.70; (rolling stones as) 2.53-2.54; (“until the end of time”) 3.22-3.23, 3.71-3.72; (walking on the wild side as) 1.27-1.28, 1.54-1.55; (“world … built for two”) 4.26-4.27.
Clothing and accessories, (black bikini tops) 12.54; (blue jeans) 3.1; (high heels) 11.10, 12.17; (leather) 2.89; (party dress) 6.86; (red dress) 2.58, 9.61, 11.5; (ribbons, in hair) 12.73; (sundress) 4.7; (sweater, “favorite”) 3.11; (white bikini) 2.14; (white shirt) 3.1.
Cocaine, see Metaphors.
Codependency, 1.13-1.14, 1.50-1.53, 1.75-1.81, 2.1-2.133, 2.34-2.39, 2.45-2.47, 3.16-3.28, 3.32-3.33, 3.70-3.83, 5.1-5.85, 7.1-7.10, 7.23-7.39, 7.48-7.57, 7.72-7.87, 8.7-8.11, 8.63, 10.1-10.58.
Cosmetics, (lipstick) 9.62; (mascara) 6.85, 12.19; (nondescript makeup) 2.59; (red nail polish) 2.14-2.15; (perfume) 4.12.
Crying, see Sadness, Tears.
Days of the Week, (Monday) 3.36; (Friday) 1.11; (Sunday) 3.35.
Death, 1.34-1.35, 1.52-1.53, 1.61-1.62, 7.1-7.87, 12.26-12.27, 12.61-12.62, 12.89-12.90; (a happy death) 11.35-11.36.
Depression, see Narcissism.
Desperation, 1.1, 1.14-1.15, 1.22-1.23, 1.25, 1.51-1.53, 1.70-1.72, 2.22, 2.25-2.26, 2.66-2.67, 2.70-2.71, 2.80-2.81, 2.90, 2.109-2.116, 2.130-2.133, 3.16-3.20, 3.42-54, 3.62-3.69, 4.5-4.6, 5.1.-5.85, 4.14-4.21, 6.17-6.18, 6.64-6.86; 7.1-7.87, 109-10.12, 10.17-10.23, 10.28-10.36; see Self-Doubt.
Domination, see Possession.
Dropped G’s, (anticipatin’) 3.38; (cryin’) 12.84; (dancin’) 3.67; (dyin’) 9.12; (holdin’) 6.11; (lookin’) 12.3; (lyin’) 9.3, 9.16, 9.78; (nothin’) 11.43; (shinin’) 9.73; (singin’) 2.38; (sizzlin’) 11.15, 11.40; (skippin’) 12.40; (sneakin’) 12.3; (stealin’) 12.11; (tirin’) 9.42; (pacin’) 3.38; (waitin’) 3.37; (walkin’) 12.9; (wavin’) 12.83.
Drunk or drinking, 2.31, 2.76, 4.38, 12.5, 12.41, 12.48.
Elizabeth Grant, see Lana Del Rey.
Fame, as substitutional obsession or lover, 8.1-8.63; (apparent resistance toward) 9.13-9.16.
Father, 8.33.
Fear, see Narcissism.
Friends, “the only ones I’ve ever had”, 12.78-12.79.
Games, (darts) 4.36; (pool) 4.35.
God, 2.95, 2.103-2.106, 6.6, 6.108, 9.21, 9.47, 9.70, 11.12, 11.37.
Happiness, as sadness, 11.1-11.76.
High, 1.23, 1.51, 1.69, 5.42, 9.37.
Hope, see Affirmation, Self-Realization
Jesus, dashboard, 5.34-5.36; see God.
Jewelry, (diamonds) 6.47-6.48; (gold chain) 2.118.
Kissing, (big) 4.11; (blue dark) 4.34; (hard) 11.1, 11.20, 11.45, 11.67; (in rain) 1.30, 1.57, 1.75; (as filler, “kiss kiss”) 6.35; (open mouth) 2.40, 2.85.
