"arcadia" literary analysis & reaction | lana del rey- blue banisters album | song meaning
hello! ✨
♡ TIMESTAMPS ♡
0:00 preview
0:20 intro
1:04 song title
2:40 verse 1
3:33 significance of "maps"
6:50 "angel with a halo"
9:12 rest of verse 1
14:19 chorus
23:31 verse 2
27:58 "native" & scientific diction
31:49 verse 2, continued
35:59 me doing a "mind map" but not really lol
40:17 rest of verse 2
42:37 chorus part 2
43:44 last verse
46:42 oops lol
46:45 last verse
47:38 closing thoughts
'arcadia' by lana del rey: • Lana Del Rey - Arcadia...
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lana del rey songs (so far!) playlist: • ✨ALL lana del rey anal...
'summertime sadness' analysis (lana del rey): • a sinister setting & u...
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#arcadia #lanadelrey #bluebanisters
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All opinions are my own and the analyses are for educational purposes.
the rights to the song go to their respective owners.
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Arcadia is also another way of saying utopia. It is used as a metaphor a lot in poetry, so it makes sense that this song started out as a poem.
Loveeee this video!!! I also think that Arcadia can refer to utopia, which is "a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature" " an idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is a poetic shaped space associated with bountiful natural splendor and harmony." (according to wikipedia) I think that Lana is trying to find the peace in her heart and a place where she can be who she is
i love that, it fits into the song so well!! thank you for commenting this! and ty for your kind words! 😊
Arcadia also means a region or a scene of simple pleasure and quiet. It is also a montainous, landlocked region of Greece. The Roman poet Virgil recognized that Arcadia's isolation and bucolic character make it a perfect setting for pastoral poetry.
Thank you for this analysis! I think this was a harder song but you managed to explain it in a beautiful and easy to understand way...I now think of this song differently❣️
thank you so much for your kind words! 😊✨💖
I think she had a love story in Arcadia and feels loved and cared for in that space. At the end of the video, they show her driving under the train tracks that spell out ARCADIA. I grew up in Arcadia and the Hilton is across the street from those tracks. Side note, that Hilton now sits on my old house from childhood (80’s.) My vibe is that LA was harsh but also a part of her energy now but Arcadia was saved her spiritually…when it all went to shit. It is a beautiful city~ my hometown.
thank you for your comment & sharing those details about arcadia! i appreciate you including personal details about your childhood home as well, that's so interesting✨ i definitely agree with you, i also feel like arcadia has a spiritual significance to lana💖
♡ TIMESTAMPS ♡ 0:00 preview 0:20 intro 1:04 song title 2:40 verse 1 3:33 significance of "maps" 6:50 "angel with a halo" 9:12 rest of verse 1 14:19 chorus 23:31 verse 2 27:58 "native" & scientific diction 31:49 verse 2, continued 35:59 me doing a "mind map" but not really lol 40:17 rest of verse 2 42:37 chorus part 2 43:44 last verse 46:42 oops lol 46:45 last verse 47:38 closing thoughts
Your breakdown for the fire licks line is amazing. Gives more context to the song.
tysm!🙏 glad it was helpful✨
( this is totally a stretch but i like to overthink ) i like to think about is how she repeats arcadia twice, maybe a double meaning? like arcadia the city, and arcadia the utopia, and then america the actual country, and the idealized american dream
i think that fits into the song really well!! i love how you're paying attention to the repetition, it's like it means slightly different things each time she says it really love your take, ty for sharing! 😊
I do feel like the line stand straight like and angel is connected to the fact that LA is also know as the city of angels
that's a great point!! i think you're onto something! 😊
excited to watch this in a couple hours 😌
Thanks for this great video. Also, if you want to know more about her relationship with LA, you can read her poem called "LA, Who Am I to Love You", it's a great piece of art!
i'll look that up!! thank you😊
You already got me on your first line! That was accuarte. Loved how you analyze songs.💕 hope u can analyze Lana's song God Knows I Tried ☺️ By the way, i love how you addressed arteries as a carrier of blood away from the heart. I'm a biology major and this is one of my mnemonics haha Artery=away ☺️
thank you for your kind words! 😊✨ i'll look up that lana song (i need to get into her older stuff more so ty for the rec!)
Wow! You’re amazing at this!❤
thank you so much! appreciate that! 😊✨
I don't know why but your analyses are an obsession
thank you!! ✨✨
I have spent a lot of time in and around Arcadia. If I can be totally honest, it's no heaven on earth. It's no hellhole, but it has a dusty LA County feel with too much space devoted to roads. It's a place of strip malls but also has manicured green space of the Arboretum, Santa Anita Park, and Santa Anita Golf Course. To the north of Arcadia is town called "Sierra Madre" so it's possible that lyric is talking about the town not the mountain range (if you look at a map, Arcadia would be her torso, with Sierra Madre, the town, being her chest.) Going even further north, you have the San Gabriel Mountain Range which are visible from Arcadia. Like most of the cities in LA County, they blend together, and while they don't feel dangerous or bad, they also don't feel very homey and the sense of detachment or unease from the song pretty well captures the feeling of Arcadia. And you can't sing about LA without mentioning the freeways, which any LA resident will spend way too much time on. They are essential for getting around but they are also a huge drag as they are slow and often the cause of delays. I love the song because it captures the feel of the city perfectly... a bit above just surviving, the place has some pleasantness, but only just. It's certainly not a place you fall madly in love with, more a place you can learn to live with.
