#this will forever be my favourite lana lyric

[cumberbitchhhh]

[streussal]

Fanvid recs: Louis/Lestat

I put together a list of some of my favourite Loustat fanvids for Louis month at @iwtvfanevents.  There’s a fair variety here, in terms of tone, music, and general vidding style.

(I put together a separate rec list for Louis character vids here.)

General Trigger Warnings (not all apply to every single vid): violence, blood, murder, some gore, fire, domestic violence, suicide.

bloodsport by @lezarus - Loving you’s a bloodsport (music by Raleigh Ritchie)

cherry (youtube link)  by @cuntylestat / xScribbledDreaming - I fall to pieces when I'm with you, I fall to pieces. My cherries and wine, rosemary and thyme.  And all of my peaches (are ruined) (music by Lana Del Rey)

Horny Angry Tango (youtube link) by @jennaflare - Our love has transformed into hate.  Damn! Sex right now would sure be great (music from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

I Love You Like an Alcoholic (youtube link)  by @fluffyrabbitofdoom - One last kiss, I need you like I need a broken leg (music by The Taxpayers)

Mamma Mia (youtube) by @homosexualslug / bravedeviatoredits - Here I go again! (music by Abba)

Me and My Husband by @claudiadupointedulac - I steal a few breaths from the world for a minute, and then I'll be nothing forever (music by Mitski)

Me and the Devil by alittlestitious339 - And I’m gonna see my man til I get satisfied -  lots of dialogue from the show is used, subtitles available by pressing the CC button (music by Soap&Skin)

no children by @tallahasseemp3 - I hope I lie, and tell everyone you were a good wife.  And I hope you die, I hope we both die (music by The Mountain Goats)

no more dreaming of the dead by rabbitmaze - In the shape of things to come, Too much poison come undone.  - This uses a lot of dialogue from the show, but there’s subtitles if you press the CC button.  (music - starts with Placebo, ends with Florence and the Machine)

off to the races (youtube link) by @cuntylestat/ xScribbledDreaming - My old man is a bad man (music by Lana Del Rey)

Rid of Me (youtube link) by @jennaflare - Tie yourself to me, no one else, no.  You're not rid of me (music is a cover of PJ Harvey by Nilüfer Yanya)

Rip (youtube link) by @idontwikeit - You were there to rip apart, It always ends without a start (music by Snow Ghosts)

smoking section by @greatmortality - And sometimes I go to the edge of my roof, and I think I'll jump just to punish you.  And if I should float on the taxis below, no one will notice, no one will know (music by St. Vincent)

Strangelove by sarpazoa - There’ll be times when my crimes will seem almost unforgivable (music by Depeche Mode)

vampire empire by @dykekingofhell - Where you can't seem to hold me, can't seem to let me go.  So I can't find surrender and I can't keep control (music by Big Thief)

who is in control? (youtube link) by @annefraid / ohann4115 - dual character study of Louis & Lestat - Goddamn right, you should be scared of me (music by Halsey)

позови меня с собой (ask me to come with you) (youtube link) by @fireboiii - This song is in Russian, which I don’t know, so I have no lyrics for you.  But it’s lovely.  (music by Palina)

[anatrik]

First thoughts TTPD:

What a lana x folklore girlie win this issss!

1.Fortnight is about matty?? HAHAHAHA also why did this make me think of when holt was going running with the ladies when he was in witness protection??? Crying. Fav line has to be they were supposed to take me away but they forgot to come and get me. So sad but also so cool in relation to her cancellation/return. 10/10

2. TTPD- not so hahahaha anymore IS THIS ACTUALLY A FUCKING MATTY HEALY ALBUM??? There was a typewriter at the 1975 show she performed anti-hero at? Unless its somehow about harry? Who else is tattooed on her roster??? Or is this about herself? Kinda feel like modern idiots/who’s going to decode is directed at us lol😂 9/10?

3.My boy only breaks his favourite toys- went in expecting mad woman rage. Pleasantly surprised. king of my heart to queen of sandcastles he destroys….DESTROYED ME. Are you fucking kidding me rn? Im caling it. Best song. Im crying at 7.30 am this is not funny anymore. Also THANK YOU FOR NOT SLANDERING DAD. I knew you wouldnt let us down like that. Also the chorus sounds like long story short😭 oh this is so sad. Once i fix me hes going to miss me? He was my best friend?😭 he runs because he loves me? Stopp😭😭 1000000/10

4.Down bad- ….aaaand we’re back to MATTY AGAIN? He does not deserve this spotlight but why are all the song so goood😭😭😭 is this why artists love to date problematic men? It unlocks some extraordinary potential? Crazy crazy girl😭 also stay down (bad) 🤌🏾 shes done it again 10/10 also for personal reasons i will be believing this is about joe in that Tom/Joe/met gala overlap period when she was photographed going to the gym a lot and that this is about all that yearning please let it be about that plesplesplesplesplesples also down bad waking up in blood staring at the sky…like i lost a twin is giving bigger than the whole sky🥺

5. So long, london- so so long long, lon-don DONE? ok miss girl😭 the hoax parallels😭 dont be undoing the song i was going to play at my weddddding what is wrong with you😭 my only one my smoking gun to two graves one gun youll find someone??? Also reminds me of la la land :/ how much sad did you think I had in me? You wrote hoax so a lot ok leave us alone. crying again. 10000000000000000/10 oh lol its a track 5 ofc it is😂

6. But daddy I love him- she really said if you ever liked, shared or even LOOKED at the ‘vivaa las vegas’ memes you cant come to the wedding and shes so real for it. Lfgggg. Ubothered unhinged uhmazing. Growing up precocious sometimes means you still hold on to that princess/quarterback wattpad fantasy AS IS YOUR RIGHT QUEEN GO THE FUCK OFF🥳 100000/10 calling out toxic fandom for the first time and we love to see it🫡 this is suchhhh a happy songggg you deserve ALL the chaos and revelry.

7. Fresh out the slammer- god she gets it. Like sure he was great and he is still my biological father and everything but as a decidedly melancholy person myself who has constantly had atleast one close friend in a deep depression I can see how all that heavy lifting can just get heavy at some point especially when youre a partner and their sole lighthouse in wtv storms be out there buffeting their mental health. Its not for everyone and thats so fair and so valid but so sad as well. 10/10 for the honesty.

8. Florida- she really said girlrot summer🫡 this is the lanaest song ever. So lucky one/nothing new coded. This will be the First song I repeat and then so long london. Aaaghhh how i love a self aware melancholic anxious little superstar. 90283749292/10 thank you for giving florence an entire verse whew. Little did you know your home’s really only a town you’re just a guest in is soooo going on my body forever

9. Guilty as sin?- honestly just fuck if it means we dont have to hear about how desirable ratty healy is man ffs. IThe only reason he looks so hot is bc hes forbidden. You have to trust me on this. He’s sooo mid JESUS. U cant be writing hozier lyrics about a man that hasn’t met a shower😭 1000000/10 writing. -16392992/10 content. Unrequited love/lust truly is the greatest weapon in a poets arsenal bc where is this energy in the joe songs binch?😭 this is such a teen in love with a 26 yo creep who called me so mature for my age mom you just dont get ittt anthem😂😂

10. Who’s afraid of little old me?- is a warning 😂 im so here for it. Like yes I still hate matty with all my heart and soul but yes I agree fans should not be allowed so much of an opinion on another persons life and yes I should be afraid (I am). She said aight love letter era over I AM WRITING YOU ALL HATE MAIL AND I’M HAND DELIVERING IT. Shes sooo done pretending to be the relatable girl next door when she’s anything but and is now reminding us of it and yes yes yessss girl OWN ITTTTTTTT. I’ve been saying for agesssss that there is a darkness under all that sunshine from where she clawed her way to the top and this is sooo vindicating. 10000000000000/10 favourite song ever. Mad woman wishes she was who’s afraid of little old me. I am unwell. I am in love. This is the Taylor Swift i stan. The marketing genius the calculating business woman the puppet master with narcotics in her songs thats why we sing along🫡 she so can handle a dangerous man

11. I can fix him (no really I can)- you cant.

12. loml- ofc. OFC. Its the saddest song of all time. OFC. Fuck offf ughhhh. 😭😭😭😭😭 its giving happiness. Its giving divorce. i am a child of a broken home now and my parents still love each other and hold so much regret still. What do i do with thissss? Im just a little girl taylorrr! 1002380292011010101/10 soo so gooood.

