The first verse, full of piano melodies, highlights her distaste for the way pandemic life has shifted our ways of communicating, singing, “It’s LA, ‘Hey’ on Zoom, Target parking lot / And if this is the end, I want a boyfriend,” followed by “I’m tired of this s**t.” Rather than continue with her typical Gatsby-esque aura, her ballads reference current issues and ideals of American culture. Evident in the lyrics “And there we were, screamin’ ‘Black Lives Matter’ in the crowd / By the Old Man River, and I saw you saw who I am,” the singer takes on a new era of activism with her inclusion of the Black Lives Matter protests, a very prominent social movement striving for equality and the end of police brutality towards Black Americans.Īnother take on modernity is Del Rey’s nod to the global pandemic in “Black Bathing Suit.” The song is more folksy, detailing life during quarantine and her search for love. The song tackles love and growth in relationships while enhancing her echoed vocals and changing the trope towards modernity.
Similar to her two previous records, “Chemtrails Over The Country Club” and “Norman F***ing Rockwell!,” it begins with a more country-inspired sound before switching to indie rock. “Text Book,” the album’s opening track, is one of three singles that were released before the rest of the album. This 15-track album romanticizes American culture and the chaos following flawed, dysfunctional love through delicate, blissful ballets accompanying piano instrumentals. Opposed to its predecessors, “Blue Banisters” is more experimental and steers away from the all-American glamour aesthetic border of the ‘60s and ‘70s, shifting the focus to more modern topics and issues such as activism, California wildfires and the pandemic. Lana Del Rey’s eighth studio album, “Blue Banisters,” exemplifies her alternative-indie sound, capturing themes of self-love, melancholy and estranged relationships.