Love your videos Summer 💗💗
thank you so much! 😊💖✨
I enjoyed your video. Looking at it the way you are, brings up aspects the author themselves may not be aware of, but is true none-the-less. You are spot on some things, like she talking to someone, but not a love interest. As for other things, how would you know unless you know, right? I am America and the song is telling me how to find her. I feel this with every fiber of my being. I actually started writing a book about it. I heard Lana Del Rey early 2021 and was already thinking, "Woa this chick is singing about things that happened to me". But I blew it off thinking, that's what makes us love music. It speaks to us, and at times, it says exactly how we feel. Then Arcadia is released. Imagine, thinking, "How is it possible for a complete stranger to be singing about my life?" and the next song she releases calls you by name and says to come over. I was given the name "America" when I was 13 years old, I ran away from home and hitchhiked across the country. Just listen to "Ride", she describes it beautifully. My real life friend said, "I want to wrap you in the American flag and f*** the glory out of you. I'll call you America." The video shows Lana wrapped in an American flag. Coincidence? Absolutely! If it only happened like that once. This is over and over. She is my Tyler Durden, I am her Edward Norton, however, this is no Club, It's my life. Lana Del Rey is a profit. Remember "Cola": " Harvey's in the sky with diamonds and he's making me crazy. All he wants to do is party with his pretty baby." was written before the press release on Harvey Weinstein. He was finally convicted in 2020 and sentenced to prison for rape and other things against several women in Hollywood. I don't know if Lana knew or not, but her lyrics sure did. I'd also like to mention, from that same song she says, "I fall asleep in an American flag." Recently from Nectar of the Gods "I used to dream about people like you, now I don't know why. I use to sing about people like you, now I just get high." One more to paint the full picture, "I'm doing this for all of us who never got the chance." Thank you Lana. I'm writing a book about my experience and hope to gather those needed to complete the story and meet you in the process. Its going to be an awesome movie. This is my interpretation of "Arcadia" " Lyrics My body is a map of L.A. I stand straight like an angel, with a halo (if you look at a map of LA, you can see the area she's talking about, the angel, the mountains, the bay) Hangin' out the Hilton Hotel window Screamin', "Heyo, baby, let's go" (it's time to meet, come find me, here's a map) My chest, the Sierra Madre My hips, every high and byway That you trace with your fingertips like a Toyota (the car that I wanted to take on the road trip to LA was a Toyota) Run your hands over me like a Land Rover (My boyfriend has the Land Rover, but my Subaru Tribecca looks just like it.) In Arcadia, Arcadia (Where she lives) All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries That pump the blood that flows straight to the heart of me (We are connected) America, America That's my name I can't sleep at home tonight, send me a Hilton Hotel Or a cross on the hill, I'm a lost little girl Findin' my way to ya (I drove out there alone to try to find her) Arcadia My body is a map of L.A. And my heart is like paper, I hate ya (Heart is home, paper is made from trees. Look at the map! Sherwood Oaks is the heart of an angel) I'm not from the land of the palms, so I know I can't stay here I'm not native, but (she keeps us informed of her plans) My curves, San Gabriel all day And my lips like the fire licks the bay (more visuals to help determine a location on a map) If you think that you know yourself, you can come over (Invitation, if you recognize yourself in me, come see) Lay your hands on me like you're a Land Rover (I'm learning the art of massage and I practice on everybody) In Arcadia, Arcadia All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries That get the blood flowing straight to the heart of me America, I need a miracle (dreams she's had for years, song inspiration of imagined personalities, suddenly walking up and introducing themselves- would be a miracle) I can't sleep at home tonight, send me a Hilton Hotel Or a cross on the hill, I'm a lost little girl Findin' my way to ya Arcadia They built me up three hundred feet tall just to tear me down So I'm leavin' with nothing but laughter, and this town Arcadia Findin' my way to ya I'm leavin' them as I was, five foot eight (my height, western-bound was the direction I went) Western bound, plus the hate that they gave By the way, thanks for that, on the way, I'll pray for ya But you'll need a miracle America Well, this is America, and I need a miracle!!! The fan mail address I found is in the UK and it would be a miracle for her to read mine out of the thousands I'm sure is there. I emailed whoever I could find that she's worked with. I even tried any PR people to interview her for the book. No luck. Help me guys, how do I contact Lana Del Rey? In other songs from Blue Banisters she says, "Don't find me through my dealer, don't try my doctor or my father either." In another, "You don't have to write me a letter, I'll always be right here." She talks about "Living Legend" on a youtube video, saying it was resurrected from 10 years ago. The lyrics, "Sweet baby Jane don't know a thing about my songs but she knows I'm a monsoon." (mom soon?) If Jane is her daughter, and she wrote the song while pregnant, that would mean that her daughter is the exact same age as mine (age 10 in 2021), and my daughter's name is in the song too! If her daughter is named Jane, then I guess I'm "EN" JANE-EN.