13. I can do it with a broken heart- first of all track 13. Love it. Second of all the upbeat barbieness of it all. Third of all I FINALLY PLACED IT. Shes in her unrelatable era. She is not your girl next door. You will never understand her life. She is as much a phenomenon as a person and we literally only see as much as she allows us to and honestly if i have to get put in my place theres noooo better way to have it done. Im having such a great time actually. 10 BILLION TRILLION OUT OF 10 you tellll em girl you FUCKING TELL EM.

14. Smallest man who ever lived- not going to speculate on who it is bc they clearly had a serious problem and its not a joke but damn :/ thats so sad :/ hope they get help? Didnt expect this to be what the song was about at all?

15. The alchemy- she said TRAVIS IS MY BOY WITH HER WHOLE CHEST😌 10/10

16. Clara bow- did she just name drop herself ? I was so right about unrelatable era. Also the Subtle nod to olivia/sabrina noted and appreciated. Lucky one/castles crumbling (mature version) fr fr. Solid legacy song.

17. The black dog- shared your secrets with and location is the same whiplash as a red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground with no one around to tweet it🤌🏾 joe songs hit so so different 😭😭😭 1000000000/10

18. imgonnagetyouback- the valiant roar was not so valiant and more of a mew i guess. 7/10

19. The albatross- oh this is the ONE. The album defining song for sureeee. Mad woman on coke. A rose by any other name is a scandal???? Thats my religion right there. Little last great American dynasty twist there at the end! Fuck yea. She does reallly try to warn the men in her life have to give her that. One gazillion/10

20. Clearly god has favourites and they are the ppl called chloe or sam or sophia or marcus😭 ALSO this song is about joe for sure. The internet starlet hasss to be delaney rowe!!!! It HAS TO BE. 10/10

21. How did it end?- shes back for the fans😂 plot twist the breakup is with yall🤌🏾 but yesss say it louder! One gasp and then how did it end. So good. 100/10

22. So high school- lmao aristotle grand theft auto ONLYY taylor swift man😭😂 you know what you want and boy you got her🫡🫡 11/10

23. I hate it here- mother’s having a mental breakdown kids yk the drill🤌🏾 10/10

24. ThanK you aIMiee- what better way to say fuck you to a hater than to thank her for jumpstarting your legacy my god!!! She is insane for this. The capitalisation is a bit petty tho ngl. 8/10

25. I look in peoples windows- once again I thank you for the kindness and respect shown to joe. Never doubted you but thank you nevertheless. 10/10 short as nice to have a friend but it didnt need to be longer.

26. The prophecy- its so sad and humbling to see even a woman at where she is having to beg for love bc that literally is the nature of love. Something humiliating, to have to beg for 🤷‍♀️ cards playing out like fools in a fable cursed like eve got bitten. No one writes like her damn. 10/10

27. Cassandra- very madeline miller on this one. Love love loveee modern takes on tragic greek women. 100/10

28. Peter- ah fuck. This one is going to hurt (it did). 1000000/10 my ribs get the feeling she did😭 all her joe related aches are so bone deeeep ugh. Promises oceans deep but never to keep😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 oh god it hurtsss it hurts it hurtss

29. The bolter- curious child ever reviled except by her father wow.

30. Robin- OMG! I needed this song growing up sooo bad. That way to go tiger felt so so warm like running into a kitchen after a day of being in the mud and u tell ur mum the silly things u did and shes genuinely interested and impressed by your smol victories. A bajillion/10

31. The manuscript- postmortem of every ex ever🤌🏾 love it.

[lovemaiyo-main]

AND THE GRASS WHERE YOU LAY LEFT A BED IN YOUR WAKE

SUMMARY the artists / music they listen to

WITH all of the released genshin males WARNINGS none / THE IMAGES MIGHT LOAD WRONG!! if so, go to this link to read the post (the link is js this same post but on my tumblr ) 70GIN-M IM MAKING A BIGGER PIECE RN SO JUST TAKE THIS UNTIL + this is canon hoyoverse broke into my house just to tell me

mitski, lana del ray, mac demarco`

CHONGYUN favourite song : yes to heaven - lana del ray biggest lana del ray stan EVER & fights lana haters online KAZUHA favourite song : first love / late spring - mitski mitski is the main inspo for his haikus HEIZOU favourite song : my kind of woman - mac demarco

clairo, girl in red, MARINA

DILUC favourite song : we fell in love in october - girl in red THOMA favourite song : ancient dreams in a modern land - MARINA he buys headphones and blasts this while he works VENTI favourite song : pretty girl - clairo doesn't pay attention to the lyrics but loves how it sounds

taylor swift

ALBEDO favourite song : snow on the beach took a vacation from work when midnights came out just to listen to it on repeat for 92 hours BENNETT favourite song : you belong with me only listened to the old taylor songs because his ipad kept breaking before the new albums came out and is now SO broken it can't even function properly CHILDE favourite song : fifteen ITTO favourite song : midnight rain kuki has to listen to him do karaoke of midnight rain whenever she comes over for a sleepover XINGQIU favourite song : love story (taylors version) ZHONGLI favourite song : blank space hu tao told him taylor was popular w the kids so now hes a dedicated swiftie

steve lacy, eyedress, laufey

AYATO favourite song : something about you - eyedress also likes 'jealous' by eyedress. he loves the feelings eyedress conveys and how elegant they sound while doing so CYNO favourite song : static - steve lacy GOROU favourite song : let you break my heart again - laufey kokomi showed him this one and he thought it sounded SO pretty. whenever this plays his tail starts wagging help

sza, yeat, tyler the creator

ALHAITHAM favourite song : möney so big - yeat plays this song really loud whenever kaveh is talking 💀😨 FOUL LEGACY favourite song : big boy - SZA hii foul legacy childe (im single) KAEYA favourite song : out thë way - yeat SCARAMOUCHE favourite song : kill bill - SZA he might he might kill his ex TIGHNARI favourite song : see you again - tyler, the creator ft. kali uchis CAN I GET A KISS?? AND CAN YOU MAKE IT LAST FOREVER? XIAO favourite song : EARFQUAKE - tyler, the creator

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Song Prompt Asks

Hello everyone. I’ve been a little quiet on here for the last week because I’ve been away but I’m back and will definitely be more active again now. I thought this would be a fun idea to start off my writing again (although I have finally finished some of my wips while I was away)

Feel free to pick one of the music lyrics below and send me an ask (you can also choose a character too if you’d like or if not I can pick a character) send me an ask and I can either write a little headcanon, extract from a fic or write a little plot (and if you like it I can always turn it into a full fic) I can also do little moodboards based on these two if anyone is interested. Characters can be from Band of Brothers or the Pacific so whichever takes your fancy. You can also request one of my OC pairs if you have a favourite from one of them.