Lana Del Rey, (cool) 6.43; (“degenerate beauty queen”) 12.76; (“exotic flower”) 10.2; (eyes) 3.3; (feet) 1.1; (“flat broke-down life”) 2.48-2.49; (goin’ about 99) 11.32; (hair) 6.15; (hair, big, beauty queen style) 11.8; (hand) 2.3; (heart) 1.3, 2.5; (“I grew up on hip hop”) 3.8-3.9; (Las Vegas past) 2.6-2.7; (L.A. crass way) 2.8-2.9; (as “harlot, starlet, queen of Coney Island”) 2.98-2.99; (as money) 6.1-6.110; (neck) 6.16; (pretty) 5.29; (as “scarlet, starlet, singin’ in the garden”) 2.37-2.39, 2.82-2.84; (table dancing, at 16) 12.43-12.44; (“tar black soul”) 2.46-2.47; see Born to Die, Elizabeth Grant.
Las Vegas, 2.6-2.7, 2.127.
Laughing, (resigned) 1.50, 1.68.
Loneliness, 1.11-1.16, 1.22, 1.29-1.30, 1.33-1.35, 1.51-1.53, 1.61-1.62, 1.65-1.70, 1.80-1.81, 2.112-2.116, 3.16-3.28, 6.77-6.78, 7.1-7.87, 10.30-10.36, 12.82-12.85; (inauthenticity and) 9.1-9.79; see also Lana Del Rey.
Los Angeles, 2.8, 2.56-2.57, 8.36-8.37, (Chateau Marmont) 2.55-2.63.
Loss, (comparatively less significant) 1.1-11.86; (significant) 12.82-12.85.
Love, the failure thereof, 1.19, 1.47, 1.65, 3.12-3.13, 4.22-4.30, 5.10-5.13, 5.50-5.53, 5.69-5.72, 5.77-5.80, 7.1-7.87; (love before love) 12.23-12.25, 12.30-12.35, 12.58-12.70, 12.86-12.98.
Masculinity, symbols of, (home address) 6.4; (Bugatti Veyron) 6.8; (cigar) 2.119; (fast) 5.24; (fast car) 4.2; (“King of Chevron”) 6.42; (python) 6.38; (white Pontiac) 5.67.
Memory, 3.14, 3.70; (the past, nagging) 5.17-5.18, 7.15-7.16, 7.40-7.41.
Mental Illness, self-diagnosed, 1.31, 1.58, 1.77, 2.34, 2,79, 2.111-2.112, 6.75-6.76.
Metaphors, (“blood red jam”) 2.44; (“cocaine heart”) 2.11; (“dark paradise”, death haunted) 7.1-7.87; (“face is like a melody”) 7.16, 7.41-7.42; (“fresh to death”) 3.6; (“lick me up/take me like a vitamin”) 8.19, 8.46; (“mind like a diamond”) 9.22, 9.48, 9.71; (money, as anthemic) 5.1-5.110; (races, the) 1.1-1.133; (“sick as cancer”) 3.6; (“sizzlin’ like a snare”) 11.15, 11.40; (“take another drag turn me to ashes”) 5.20-5.21; (“tar black soul”) 2.46-2.47; (“think I’ll miss you forever like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky”) 11.55-11.57; (“velvet night”) 12.49.
Money, (ontological status of) 6.1, 6.32-6.34, 6.71, 6.83-6.84, 6.107-6.110; (gold coins) 2.25-2.26.
Months, (December) 3.15.
Narcissism, see Codependency, Personal Pronouns, Watching You Watching Me.
Nature, (backyard) 4.1; (garden) 2.39.
Namedropping, see People Who Are Not Lana Del Rey.
New York City, (Cipriani’s, basement) 2.93; (Coney Island) 2.98-2.99, 9.34; (Hamptons) 5.7; (Rikers Island) 2.32-2.33, 2.77-2.78; (inconsequential references) 5.6-5.7, 5.46-5.47, 5.57-5.58, 5.73-.5.74; see also Cities.
Nostalgia, (old bars, old stars) 4.31-4.32.
Notoriety, (of others) 6.1-6.110, (vicarious) 6.1-6.110.
Numbers, (1,2,3,4) 11.19, 11.44.
Objects, nondescript, (heart-shaped sunglasses) 5.14-5.15.
Pedophilia, as metaphor, 2.1-2.133.
