Album Review: Blue Banisters by Lana Del Rey
Photo from Amazon.
About Blue Banisters
October is here, which means a review of Blue Banisters by Lana Del Rey, the perfect October album. Released in 2021, Lana’s 8th studio album is her least streamed album. To me, it’s Lana’s fall album the way NFR! is her summer album, and Ocean Blvd is her winter album. Blue Banisters is perfect for chilly mid-autumn walks or for baking in a candlelit kitchen on a rainy day.
Lana became the artist with the most chart toppers on Billboard’s Alternative Albums when Blue Banisters hit #1 in November 2021.
Per usual, my favorite lyrics will be included with each song.
Tracklist:
1. Textbook
“And there you were with shining stars
Standin' blue with open arms
You touched the detriment most of the friends I knew already had”
The beginning of “Textbook” is steady and melodic, which is likely why Blue Banisters tends to get a bad wrap. There’s discourse on the internet about how it’s too slow and boring, but the more you listen, the more you’ll change your mind. This whole album is calm but powerful, and the slightest bit arcane.
“Textbook” picks up around the one minute mark, with lyrics and instrumentation of revolutionary themes, such as “let’s rewrite history.” It’s a powerful opener to Blue Banisters that really sets the mood for the rest of what the album entails.
2. Banisters
“She said, ‘Most men don't want a woman
With a legacy, it's our bane’
She said ‘You can't be a muse and be happy too’”
The title track is calm, whimsical, and the tiniest bit sorrowful. The central scene over the song of Lana painting her banisters blue with her loved ones, symbolizing reclaiming control and finding peace amid chaos.
3. 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”
“Arcadia” is a piano ballad of Lana comparing her body to the California landscape. This love-song turned lament features B flat major and G minor, two very popular chords used in Blue Banisters, as seen in “Cherry Blossom” and “Living Legend,” among others. The chord combination is jarring and cuts right into you, exuding vulnerability.
4. Interlude - The Trio
“The Trio” is an interpolation of “Il Triello” by Italian composer Ennio Morricone for the movie soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. This interlude is purely instrumental, and you’ll love the trap beat. This song strays away from the rest of the style that Blue Banisters has, making it a very memorable interlude and interpretation of music. Of course, Lana thought of putting a trap beat over classical music and pulled it off.
5. Black Bathing Suit
“Promise you it's not
'Cause of you that I'm mean, it's my afterthoughts
And what I never said, why there's a price on my head”
This song starts off with a haunting piano melody and the ominous squawking of crows, followed with soft piano and Lana’s wistful voice. In “Black Bathing Suit,” Lana confronts public scrutiny and body image with dark humor, wit, and defiance. Featuring half-laughs and half-shouts near the end, you’ll really get a glimpse into Lana’s inner world.
6. If You Lie Down With Me
“'Cause we were built for the long-haul freight train
Burnt by fire without trial like a stowaway”
“If You Lie Down With Me” is almost theatrical. No, not in that witty, humorous way. The classic instrumentation combining trumpets and harmonies make this song extremely memorable. If I could choose any song to play at an event as everyone is leaving, it would be the outro of this song.
7. Beautiful
“What if someone had asked Picasso not to be sad?
Never known who he was or the man he'd become
There would be no blue period”
The title says it all! I absolutely love some of the themes hidden in this song about embracing originality and transmuting sadness into something meaningful. “Beautiful” is melancholic and lyrical. It leans into simplicity and gentleness rather than musical experimentation.
“Let me run with the wolves, let me do what I do
Let me show you how sadness can turn into happiness
I can turn blue into something
Beautiful, beautiful”
8. Violets for Roses
“Ever since I fell out of love with you, I fell back in love with me”
“Violets for Roses” is lush and gentle. Lana’s voice is over simple and resonant piano chords, with occasional harmonies. The lyrics and message behind “Violets for Roses” are carefree and so very happy.
There are several interpretations to this song. One interpretation is the freedom and love that Lana feels after leaving an abusive relationship. “Violets” can be interpreted as bruises while “Roses” can mean true, unconditional self love.
The second interpretation is the notion that Lana’s partner is standing between her and her dreams. This is seen in the lyric:
“God knows the only mistake that a man can make
Is tryna make a woman change and trade her violets for roses”
9. Dealer
“I don't wanna give you nothing
'Cause you never give me nothing back
Why can't you be good for something?
Not one shirt off your back”
“Dealer” offers a sharp contrast to the rest of Blue Banisters. It’s most similar to The Trio, with Lana’s voice growing hysterical rather than the gentle tones she’s serenaded us with in the rest of the album. This song is an inner battle of substance abuse, how she gives and gives yet receives nothing back. It leans into desperation, which is also heard in “Living Legend.”
“Please don't try to find me through my dealer”
10. Thunder
“You roll like thunder when you come crashing in
Regattas in the wind, that's why you're visiting”
“Thunder” has the gentleness of “Beautiful” and the joy of “Violets for Roses,” but is also dark and brooding like “Black Bathing Suit.” It has more instrumentation and note variety and is rather unstructured, in a good way. Rather than repeated verses and choruses, “Thunder,” like any other song on Blue Banisters, contains outros, bridges, refrains, and different experimental instruments.
“And you try to see the bright side when each new day begins
But you're not satisfied at the rainbow's end”
11. Wildflower Wildfire
“It's you from whom I learn, learn, learn
It's you from whom I learn, learn, learn”
“Wildflower Wildfire” is gentle with a piano-based arrangement, capturing family, vulnerability, and memory. The song lives in a quieter world, though you’ll occasionally catch the chorus sneaking up and leaving an imprint on you.
“I live on sheer willpower
I promise that nothing will burn you”
12. Nectar of the Gods
“What sweet world is this? Honey on the vine
School kid dreams came true, then passed in the night
I used to dream about people like you, now I don’t know why”
“Nectar of the Gods” has a sweet ring to it. I love the chorus and the way everything picks up from there. It really takes you into another “sweet” world.
13. Living Legend
“Oh, all the things you do
And the ways you move, send me straight to Heaven
And, baby, you, what I never said to you
'Cause you really are my living legend”
“Living Legend” has Blue Banister’s trademark G and B minor chords. They’re slightly ominous but strike very deep. The “Living Legend” Lana sings about is Jane Powers, a real estate agent from New York who started off as Lana’s mentor and eventually became her friend.
14. Cherry Blossom
“What you don't tell no one, you can tell me
Little ghost, blonde hair with lemonade tea
There's much to learn
And so much to see”
This song is like a lullaby.
The G and B minor chords strike each time. I absolutely love the piano accompaniment to “Cherry Blossom.” It’s interpreted as a lullaby to a future child, with Lana referring to herself as “mommy” while singing to a child named “Angelina.” It’s soothing and reassuring and paints the world in a more optimistic light, where Lana reminds the audience that there’s “much to learn” and “much to see.”
15. Sweet Carolina
“Don't have to write me a letter
'Cause I'll always be right here
Closer to you than your next breath, my dear”
“Sweet Carolina” was co-written with Lana’s dad and sister, Rob and Chuck Grant. The song title “Sweet Carolina” could be an ode to Chuck, whose full name is Caroline. There are high, twinkling piano notes throughout the song that bring a perfect end to this album.
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