"When you are young they assume you know nothing" - Cardigan, Taylor Swift

"Secrets I have held in my heart" - I wanna be yours, Artic Monkeys

"Nothing ever lasts forever” - Everybody wants to rule the world, Tears for Fears

"Your beauty never ever scared me" - Mary on a cross, Ghost

"I will always love you" - Keep driving, Harry Styles

"If I was dying on my knees, you would be the one to rescue me" - Brother, Kodaline

"I want you for worse or for better" - How you get the girl, Taylor Swift

"I hate you for what you did and I miss you like a little kid" - Motion sickness, Phoebe Bridgers

"Haven't I given enough? Given enough?" - Gilded lily, Cults

“For all the ones who didn't make the night” - The Dying Light, Sam Fender

“You are the best thing that's ever been mine” - Mine, Taylor Swift

“She’s got you mesmerised, while I die” - Heather, Conan Gray

“I love you long after your gone” - Gone, Gone, Gone, Phillip Phillips

“I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you” - The night we met, Lord Huron

“And it feels like the end of a movie I’ve seen before” - Ceilings, Lizzy McAlpine

“Sir, I think he’s bleeding out” - Epiphany, Taylor Swift

“You're in the wind, I'm in the water. Nobody's son, nobody's daughter” - Chemtrails over the country club, Lana Del Ray

“I'm not quiet, you've been quiet, just receiving what you said” - Vampire Empire, Big Theif

“You can’t wake up, this is not a dream” - Gasoline, Halsey

“I wanna kiss you but I want it too much” - Poison, Alice Cooper

Tagging a few mutuals to get it started but no pressure @georgieluz @malarkgirlypop @sweetxvanixlla @xxluckystrike @panzershrike-pretz @bucky32557038ww2 @ronsparky @next-autopsy @whollyjoly @lena-basilone @mads-weasley @coco-bean-1218 @iceman-kazansky @samwinchesterslostshoe

[lithium-poet]

𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓲𝓶 & 𝓌𝒽𝓎

𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 - 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐲

They say I'm too young to love you They say I'm too dumb to see They judge me like a picture book By the colors, like they forgot to read

Well, my boyfriend's in a band He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed I've got feathers in my hair I get down to Beat poetry And my jazz collection's rare I can play most anything I'm a Brooklyn baby I'm a Brooklyn baby

D's a total jazz nerd and we sometimes play jazz together in band. Almost every lyric of this song fits so well!!

He has a collection of rare jazz vinyls just sitting in the music room and i'm the only one so far who is allowed to put them on whenever i want. I feel so special...!

On top of that, i'm a songwriter and the way i write is that i never actually sit down and type my lyrics up in a google doc, but i go outside and write free verses here and there, like poetry. We talk about this a lot <3

𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲 - 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐲

This song is one of my favourites, if not my absolute top lana del rey song, both sonically and lyrically. I have loved this song for a very long time, but upon befriending him, this song has been rebirthed into a new layer of meaning.

I just think the feeling is captured so well in the lyricism of this song - what's the worst that could happen to a girl who's already hurt? i just wanna dance with you.

He once told me that he is so glad that I, out of all people, is one of the people that talk to him the most, and that he always manages to leave our conversation feeling a little happier, or a little more enlightened, or a little mroe reflective. That is probably the greatest thing I have achieved to date.

So what if this ill-fated unrequited romance that is being documented in this blog is an ostentation of contempt concerning the romantic dogma that our society has laid out for us? What if our relationship is tightroping on the periphery of blatant favouritism and acceptable professionalism?

If this makes the both of us manage to forage some sense of peace and stillness in this ever-changing dumpster fire chaos of a world, then I don't care.

I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.

I just wanna dance with you.

𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐭 - 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐳

Just a classic tc community theme song ♡

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 - 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬

We talk a lot about the meaning of life and how to make peace with the lack thereof, so that's part of the reason that this song reminds me of us.

However, these lines specifically relate to something else:

Drowning out the morning birds With the same three songs over and over I wish I wrote it, but I didn't, so I learn the words Hum along 'til the feeling's gone forever

I have recently come to the point in both my personal life and my education in which raw intelligence isn't enough to compete with concrete efforts anymore. The gifted kid burnout, as some may say. I've been talking to him about it.

He told me he thinks that i'm the smartest human to have ever existed (well, jokingly), and i eventually have to get over the unreasonable jealousy of others' creativity to reach my true potential.

"Hum along 'til the feeling's gone forever" also reminds me of an idiom he says a lot during band rehearsals: "we sing the blues because we have the blues". Relating back to the previous point about the insignificance of human existence, he thinks that jazz is a form of heroism - to make peace with this insignificance. I agree with him.

𝐦𝐞 & 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐠 - 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬

i played this song on the piano for him and he was really impressed with both my singing and my piano abilities, as it's not my main instrument.

It was also that same lunch period that I realised I've been getting special treatement from him. I was eating my lunch at the piano while browsing ultimate guitar tabs, and another student walked in. They were shocked that he just lets me eat my lunch there, as it's strictly prohibited for everyone else as far as I'm concerned. He laughed it off and just made some lame excuse about band. That was one of my favourite memories with him.

I didn't wanna be this guy I cried at your show with the teenagers Tell you friend I'll be alright In the morning it won't matter

This chorus reminds me of this other time he sang and played on the piano for me when it was just us in the music room and i almost cried. It was a very stressful time of my life and it was just such a beautiful moment. Just me, him, music, alone in a room, and spring was breaking loose outside the window.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 - 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭

He had wanted to lend me a book on finding stillness in the constant motion of this universe, but it was left in his old house in another city. How ironic, I said.

I want auroras and sad prose I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet 'Cause I haven't moved in years And I want you right here

After he talked to me about it, I decided to go on a walk in the woods that weekend without music. Just me, my thoughts, and the delicate chorus of snow melting on the ground, crows whining from afar, and the rustle of early spring breeze, still young with the sharpness of adolescence, grazing against the skin on my exposed neck.

On Monday I went back to school and told him about my experience. He said he was happier about I felt genuine peace in those 30 minutes in the woods than our concert band winning the regionals competition which we had been preparing for months (this is not the band I usually refer to when I say we play in a band together, by the way). I didn't know what to say, but I felt positively elated in every single part of my body.

𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭

He gives me a lot of advice. Well, I do seek them from him quite often, since I am feeling a bit lost in life right now. As Sylvia Plath puts it, he is "some older, wiser being [I] cry to".

He had told me that I don't need to figure out what to do with the rest of my time in this pathetic little game known as existence, which is somehow simultaneously the most significant and most insignificant thing, but that's talk for another day. Even though society makes it seem like the decisions you make as a teenager - your course selections, your extracurriculars, which college you go to - dictates the course of the rest of your entire life, it's actually not that deep. I'm not "running out of time". I've got my whole life ahead of me, I'm bearly midway through being a teenager.