People Who Are Not Lana Del Rey, (unnamed, essentially) 1.1-1.81, 2.1-2.133, 3.1-3.3, 3.5-3.83, 4.1-4.43, 5.1-5.85, 6.1-6.110, 7.1-7.87, 8.1-8.63, 10.1-10.58, 11.1-11.76, 12.1-12.98; (“Carmen”) 9.1-9.79; (James Dean) 3.4.; see Elizabeth Grant.
Personal Pronouns, (first person) 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.11, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.21, 1.22, 1.29, 1.34, 1.36, 1.37, 1.39, 1.41, 1.42, 1.45, 1.46, 1.49, 1.50, 1.52, 1.56, 1.61, 1.63, 1.64, 1.67, 1.68, 1.75, 1.80, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.14, 2.16, 2.20, 2.22, 2.23, 2.25, 2.26, 2.27, 2.29, 2.30, 2.33, 2.34, 2.37, 2.40, 2.42, 2.45, 2.46, 2.48, 2.52, 2.53, 2.55, 2.58, 2.59, 2.72, 2.74, 2.75, 2.78, 2.79, 2.82, 2.85, 2.87, 2.89, 2.90, 2.91, 2.94, 2.95, 2.96, 2.97, 2.102, 2.105, 2.109, 2.110, 2.112, 2.113, 2.114, 2.115, 2.120, 2.131, 3.14, 3.16, 3.18, 3.27, 3.32, 3.37, 3.41, 3.42, 3.44, 3.53, 3.57, 3.58, 3.64, 3.65, 3.66, 3.71, 3.73 3.75, 3.82, 4.3, 4.7, 4.8, 4.10, 4.16, 4.17, 4.20, 4.22, 4.24, 4.38, 4.39, 4.42, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.17, 5.19, 5.40, 5.45, 5.54, 5.55, 5.56, 5.57, 5.81, 5.82, 5.83, 5.84, 6.5, 6.13, 6.19, 6.23, 6.31, 6.36, 6.37, 6.43, 6.45, 6.51, 6.55, 6.63, 6.77, 6.79, 6.80, 6.87, 6.94, 6.98, 6.106, 7.1, 7.3, 7.18, 7.19, 7.22, 7.23, 7.26, 7.28, 7.31, 7.33, 7.39, 7.43, 7.47, 7.48, 7.51, 7.53, 7.57, 7.59, 7.62, 7.64, 7.66, 7.69, 7.71, 7.72, 7.75, 7.77, 7.81, 7.83, 7.86, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5, 8.9, 8.11, 8.12, 8.14, 8.16, 8.18, 8.19, 8.21, 8.24, 8.26, 8.29, 8.31, 8.33, 8.36, 8.38, 8.39, 8.41, 8.43, 8.45, 8.46, 8.48, 8.51, 8.53, 8.55, 8.57, 8.59, 8.61, 8.63, 10.1, 10.6, 10.7, 10.9, 10.15, 10.16, 10.18, 10.30, 10.34, 10.39, 10.40, 10.42, 10.50, 10.51, 10.53, 10.58, 11.1, 11.3, 11.5, 11.8, 11.10, 11.12, 11.16, 11.18, 11.20, 11.22, 11.24, 11.30, 11.41, 11.43, 11.45, 11.47, 11.49, 11.55, 11.61, 11.67, 11.69, 11.71, 12.15, 12.22, 12.82;
(second person) 1.6, 1.13, 1.14, 1.16, 1.29, 1.31, 132, 1.34, 1.52, 1.56, 1.58, 1.59, 1.61, 1.75, 1.77, 1.78, 1.80, 2.18; 2.66, 2.70, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6, 3.8, 3.10, 3.16,3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.23, 3.25, 3.26, 3.27, 3.30, 3.31, 3.42, 3.45, 3.46, 3.47, 3.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.55, 3.57, 3.61, 3.62, 3.68, 3.69, 3.70, 3.71, 3.74, 3.75. 3.76, 3.78, 3.80, 3.81, 3.82, 4.2, 4.10, 4.14, 4.15, 4.17, 4.20, 4.22, 4.29, 4.30, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.10, 5.12, 5.30, 5.32, 5.50, 5.52, 5.54, 5.55, 5.56, 5.57, 5.62, 5.64, 5.69, 5.71, 5.77, 5.79, 5.81, 5.82, 5.83, 5.84, 5.85, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.31, 6.32, 6.37, 6.39, 6.40, 6.41, 6.45, 6.47, 6.48, 6.51, 6.55, 6.57, 6.62, 6.87, 6.90, 6.94, 6.98, 6.100, 7.4, 7.8, 7.10, 7.16, 7.19, 7.26, 7.30, 7.35, 7.41, 7.44, 7.50, 7.51, 7.55, 7.56, 7.64, 7.67, 7.70, 7.74, 7.75, 7.77, 7.80, 8.11, 8.26, 8.38, 8.45, 8.53, 8.59, 8.63, 10.1, 10.7, 10.9, 10.12, 10.15, 10.17, 10.21, 10.24, 10.29, 10.30, 10.31, 10.32, 10.34, 10.39, 10.41, 10.43, 10.45, 10.50, 10.52, 10.54, 10.56, 11.1, 11.3, 11.4, 11.22, 11.45, 11.47, 11.48, 11.55, 11.59, 11.67, 11.69, 11.70, 12.96, 12.97.
