This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
I paint my nails black
I dye my hair a darker shade of brown
Because you like your women Spanish, dark, strong and proud
I paint the sky black
You said if you could have your way
You'd make a nighttime of today
So it'd suit the mood of your soul
Oh, what can I do?
Nothing, my sparrow blue
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
I paint the house black
My wedding dress black leather, too
You have no room for light
Love is lost on you
I keep my lips red
They seem like cherries in the spring
Darling, you can't let everything seem so dark blue
But oh, what can I do?
To turn you on or get through you?
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, baby
Black beauty, baby
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
I dye my hair a darker shade of brown
Because you like your women Spanish, dark, strong and proud
I paint the sky black
You said if you could have your way
You'd make a nighttime of today
So it'd suit the mood of your soul
Oh, what can I do?
Nothing, my sparrow blue
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
I paint the house black
My wedding dress black leather, too
You have no room for light
Love is lost on you
I keep my lips red
They seem like cherries in the spring
Darling, you can't let everything seem so dark blue
But oh, what can I do?
To turn you on or get through you?
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, baby
Black beauty, baby
Oh, what can I do?
Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue
Sun and ocean blue
Their magnificence, it don't make sense to you
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Black beauty, ah ah
Lyrics submitted by iholdher, edited by honeyviolence, juan23
Black Beauty Lyrics as written by Elizabeth Grant Barry O'neil
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Lana watched a lot of Spanish themed movies after Paradise came out, possibly at the influence of her boyfriend, Barrie O'Neill. The lyrics are really telling, she bends in the relationship, tries to please her man, as she is rather submissive. She wants Barrie to see the beauty of the world by her side, and be happy but he isn't happy enough, in reality it's just the way he is, and that's where the sadness of the song comes from. "What can I do, life is beautiful but you don't have a clue"
It's not his fault, it's just the way he is, oblivious about the great things in life.
That's really interesting and insightful, thanks for sharing it helps understand the song a lot better. I think despite her songs having this dark melancholic theme to them (often verging on suicidal) she seems quite a happy person in interviews and confident, but it's the people around her who were like that. She does have a darker side to her though I sense, a femme fatale type thing. Maybe that's also inspired from movies, or just part of her personality.<br /> <br /> Some people (myself included I guess) are like Barrie. Maybe people find us interesting or depressing to dwell on the melancholic and dark side of things. It's difficult for us to see the sun and the ocean blue as Lana put it ;-) I wear black clothes a lot and I think that's an outward expression of how I feel inside. <br /> <br /> David Lynch is a lot like that too with his dark shadowy films, he inspired Lana apparently and you can see the sound in her music and Lynch influences in her videos, and personal appearance/presentation style.
She’s talking about being in a relationship with someone who sees the glass half empty, when she sees it as half full.
No matter how beautiful the ocean and the sun are, some people never really appreciate the real beauty in life. I know it’s hard for some people to look past the cruelty that goes on in this world, but you can’t let that become you. You must fight it with love, and truth, and teach others how to as well. But you can only make someone see so far. It is truly up to that person (who has a negative outlook on everything) to find it within themselves, what is it that will truly make them happy?
romysvobodaon: Lana strikes me as one of those girls who always falls for the wrong guy, the type who has issues, or is difficult to love.. you can see this time and time in her songs.. or she goes for bad guys, and likes the whole gangster/outlaw image thing. Morrissey is a bit the same (it's rumoured he's homosexual or bisexual) but he has a fascinated with, tough guys, criminals, boxers etc, or people who just don't like him and don't want his attention.
It's like the say, the more someone is harder to get close to, it's often more attractive and enticing to some people. Especially people who have an aura of darkness or mystery about them, and don't reveal much of themselves.
Lana writes really good songs, I love her melodic and melancholic style. She's like a female American version of our Morrissey who writes also in a very dark melancholic way.
Sad love songs are always the best, and this one is quite dark:
I love this part..
You said if you could have your way You'd make it nighttime all today
It reminds me a lot of Depeche Mode and their recurring theme with preferring darkness and night time, like "Waiting for the Night to Fall" from the Violator album:
I'm waiting for the night to fall so everything is bearable
Also "In Your Room" from Songs of Faith and Devotion:
Shying from the light I've always loved the night And now you offer me Eternal darkness
To me the song is pretty self explanatory. Basically what's see saying is her man see's the world as black and white, no color, no good in the world. However, she still sees him as beautiful and loves him even though he see's the world this way. Hence the name of the song. She changes her world to adapt to his world, "I paint the house black,My wedding dress black, leather too." She knows she can't change the way he sees the world but she still tries even though he can't the magnificence of the world.
I always thought the lyric was "so it'd suit the mood of your soul"
could be, i couldn't tell which one!
That would be a cooler line I think ;-) <br /> <br /> It's funny how you can sometimes hear a different line to the actual line.. <br /> <br /> I always thought the line in Jame's "She's a Star":<br /> <br /> "Put on your shades, if you can't see" <br /> <br /> Was:<br /> <br /> "Put on your shades, and you feel fine"<br /> <br /> I always imagined it like the tortured female glamorous celeb like Marilyn Monroe, hiding from the world behind their shades when all the attention and fame gets too much.
Black Beauty is a type of drug in the 60's. I guess she was talking about a guy who was addicted. Idk. Just my inferring.
@TomahawkChopx Black Beauty most famously is a novel written in the 19th century that has had numerous film adaptations made. It would be more realistic to say the song is about that book/film more so the drugs ... but IMO it is about neither.
This song is about Pricilla and Elvis Presley and their relationship. Pricilla dyed her hair darker with darker eye makeup because that was what Elvis thought his ideal woman should look like. Black Beauty was also a drug in the 60's, (era of which Pricilla and Elvis lived in), and Elvis was addicted to drugs. I believe that Lana connects to Pricilla in some way and that is why she wrote it. There is also a music video for Black Beauty and it incudes home videos of Pricilla and Elvis.
I see it a bit different. To me the lover is depressive, can't love life, unable to think positively. Then Lana is trying to make him feel better, not think about his depression but he just can't get better like that. Then black beauty could be depression.
This is a beautifully written depiction of what it is like to be a woman in love with someone dark, depressed, too far gone, etc. The woman in the song tries everything she can to get his love and attention, even succumbing to the darkness herself.