Dear reader, you don't have to answer Just 'cause they asked you

𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐲 - 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥

He had reharmonised this song for a friend of his who absolutely hates it. I love it however. He sent me the audio file of him playing the version that he re-imagined on the piano with some drums in the background and I listen to it whenever I'm feeling anxious. It's really comforting. It reminds me of all the things we had talked about and how everything is really not that deep. It makes me re-ground myself in my current physical location. It's a gentle love letter to the present, a souvenir of the memories we have already created together, as well as a soft solace whispered into my ear when I get caught up in the unknown future.

𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒,

𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒷𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒶

[littlestarlost]

Ten Great Cover Songs That Aren't "Hurt" By Johnny Cash

I have a spotify playlist called "Total Coverage" and it's where I put the covers I collect. My parameters are strict but, I feel, fair: the song must be covered by a band that does its own material (so no covers-only bands), and they have to do something more interesting with the source material than slowing it down on piano and/or ukulele. There are over 100 songs on the list by now, and I do go back to add more when I find them, but apropos of nothing but my desire to procrastinate here are ten of my favourites, in no particular order, which are NOT the same old covers you see on every single covers list.

1: "Bittersweet Symphony" Originally by The Verve, covered by The Knocks and Foster the People

This track ended up on my most-listened to list of 2022, because it fucking rules. The original is fine, but there's something about how Foster the People elevates the vocals that just makes it catnip for my ears. It's great.

2: "Rosanna" Originally by Toto, covered by Weezer

I'll never forgive Weezer for what they did to "Africa", also by Toto. That cover sucks balls and I hate it. But equally as appalling is how great their cover of "Rosanna" is; they turned up the grit on the guitars and infuse it with edge and energy that the original simply lacks. Goddammit, Weezer.

3: "Jackie and Wilson" Originally by Hozier, covered by Jazz Morley

The golden rule of Hozier covers done by women is that you cannot, under any circumstances, change the pronouns of the song. Hozier writes about women like a lesbian, and either you respect that or you shouldn't cover his stuff. This version of "Jackie and Wilson" is gorgeous and lush, Jazz Morley's voice is great, and she sings it the way it should be sung: sapphically.

4: "Freedom" Originally by George Michael, covered by Christine and the Queens

As my friend Jill put it, somehow this is chill as hell and goes hard as fuck at the same time. Christine and the Queens needs to do more stuff like this; recontextualizing gender and sexuality is basically their bread and butter.

5: "Flagpole Sitta" Originally by Harvey Danger, covered by Elohim and AWOLNATION

This is the only reason I know the lyrics to this song and it's worth it. It's a very Lana Del Rey approach to the tune, with twinkling piano and sultry vocals, and it works incredibly well.

6: "Higher Love" Originally by Whitney Houston, covered by JR JR

Another one that I've listened to so much that it's crept into my regular rotation. Indie pop boys taking on the greatest voice of the generation might not sound very good, but as an OG hipster I can tell you that this is exactly the sort of bright poppy nonsense we ate the fuck up in 2012.

7: "I Think We're Alone Now" Originally by Tiffany, covered by Billie Joe Armstrong

I think Billie Joe always wanted to be a pop princess girlie, and now that Green Day is in the "whatever the fuck we want" phase of their career, he gets to do great covers like this one. Takes a somewhat dated classic and makes it sound absolutely timeless.

8: "Needle in the Hay" Originally by Elliott Smith, covered by Vanessa Carlton

As someone who had both an Elliott Smith and a Vanessa Carlton phase, this is just good synergy for me. But also, more women need to do covers of Elliott Smith. Let's get a trend going. He deserves to be reinterpreted that way.

9: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Originally by ABBA, covered by Zachary Staines

This man really took a disco classic and made it sound like the best Ed Sheeran song that Ed Sheeran could never do. Outstanding.

10: "I Love You Always Forever" Originally by Donna Lewis, covered by Betty Who

I can't believe Betty Who didn't originate this song. It's literally perfect for her. A+, no notes.

[pacifymebby]

🎧

+ lana del rey

Oh my god so many of her songs hit me so hard but honestly i think this is gonna be a long one because i kinda believe shes a generations poet...

Hear me outt okay, she has managed to peerfectly capture the 21st century hell in its simplest moments idk...

"you named your babe lilac heaven after your iphone eleven, crypto forever screams your stupid boyfriend, fuck you kevin" really captued a moment like no other.

"I had fifteen-year dances, church basement romances, yeah, I've cried. Spilling my guts with the Bowery Bums is the only love I've ever known, except for the stage, which I also call home, when I'm not... Servin' up God in a burnt coffee pot for the triad,

Hello, it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad, calling from beyond the grave, I just wanna say, "Hi, Dad"

The juxtaposition between tragic beatnik starlets and the most famous woman u know on the ipad!! Hello!! Beautiful!! Genius!! Magnificent!!

Also she has beautiful imagery, the picture she paints here is so vivid and enticing

"Cause down in Arkansas, the stores are all closed, The kids in their hoodies, they dance super slow, We're white-hot forever, and only God knows"

Also Mariners Apartment Complex has some of my favourite lyrics in it too but on a more personal level...

"Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am, I'm your man"

"And who I am is a big time believer, that people can change, that you don't have to leave her..."

"My pastor told me when you leave, all you take are your memories, and I'm gonna take mine of you with me....my sisters first born child, I'm gonna take that too with me, my grandmothers last smile, I'm gonna take that too with me, its a beautiful life, remember that too for me..."

When i heard that the morning she released it i started crying in the street because it touched me so purely <3

Honestly i think shes fucking wonderful and so many of her lyrics are truly gorgeous.

I'll never forget the first time i saw her singing video games on the tv, "its you its you its all for you everything i do, i tell you all the time..." I'd never felt so completely understood and also like, all i wanted from that moment on was to meet someone i loved so much, that i could devote myself to so purely and completely. She truly is everything thats wrong with me now <3

Send me 🎧 and an artist and I'll give you sone of my favourite lyrics from them

[lena-rambles]

Salut! So asking (💤 SLEEPING) for Aurore for the ask game is a little too on the nose, but I really want to know XD. Also (🎵 MUSIC NOTE) for her and for pippa (and for Erin if you're up to it) because I love asks about music and I know you have impeccable taste in music ^^

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

fair question for aurore lol

i would think that aurore has never had any trouble falling asleep due to the curse. it hasn't yet taken effect, but it still lingers in her, waiting until the right time. there are trace influences of it that worry her parents; this is one such example.

she doesn't need anything, really, to help her fall asleep. that being said, she enjoys and is comforted by her thick heavy blankets and sheer bed canopy. it makes her feel protected and safe.

🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

ooh yes!! thank you for this question!! glad you enjoy my taste in music :) i don't have a fantastic handle on aurore and pippa yet but i will do my best

i've spent the last couple days listening to my liked songs on spotify and adding entire albums to x's playlist. it's honestly been a great way to understand them in a different way.

btw even though their canon is in the fantasy limbo era, this question is all assuming they're in modern times

aurore —

aurore mostly enjoys either light whimsical songs or bright pop songs.

her playlist, ironically, has some disney songs, especially i see the light, for the first time in forever, and love is an open door. there's also indila's mini world album in her playlist. her favourite artists include cosmo sheldrake, the oh hellos, taylor swift, abba, and louane — i'd love to put more french artists but i don't know a lot 😥

a song that i associate with her is once upon a dream, which should surprise absolutely no one. it's where i got this entire series idea, the soulmate trope for aurore and pippa, and it's a sleeping beauty song. there are two versions specifically that i listen to: lana del rey's cover and tchaikovsky's original sleeping beauty orchestra piece.

pippa —

i feel like pippa's favourite artists are hozier, brandi carlile, maren morris, and zaz. they love anything with a beautiful voice and lyrics — a homage to how prince phillip was immediately drawn by aurora's voice in the disney movie. their music taste is also in more grounded? songs than aurore likes? i.e. cosmo sheldrake's music is quite whimsical and aurore loves it but pippa prefers hozier's solid style. if that makes sense.

some songs on their playlist are any jeremy zucker and chelsea cutler collabs, hozier's in a week, and pentatonix's say something.

the song i associate with them is etta james' at last:

at last my love has come along my lonely days are over and life is like a song

on a completely unrelated note, pippa totally read the ranger's apprentive over and over when they were younger. it's their comfort series well into new adulthood too.

erin —

erin's playlist has some softer/lighter music, like clairo and harry styles. lifehouse's entire no name face album is on there, too — both her taste and it's what her father listened to when she was younger. taylor swift's lover album is also on there because taylor has a flavour of music for everyone lol

a song i associate with her is i saw you in a dream by the japanese house — the version with the lowercase title — because i added it to my wip playlist immediately after hearing it for the first time. so i've always associated it with her, even if it doesn't completely match up anymore.

EDIT lol i forgot she canonically has a favourite song: woodland dance by radomir kafka. i wouldn't try to find it though; kafka is from one of vallera's neighboring countries and the song doesn't actually exist. though i imagine it with similar vibes to danse macabre or antonín dvořák's no. 2 dumka.

thanks for the questions! it took me,,, a while,,, to answer but i really enjoyed them :D

[runnning-outof-time]

Music Tag Game 🎶

Rules Music taste is a very telling thing. Create a new post and name 1-5 your favourite songs in each category. Don't be afraid to be too obvious! Tag users you want to get to know better. Don't forget to have fun :)

Thanks so much to @loveisalwaystheanswer and @there-goes-thefighter for tagging me - I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this 🥰

Putting it under the cut because there’s a lot…I’ve added links to all of the songs if you wanna check them out:

———

Last songs: Rose by Allan Rayman , Too Bad by Rival Sons , Wild Eyes by The Glorious Sons , Matador by Brother Elsey

Best songs from TV/movie: I’m IN LOVE with The Revanent’s score … I also love Keep the Wolves Away by Uncle Lucius (from Yellowstone) , Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey (from The Great Gastby) and Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts (from Cars).

Favorite songs about love (happy or not): When It’s Love by Van Halen , Light My Love by Greta Van Fleet , All Your’n by Tyler Childers , Rock and a Hard Place by Bailey Zimmerman

Songs that could be the soundtrack to your life: I Walk on Water by KALEO , Panic Attack by The Glorious Sons , Love All by The Badlees , Dreamer by Brother Elsey , Makin’ It by Bishop Gunn , Mountain Hymn by Rhiannon Giddens

Songs that always make you want to dance: CAROUSEL by 5 Seconds of Summer , A Bit of Both by Allen Stone , Through the Echoes by Paolo Nutini , Circles by Post Malone , Hey Gringo by KALEO

Songs that always make you want to cry: Pink Motel by The Glorious Sons , Every Light In The House by Trace Adkins , Hold On Till May by Pierce the Veil

Songs with the best lyrics: Two States by The Badlees , Repeat by Luke Hemmings , Fine Line by Harry Styles

Songs you want to listen to when you're alone in the car: Over Now by Post Malone , IV. Sweatpants by Childish Gambino , Space Bound by Eminem , Easy Come, Easy Go by Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal , FOR YOUR LOVE by Måneskin (I listen to explicit songs alone…can’t be cursin in front of my momma)

Songs that bring you back to yourself when your life is a mess: Matador by Brother Elsey, I’m Not Here Anymore by The Badlees, Stone by Whiskey Myers , Comedown by Luke Hemmings , White Noise by The Glorious Sons

Favourite instrumental songs: The Wheel by Woody Jackson (from Red Dead Redemption 2) , Gehanna by Thomas Newman (from 1917) , Free State of Jones by Nicholas Britell (from Free State of Jones)

Songs that make you feel like you're invincible and very cool: All Directions by Rival Sons , Fear of Falling by The Badlees , The Weight of Dreams by Greta Van Fleet , Bulls In The Bronx by Pierce the Veil

Guilty pleasure songs you're embarrassed to admit that you like: What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction…? Idk if I have any guilty pleasure songs because I’ll rep all of my music proudly.

Songs that can describe your current mood: Shapeless Art by The Glorious Sons , Word of Mouth by Allan Rayman , Bleach by 5 Seconds of Summer , Good Day by Brett Eldredge

If you wanted to be serenaded, what songs would you prefer: Adore You by Harry Styles , My Fair Lady by KALEO , Shameless by Garth Brooks , The One You Need by Brett Eldredge

Songs you'd recommend everybody to listen to (you can explain why if you want):

End of Forever by Rival Sons

On top of this amazing music in this song, the lyrics make me feel like I’m standing on the top of a mountain with the wind coming towards me. This band’s music is amazing - I highly recommend listening to them.

White Noise by The Glorious Sons

It’s got the same feeling as the song above. I don’t quite know what the lyrics mean, but I feel them in my soul. This band’s music is also amazing - I highly recommend them as well.

Stardust Chords by Greta Van Fleet

I guess I’m on a roll with songs that make you feel like you’re standing at the edge of the Earth haha … this song is much like the two above it. It feels like an entire ethereal experience. I also highly recommend this band.

Diamonds in the Coal by The Badlees

I love this song and this band because they’re local for me and it feels like they’re singing about me and the places I’ve seen/been. This song is the perfect example of that.

Alabama by Bishop Gunn

I love the storytelling in this song. It took me a couple listens to get what the twist was, but it was surely an ‘aha’ moment once I realized it.

———

Tagging (no pressure): @dandelionprints @cillmequick @look-at-the-soul @l1-l4 @midnightmagpiemama

[69fever]

i listened to lust for life by lana del rey

_

🎵

-

Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey

•Love - Perfect

10/10, the beat drop is so good😭 really picks up at the chorus. makes me want to dance and sway around my room, perfect album opener, i'll never get over how unique her voice is

•Lust For Life - Amazing

8/10, i looove any song that lana and the weeknd make together, and this song is a perfect title track, really embodies this album. i have to admit that it's sometimes a skip for me

•13 Beaches - Great

9/10, first time listening to this song, i love the story it's telling and the beginning is really beautiful

•Cherry - Perfect

10/10, the choreography is forever engraved in my head, i looove the "bitch" it's so fun

•White Mustang - Perfect

10/10, so so good, absolutely no bad notes, never skip

•Summer Bummer - Perfect

10/10, i honestly never skip😭 i love all of lana's collabs with rappers, they're so amazing

•Groupie Love - Perfect

🥉10/10, THE HUGE GRIN THAT CAME ON MY FACE WHEN I HEARD THE INTRO, this song is so amazing and i love every bit of it

•In My Feelings - Perfect

🥇10/10, i was sooooo obsessed with this song when i heard it for the first time, it's just so good😭🙏🏼

•Coachella WIMM - Amazing

8/10, i love the production on this song and the outro is my favourite part

•God Bless America AATBPII - Perfect

10/10, actually such a beautiful and sweet song, makes me want to be american😟⁉️

•When the World Was at War - Great

8/10, i really like the pre-chorus on this song, i have mixed feelings about the muffled/muted vocals, sometimes i like it and sometimes not as much

•Beautiful People Beautiful Problems - Amazing

9/10, didn't like it that much at first listen but it grew on me

•Tomorrow Never Came - Great

8/10, i liked it but im not crazy about the feature, think i would prefer if it was just lana, but i really like the ending, definitely saved it for me

•Heroin - Perfect

🥈10/10, so good, i think the reasoning for why she made this song is so soft and sincere and raw, that's why i love lana del rey she doesn't stray away from things, she gets real with it and communicates it in such a beautiful way

•Change - Amazing

9/10, really lovely song, sounds a little bit like yosemite from COTCC, i love noticing little similarities like that, such nice links.