Possession, see Codependency, Desperation.
Profanity, (bitches) 3.24, 3.79; (fuckin’) 8.14, 8.41, 8.55, 8.61; (shit) 3.61.
Questions, (ontological) 1.10, 6.19-6.20, 6.23-6.24; (of love’s duration) 5.10-5.13, 5.50-5.53, 5.69-5.72, 5.77-5.80; (of loss) 10.23, 10.47, 10.58; (of self-worth) 12.95.
Rain, 1.30, 1.57, 1.76.
References, (“Amazing Grace”) 1.36-1.38; (Lolita, V. Nabokov) 2.20-2.21, 2.23-2.24, 2.64-2.65, 2.68-2.69.
Sadness, 1.17-1.18, 1.63-1.64, 3.1-3.83, 11.1-11.76.
Seasons, (summer, summertime) 6.29, 6.61, 6.104, 11.1-11.76.
Self-Doubt, see Lana Del Rey.
Self-Realization, see Born to Die.
Self-Referential, as “Lana”, at 16, 12.22.
Slang, (“booyah”) 6.21, 6.53, 6.66; (“the game”) 3.40; (“gangsta”) 3.29; (“imma”) 3.59; (“yo”) 2.87; (“you the best”) 11.4, 11.23, 11.70.
Success, 6.1-6.110 ; see Fame, Money, Self-Realization.
Sweet as, (“blood red jam”) 2.44; see Lana Del Rey, Metaphors.
Sweet like, (“cinnamon”) 8.12-8.13, 8.39-8.40, 8.54, 8.60; (“sugar venom”) 8.21-8.22; see Lana Del Rey, Metaphors.
Tears, 3.22, 3.48, 3.77, 12.1-12.98.
Terms of Endearment, (“babe”) 6.91; (“baby”) 2.22, 3.15, 3.25, 3.76, 4.30, 5.2, 5.4, 5.14, 5.55, 5.57, 5.58, 5.66, 5.73, 5.82, 5.84, 6.21, 6.53, 6.66, 6.104, 8.43, 8.51, 8.57, 11.4, 11.23, 11.48, 11.70; (“bad baby”) 11.33; (“boy”) 2.130, 6.90, 8.2, 8.5, 10.6; (“darlin”) 9.1, 9.76; (“darling”) 2.13, 6.50; (“honey”) 1.16, 2.129; (“hun”) 2.120; (“sugar”) 6.26-6.57, 6.100.
Twee, (“bestest”) 4.10.
Watching You Watching Me, (“in the swimming pool”) 2.16; (“in the glass room, bathroom, Chateau Marmont”, dressing) 2.55-2.63; (“get undressed”) 4.8.
“We know jack shit about her. We all acknowledge that it’s a shtick, but then presume that we can intuit whatever’s under the shtick — we assume she’s dumb, we assume she’s inauthentic in a way that is somehow reprehensible vs. other inauthenticities that are somehow commendable (ignoring capitalism’s role on either end), but we always refuse to acknowledge the shtick on [its] own, as shtick (especially in her case). Let the shtick stand, address it on those merits.” –Jeff Rovinelli, TMT
“I don’t want to be alone.” –LDR
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