love this video and you 🥰🥰
🙏🙏🙏
Very good🍀❤️❤️
Maybe you already have read it, but if you read/listen to her poem Tessa DiPietro it kind of answers a lot of questions and confirms a lot of things. "Standing tall like an angel, with a halo" calls to mind the lines: "Jim Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl, 1968, check date The blue trellis lights gave him an unusual aura Like a halo or something Made him 8 feet or taller" Then later in the song when she says, "they build me up three hundred feet tall just to tear me down" kinda makes me think of this line: "So I told her 'Maybe an artist has to function a little bit above themselves, If they really want to transmit some heaven'" It all makes me think that her perceptions of artists, and this way people build them up to almost something much bigger than a person, almost like some idyllic angel that has to be perfect and appear otherworldly. And after years of people tearing her down for her body, it only makes sense that she might compare her body to a map of LA, a place that she loves but requires an exhausting amount of perfection to be considered. Maybe Arcadia refers to the place on the map, but also refers to the utopia it's said to be. Just some thoughts tho. But I do like to think this poem and song are connected somehow.
I’m begging you to do the whole album
Some of the lyrics have leaked and black bathing suit is like a part 2 of this of this one (it is next on the album after the interlude and I think it’s for a reason)it’d be interesting to see you do that one next
Lana made an insta post before she deleted her account about the album saying something along the lines ‘when listening to this album audience will take away what it was like, what happened and what it’s like now’ n I think Arcadia is part of the what happened portion and black bathing suit part of the what it’s like now portion relating to Arcadia
Arcadia is also a very important concept of a dream land, a magical, eternally peaceful and happy place, often used in literature. Wouldn't this interpretation speak to you? For me it was clear from the beginning, I never thought of the city, because I'm not from America :D
YAY IM EARLY
i think the toyota and land rover line is a little deeper, Toyota and Land Rover are super popular in the off road market which fits into to what you are saying but i want to add this, a Toyota is known for being super practical and reliable cars which is what Lana isn’t used to in a relationship (something stable) and a Land Rover is known for being super unreliable and something in the moment, the guy is wanting something that will be a life time and healthy and Lana is signaling that she’s not ready for that yet and want something in the moment, like a Land Rover. That’s how i took took that as someone who’s into cars lol
thank you for your thoughts!! that's a great way to interpret it! 😊 i esp appreciate this b/c i am not a car person LOL
Can you please do Wildflower Wildfire??
yes please!!
@@galore7430 YES YES YES "i live on sheer willpower" is so iconic
Did you notice that Arcadia is a kind of paradise for the ancient Greeks and Roman's? Didn't finish the video yet, so maybe you mentioned..
i didn't mention that, thank you for bringing it up!! adds another layer to the song!✨
@@summersentiment you're welcome :)
🇧🇷💛
I hope you’ll do a literary analysis of Florence + The Machine songs. Her lyricism is very creative, too, akin to Lana’s.
do you have any specific songs you'd recommend?
@@summersentiment How Big How Blue How Beautiful, Which Witch, St. Jude, What The Water Gave Me, Howl, and No Choir. The visual in the lyricism of her early albums are graphic and quiet disturbing while her latest album is intimate or more personal IMO.
@@rowardhiso3568 i'll look into those, thank you for the recs😊
You should Interview me for your channel. I can tell you what every Lana Del Rey song is about. I just remembered that I am her lover. I was asleep, she woke me up with her music. Modern day Romeo and Juliet. I'm about to walk in to the news station, dressed like a dark angel, and tell them who I am and ask if they will call her. I know It sounds crazy, but she will tell everyone she has been waiting for me for 18 years! I am Mr Born to Lose from Honeymoon (We could cruise to the news!!!)
I’m terribly sorry for calling you “baby” in the comment I wrote before, I’m from Spain and I think sometimes I assume I can use words and expressions without considering the multiple cultural issues for an appropriate communication, and I guess that wasn’t accurate at all, I just wanted to put a kind word but I know that baby is not a word for a person you don’t even know, I think it was invasive and even disrespectful. I have to be careful with my vanity towards my English level so my apologies if I made you feel awkward. Thanks for your contribution again!
When you talked about the different pathways arteries and veins take to/from the heart made my day tho, I didn’t read or watch any other comments pointing this fact even when it’s not a really important issue towards the meaning I’m a biologist so I had a good moment when you mentioned that
LMAO I LIVE IN ARCADIA
it's such a great song!! 😭