•Get Free - Perfect

🥈10/10, such a perfect closing track and i really love the lyrics on this song, makes me want to boogie

-

->🥇My #1 Favourite

->🥈My #2 Favourite

->🥉My #3 Favourite

(i did two songs drawing at 2nd bc i actually couldn't pick just 3)

[ncwhereman]

Privet! Eto ya! Santa, snova!

(Hehehehehe)

🎄❤️🎅🌨️

"ohh i love these bands too! led zeppelin is the one i'm the least familiar with even though i've been meaning to give them a proper listen since forever, so i'd love some recs!"

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LISTEN TO THESE THREE SONGS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: TANGERINE, WHOLE LOTTA LOVE, STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. GOD THEY'RE SO GOOD.

"i'm actually trying to learn to speak scouse now, i love the way it sounds 😭 maybe i should try the way brian epstein spoke next, not exactly RP but the kind of posh scouse very distinctive to him and his circle"

The scouse accent is so sexy, don't even start. And Brian's is so cute, not even just his accent, he is so cute!! I know you love him!!

"let the light in is so good! it was the song i was most excited about prior to the release and i still remember how i gasped when i heard the beatles line lmao. as for favorite songs UGH it's so hard to choose, but if we're talking about the most recent ones i'd say fingertips, kintsugi and candy necklace, and also pink champagne the demo, those have been on my mind for so long now. what about your favorite lana songs/albums?"

My three favourite Lana songs in no particular order: Art deco, Let the light in, Valley of the dolls (unreleased!!)

My favorite album is ultraviolence, literally perfection from start to finish.

Also what's your favourite Christmas song ehehe.

<33

thank you for the recs! i love all three but tangerine is so damn good how have i never heard it before... i'm guaranteed to have it playing in my mind for the next few days lmao

and it's so funny that i used to think i heard valley of the dolls a long time ago but i googled to make sure and it was leaked in 2020? and i'm pretty sure i haven't heard it before? but it's so good UGH too bad it's only a raw demo or so it seems at least :( lfl could've been perfect with some of the songs that never made it there and i agree, ultraviolence is my favorite too! with honeymoon pretty close to it

as for christmas song- i'd have to say war is over by john and yoko! other than it's heartbreaking and relevant as ever, i love the way it works very well as a song you could listen to at any other season

also not really a christmas song but i have to mention it: happy new year by abba. i've heard it every year since i was very little and i think only a year or two ago did i find out how Depressing the lyrics are and i love it even more now lmao

do you have any favorite christmas songs?

[akbenvs3000w23]

Unit 07 - Nature Interpretation through Music

Having previously talked about the entwinement of art and nature on this blog, I was excited to write this week's blog post about a specific aspect of art that has been historically inspired by nature - music! As a lover of a multitude of music genres, to get inspired for this week's blog post I pressed shuffle on my playlists and listened closely, paying attention to song titles inspired by nature, lyrics mentioning natural phenomenons, or even songs containing sound bytes from nature. I encourage you all to try this activity, as I had previously not realized how many artists pull inspiration from the natural world in order to create their art.

After exploring my playlists for a while, I came to a seemingly simple conclusion - nature is within music the same way music is within nature. From the rhythmic singing of humpback whales to the melodic bird songs that many of us wake up to every morning, nature is inherently musical (Gray et al., 2001). If one were to stand in the middle of a forest for ten minutes, the sheer multitude of sounds emanating from both the flora and fauna would likely be astonishing. The wind blowing through the trees, the singing of a brook, and even the pattering of rain are a type of music, if one is only determined to tune in!

It is the nature of humankind to get inspired by our surroundings when we create art, and thus nature can be found everywhere within music. One of my favourite songs, Blackbird by the Beatles is quite obviously inspired by the blackbird, from the usage of metaphorical lyrics pertaining to birds to the actual warbling of blackbirds superimposed over the guitar at the end of the song. In this way, the artists were able to form a conduit between our species and another species, which I find absolutely beautiful and inspiring (Gray et al., 2001).

One song that immediately takes me back to a natural landscape is West Coast by Lana del Rey. Something about the instrumentals the producers decided to use and the music video reminds me of the way I felt when I saw the ocean for the first time (on the actual West Coast!). The heavy guitars and slow vocals remind me of the push and pull of the vast waves and the enormity of the ocean in general. As someone who has only seen the ocean a handful of times, I am and forever will be in awe of the magnitude of it all. I think this song perfectly captures what the ocean looks like at night, with the moonlight shining on the rising and falling waves. Give it a listen, but close your eyes and try to connect the imagery in your mind with the song. It's amazing how the artist was able to capture such a nuanced feeling within her work!

References: Gray, P. Krause, B. Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C. & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science. 291. 52-54.

[avalina-music]

🌻Neurodivergent Music Artist Here!!!🌻

Hi everyone! I'm Avalina. An alt pop music artist based in London. I release a new song every first day of the month and here's the song for this month (September). It's my favourite so far, really hits close to home with impact and makes the hairs rise on your arms with the good chills. It has that grand orchestral vibe inspired by film soundtracks and artists like Florence and the Machine, Hozier, Lana del Rey and Enya.

This song is very special to me because it's about the struggles of being a neurodivergent person in a world that really wasn't made for you. Having to mask, feeling confused and overstimulated, never knowing how you come across to others and always being scared you might have said 'the wrong thing'.

While at the same time being a logician and strategist, and excelling at things neurotypical people often find difficult. It's a complex and multilayered experience, with many different expressions. Want to get to know me better? follow the links bellow (I'm most active on tiktok) My socials @avalina0_o on tiktok @avalina.music on insta patreon.com/avalinamusic

Hope you enjoy, please follow me and go listen to it on your preferred streaming platform. Thanks for supporting a neurodivergent artist<3 Here are the lyrics

Splendour (by Avalina)

When you were born the world was such a kind and loving place you'd never need to know you face from every single angle

What will it be? you have to calculate the mask you need feeling the fear of every little thing out of my control

How does it seem so simple yet it's so hard for me You just want love and splendour beauty and youth forever braced in these rules together yet you are unaware

When your bright eyes perceive me I'll never know the meaning you see in my whole being splendour is all I hope

Over and over scripts are played out over and over eyes are holdouts

It is a dance but no one ever taught me all the steps give me chance you speak in code and I act like I know it

Hearing what people would say even when you're alone

Chorus repeat

Over and over your heart beats over and over be discreet

Speak with your voice even if it wavers slightly you have the right to be who you are in peace

Chorus repeat x2

[cherry-interlude]

Lana Del Rey Unreleased Ranked (1)

This is a re-ranking of Lana's unreleased songs, after making a first a few years ago. This is all my opinion, which I don't mind anyone disagreeing with but don't come for me for it - honestly, I like every song, despite any criticism, and this ranking is very vague. It's based on objective and subjective opinion.

This is the first of five posts, beginning with my least favourite.

Bentley

Just Lana’s unfinished acoustic, Bentley is strangely haunting. From the eeriness of her isolated vocals, the lack of a finished tune and the suicidal lyrics, this track is something that I don’t find easy to listen to. It’s fascinating and clearly had a direction but it doesn’t come across as anything but music from a horror movie.

Crooked Cop

Another unfinished acoustic track with instrumental thrown in, this song is so incomplete that it’s hard to decipher my feelings for it. Lana has the right kind of panache and aptitude for this track to be good but it’s too much of an unknown.

Daddy’s Girl

It’s simply a demo for Be My Daddy and doesn’t have the pizazz of Pussycat Kittycat (another demo), but of course Lana owns daddy kinks and potentially-incredible rough demos all the same.

Greenwich

A low-key, relaxed track that just sort of exists; it isn’t anything particularly amazing. It’s better as something to shove on in the background than listen to with deliberate consciousness.

Ghetto Baby

Ghetto Baby is a song that was picked up by another artist and it does sound like it isn’t Lana’s. It’s gaudy enough but doesn’t do enough to keep me from skipping, despite the familiar, recycled themes and garish flair.

Live Forever

It just doesn’t strike me in any way. Lana has plenty of pop unreleased songs but this doesn’t compare to a lot of them. The fun clapping beat and the mainstream-feel doesn’t do anything for me, though objectively it is a standard decent track.

Jesus Is My Boyfriend

It’s like a nightmarish, religious tribute to Lana’s saviour – the eerie vocals and lack of music make it uncomfortable to listen to. Lana takes some interesting direction with her repeating lyrics and throwing in how Jesus finds her “smashing” and “comes to her in the night”. Perhaps edging on blasphemous but Lana likes to include her religion her way in several tracks.

Wolf T-Shirt

Lana plays around with this song in its early stages, honouring a man in a wolf t-shirt like an indirect reference to the big bad wolf of her other unreleased song. The track gets better as the chorus hits, a little slice of melodious seduction Lana could turn into a hit.

Midnite Dancer Girlfriend

A very rough demo, Midnite Dancer Girlfriend definitely has promise. Lana’s vocals are captivating, her lyrics – though unfinished – sparkle with vivaciousness as she takes the stripper role on again. Aside from the poor quality, I do get enjoyment out of the pieces of the song in terms of sound and vibe (kind of creepy stripper?).

Betty Boop Boop

Unfinished as it is, it’s incredibly unnerving. The harsh instrumentals following the gentle “boop boop boopy doop”, the weird electronic sounds and Lana’s delicate voice make this a weird mish-mash of sound. The outro of pure sound is brutal but I can’t help humming along and wondering what this song would have been had it been complete.

I Learned How To Make Love From The Movies

Lana’s click-happy acapella demo is a very rough demo for what would surely be a catchy, tongue-in-cheek little song.

My Song 57

Lana has fun on this directionless, incomplete track, her voice high and sugary. A few times her voice takes the kind of schoolgirl, thumb-on-nose showing off which adds to the youthful feel of a lot of her unreleased music.

Scarface

Don’t get me wrong, I love this song – it's a definite guilty pleasure – but it is damn awful. Yes, it’s a very unpolished demo, but it comes across as cringey as much as it’s fun. Lana whispers and growls her insults, pants sensually as if mid gunfight and samples Scarface (the film) multiple times. I enjoy listening to it when I’m in the mood but I can’t help but be amused and intrigued what the song could have been.

Pussycat Kittycat

The mashup of Be My Daddy and Delicious serves as a coy, sugary pop song that works better as the songs it becomes.

Delicious

I still find this song hilarious - years later, Lana’s harsh ”they’re disgusting, I’m delicious”, pouting baby voice and gangsta-girl lingo are overkill in Delicious. It’s something she’s tried before but there’s something about this song that makes me imagine it just must be satire. Of course, I enjoy the song and sing along but it is impossible to take seriously.

Making Out

It isn’t a bad song by any means (though the ultra-autotune version is just confusing) but it just doesn’t feel like Lana. The lyrics certainly match up to her vibe, but it just feels like something from another singer. It’s still a decent song, if not a bit limp compared to the rest of her sparkier efforts.

Daytona Meth

This is a mash-up of plenty of Lana’s fleshed-out tracks, with the feel of Heavy Hitter, references to Every Man Gets His Wish and the instrumental of Party Girl. It’s unfinished, thus a bit messy, and feels like it’s trying to do too much, but as I’ve said plenty of times, even Lana’s ‘worst’ has charms to it.

So Legit

This diss track is not the expected badass rap but instead a gentle and sneering acoustic song, with strange vocals that lift and drag where they please. You can feel the confusion in Lana’s voice, the offence that someone she thought highly of could sell-out and be so poor now in her eyes. It’s catchy and tongue in cheek but not her best in terms of song (though the insults sting).

Baby Blue Love

Unsettling as Lana practically shouts her choruses, Baby Blue Love recalls corrupt youth and choir singers looking for trouble as she riffs on her past as a boarding schoolgirl who liked to run around with guys not good for her (Boarding School and This Is What Makes Us Girls as examples). The whole feel of the song isn’t rollicking fun or nostalgic but instead uneasy, the music beneath sinister. The song isn’t finished but it would be interesting to hear these sorts of lyrics instead paired with a strange instrumental rather than pop fun.

Heart-Shaped Chevrolet

In this demo, Lana lists off her typical Lana-isms (7-Eleven, Jersey Shore, heart-shaped sunglasses) but it isn’t anything different to what we’ve heard before lyrically. With the early On Our Way lyrics thrown in, it’s mainly a song that led to various other tracks with a bit of flair and smirk to her tone.

Match Made In Heaven

Lana feels a world away from her albums in this song, gone more gangta than Nancy Sinatra (from her own self-description). Autotuned and reminding of her tracks like Playground and Delicious, Lana does much better when she isn’t trying so hard to be a bad girl.

Come When You Call Me

A weirdly uncomfortable song, Come When You Call Me has issues with sound (thanks to the lower quality making it far too loud) and the lyrics are barely heard beneath the music. It is a jazzy, bright song that has you bopping but it’s easily lost in the rest of her work and sounds too overproduced. Stripped back is where it might stand a chance being even better.

Methamphetamines

Old Money’s demo, Methamphetamines has the same aesthetically pleasing feel but instead of old, rich Americana, Lana takes us back to the Lizzy Grant days of cheap thrills like pink flamingos and Coney Island. It isn’t as mature as Lana’s later output but it clearly shows how many of her unreleased, incomplete works are a stepping stone to greater things.

Coca Colla

This soft track is essentially a demo to Television Heaven, not too imaginative as it has recycled lyrics but still pretty with some fresh lyrics thrown in. Sweet and perfect to develop a fleshed out song on.

Roll With Me

Literally just a dance track (which, aside from singing “I know, baby” and “on the radio”, is a lyric), Lana has fun with this earworm that was made for moving rather than thinking. It doesn’t do anything special but it’s not too bad for a song that repeats its lyrics throughout.

Joshy and I

Like her other guitar-driven songs, there’s something raw about Joshy and I in that it’s pure Lana in her foundation stages of crafting a song. With a random exclamation of “so pretty!” thrown in, Lana is clearly trying something new in this song. It doesn’t sound like a bad song by any means but it’s too far back in the process of the drawing board to reach higher on the list.

Party Girl

It’s a quick, short track but it puts a fun spin on Us Against The World’s lyrics by making them more upbeat and fun alongside Lana’s near-rap verses. It isn’t complete, still messy and with imperfect backing track, but it’s charming enough.

Bad Boy

Going from a sweet rap to clunkily sampling Clair De Lune, it’s certainly imaginative but doesn’t really work well overall. Lana tries her best to match her chorus to Debussy and ends up with an endearing tribute to bad boys.

You and Me

It has a strange feel that I can never really sit with. You and Me is quite dreamy but quite vapid, not really saying or doing anything as it gently drifts along lightly, no weight to it. With a little bit more to it, it could improve greatly.

Me and My Boyfriend

Lana and The Rich Whores are quite a good combination, Lana getting a bit dirtier and hard-edged in her delivery, yet the lyrics for this song still remain firmly honouring Elvis and Marilyn imitations with not much else to say.

Run Motorcycle

Lana mopes about sobriety and fame, dreaming of escape as she contemplates what she will do if she doesn’t have fun. It’s the bare basics of a song but with the rain in the background (likely accidental but still adding to the feel), Lana lets her emotions guide her like the motorcycle running her thoughts away.

Maha Maha

Lana absolutely seduces with her voice, playing the character of a near-supernatural temptress with a backdrop of, in her words, ‘Bollywood Hawaii’ (the demo name). The choruses are very jarring to the much smoother verses, but this track has a way of hooking me in, from the multi-lingual lyrics to the warning tone of her voice.

[randomlyrankingthings]

TOP 20 ALBUMS (Part 2 of 2)

Part 1

Dystopia: The Tree of Language - Dreamcatcher (2020)

Favourite Tracks: Black or White, Jazz Bar, In The Frozen

For starters, if you haven’t heard of Dreamcatcher or their amazing music then you are very much missing out. It has taken them a while to reach their place in the mainstream music setting, and they are still sorely underrated. With rock as their central genre, their first full-length album infuses their flawless rock-style with a myriad of other genres - EDM, R&B, and even a bit of jazz. This is one talented group of women, and this album is just one of their many great musical releases.

Ruins - First Aid Kit (2018)

Favourite Tracks: Fireworks, Postcard, Ruins

I do have a soft spot for female folk musicians, and these two Swedish sisters are no exception. Undeniably this is, overall, a very sad album both lyrically and musically, so if you’re looking for music to wallow to then look no further. The highlight of this album is the STUNNING harmonies which can be heard in every track, and are the band’s greatest asset. If you’re a fan of ABBA’s more melancholy songs, or a fan of sad-folk in general, then do give this album a listen. You won’t regret it.

Kaleidoscope Heart - Sara Bareilles (2010)

Favourite Tracks: Gonna Get Over You, King of Anything, Let The Rain

Sara Bareilles is a huge musical inspiration of mine, and it will forever baffle me how she is so underrated by modern music standards. She has an incredible voice, both powerful and soothing, and has some rather incomparable skills on the keys. It was difficult to choose which of her beautiful albums to add to this list, but Kaleidoscope Heart is a nostalgic landmine - for me, anyway. It perfectly encapsulates Sara’s musical style, while having the variety to keep you engaged and refreshed with each track. A world class album from a world class musician.

The Trick To Life - The Hoosiers (2007)

Favourite Tracks: Worried About Ray, Clinging On For Life, Everything Goes Dark

This album is, rather unfortunately, the very epitome of a one-hit wonder. Apologies to any of their more recent fans who disagree with that statement, but it cannot be denied that The Hoosiers have rather fallen off the radar since this brilliant debut release. Falling mostly within the descriptor of indie-rock, this album is full of catchy tracks, all fitting beautifully together to create a very unique sound. They may not be so well-known anymore, but this album will remain iconic for years to come.

The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (2006)

Favourite Tracks: Welcome to the Black Parade, Famous Last Words

This album is arguably one of the greatest in punk-rock history, and is certainly a MAJOR source of nostalgia for all the emos (past and present) out there. It is absolutely chock-a-block full of hardcore bangers, with some absolutely gorgeous lyrics to go along with the epic drum fills and guitar solos. All of that topped of with Gerard Way's unique, raspy vocals is one stunning addition to My Chemical Romance's already impeccable discography.

The Kids Are Alright - Chloe x Halle (2018)

Favourite Tracks: Cool People, Drop, Fall

These two sisters are full of talent. Writing and producing this spectacular debut album themselves, we get a wonderful example of how to mix pop and R&B in a way that is perfectly unique to them. I will say, this is definitely a must-listen for any Beyoncé fans out there, with the album being released under her label. If you're looking for absolutely stunning vocals and harmonising on top of some top-notch production, this one's for you.

Born To Die (Paradise Edition) - Lana Del Rey (2012)

Favourite Tracks: Off to the Races, Million Dollar Man, Yayo

It was extremely difficult to narrow Lana's albums down to find my favourite, but I had to go with the first one I was blessed with hearing. While the original edition is great by itself, The Paradise Edition gives us a nice handful of extra great tracks. I'm aware that Lana's music can be considered quite polarising, but if you're a fan of sad-core pop and have yet to hear this beautiful album, please do give it a listen. It's the perfect album to listen to while smoking a joint, for one (as all of Lana's albums are, to be honest), and no one can deny how hauntingly beautiful the vocals are on each and every track. This album is a must listen, joint or not.

Six: The Musical (Studio Cast Recording) (2018)

Favourite Tracks: No Way, Heart of Stone, All You Wanna Do

Now, I'd like to preface this choice by saying that if you don't normally enjoy musicals then go into this one with an open mind. Six is a remarkably unique take on the six wives of Henry VIII, however, in a universe where they are alive and in a girl group. We get to see each queen have their shining moment with a solo song that tells the story of their time with Henry from their point-of-view. No two tracks could be considered the same on this album, as each queen takes musical inspiration from a woman in modern music. It has it's cheesy moments, as all musicals do, but if you're willing to give it a chance then you'll be treated to some really clever music and lyrics, and an extremely empowering set of songs.

WARNING - Sunmi (2018)

Favourite Tracks: Black Pearl, Curve

This EP marks the first of Sunmi's since her departure from JYP Entertainment, and the first that we got to hear of Sunmi's own writing and production during her solo career. After a four year solo hiatus, this EP is an absolute treasure for pop music. We get to see Sunmi's longstanding love for 80s synth, having caught a glimpse in her band, Wonder Girls', album 'Reboot' (2015), and the sound perfectly matches Sunmi's overall vibe as an artist. She has released some excellent stuff since this EP - all wonderful in their own right - but this will always remain superior, at least in my opinion.

Turning Tides - Wildwood Kin (2017)

Favourite Tracks: Circumstance, Taking a Hold, The Valley

This one is a treat for any lovers of folk out there. A highly underrated English trio, this debut album has some stunning vocal harmonies which are, honestly, some of the best I have ever heard. It has some nice variety for a folk album, with some more hardcore tracks scattered in amongst some classic folk ballads. Folk is a highly underrated genre, in general, and this band is a highly underrated group of talented women who deserve so much more recognition and success.