Carmen

Darlin', darlin' Doesn't have a problem Lyin' to herself Cos her liquor's top shelf It's alarming, honestly, How charming she can be Fooling everyone Telling them she's having fun

She says, "You don't want to be like me, don't want to see all the things I've seen" I'm dyin', I'm dyin' She says, "You don't want to get this way, famous and dumb at an early age" Lyin', I'm lyin'

The boys, the girls, They all like Carmen She gives them butterflies Bats her cartoon eyes

She laughs like God Her mind's like a diamond Audiotune lies She's still shinin' Like lighting White lightning

Carmen, Carmen Staying up till morning Only 17 but she walks the streets so mean It's alarming truly How disarming you can be Eatin' soft ice cream Coney Island queen

She says, "You don't want to be like me, lookin' for fun, gettin' high for free" I'm dyin', I'm dyin' She says, "You don't want to get this way, street walk at night and a star by day" It's tirin', tirin'

The boys, the girls, They all like Carmen She gives them butterflies Bats her cartoon eyes

She laughs like God Her mind's like a diamond Audiotune lies She's still shinin' Like lighting White lightning

Baby's all dressed up with nowhere to go That's the little story of the girl you know Relying on the kindness of strangers Tying cherry knots Smiling, doing party favours Put your red dress on, put your lipstick on Sing your song, song, now the camera's on And you're alive again

The boys, the girls, They all like Carmen She gives them butterflies Bats her cartoon eyes

She laughs like God Her mind's like a diamond Audiotune lies She's still shinin' Like lighting White lightning

Darlin', Darlin' Doesn't have a problem Lyin' to herself Cos her liquor's top shelf

This song is about Lana Del Rey before she became famous (Around her young adult years). Carmen=Lana.

"Darling, darling, doesn't have a problem. Lying to herself cause her liquors top shelf." She thinks that she's completely fine and that she has no addiction but in reality she's addicted to alcohol and needs help(Which Lana actually talked about before).

"It's alarming honestly how charming she can be, fooling everyone telling them she's having fun." Everyone thinks how she's that girl who's never upset and how shes always having a good time when Lana actually feels depressed and sad about how bad her life has gotten.

"She says you don't wanna get this way, famous but dumb at an early age." Lana got addicted to alcohol at the age of 14(dumb at an early age), got sent to boarding school to fix her addiction, then she ran away and technically lived on the streets. Everyone knew who she was because she would do whatever she could for money even prostitute herself sometimes (which ill explain later).

"Buy her tonight, she's still shining like lighting." I think this is the part when she prostituted herself. She's saying how people should buy her for the night while she's there (can't really explain it, but it's pretty obvious).

"She says you don't wanna get this way, street walk at night but a star by day." This is another part when she talks about how she sold her self as a prostitute at a young age.

"Babys all dressed up with nowhere to go, that's the little story of the girl you know." In this quote I feel like she's always looking for a party to go to and spend her time somewhere or the fact that she's walking on the streets all dressed up waiting for someone to buy her for the night.

"Relying on the kindness of strangers." She hopes that someone would be nice to her and help her get her life back on track or give her some money so she can support herself. It's like a perspective from a homeless person kind of thing.

"Tying cherry knots smiling doing party favors. Put your red dress on, put your lip stick on." Being able to tie a cherry stem into a knot is a sign of being a good kisser. Lana is saying how she's doing party favors probably such as hooking up with people and doing sexual acts or drugs for the money. Then she says how she's putting on her red dress and her lipstick, here she is saying how she's ready to go out and sell herself again or do whatever she can to get money.

"Mon amour, je sais que tu m'aimes aussi Tu as besion de moi Tu as besion de moi dans ta vie Tu ne peux plus vivre sans moi Et je mourrais sans toi Je tuerais pour toi." Translation: “My love, I know that you love me too. You need me, you need me in your life. You can’t live without me And I’d die without you. I’d kill for you.” Here she is talking about her addiction to alcohol and how much she craves it in her life and how she can't live without it.

So long story short. This song is about Lana when she lived on the streets.

"The song about Carmen is not about a woman who is a prostitute.

"Carmen" is about a woman with an alcohol problem who is constantly attempting to convince herself the she truly has no problem at all and is truly just fine. "Doesn't have a problem. Lying to herself, cuz her liquor's top shelf". This line states that Carmen, who, truly, is Lana Del Rey in her teenage years, is crazy and an alcoholic but is convinced that she has no problem. She is lying to herself cuz her liquor is too high to reach or is high class and safe to drink.

"She's still shining like lightning..." This line, however, does refer to a sort of prostitutional issue that she once had. Although she has screwed up millions of times, she still has potential to be a good person and is shining...

It's all about Lana Del Rey as a teenager. Lana, in an interview, said that all the songs on the album reflect off of her troubled past, where she was making crazy decisions and living the life of a runaway drug addict. But it took her awhile to admit to herself that she needed help. But once she admitted to herself she had a problem, she got help and now is LIKE LIGHTNING!"

found on lyricinterpretations, not mine

French part: "Mon amour, je sais que tu m'aimes aussi Tu as besoin de moi Tu m'as besoin dans ta vie Tu ne peux vivre sans moi Et je mourrais sans toi Je tuerais pour toi"

Translation: "My love, I know that you love me also You need me You need me in your life You can't live without me And I would die without you I would kill for you"

Carmen is a girl who is alcoholic (Lana obviously) but the symbol of Carmen through the song becomes a symbol of crystal meth or methamphetamine. You can see in the chorus, it's really simple.

1. "The boys, the girls, they all like Carmen'' - all her friends like and do meth
2. "She gives them butterflies" - meth helps the release of serotonin (a hormone contributor to well being and happiness)
3. "Her mind's like a diamond" - diamond = crystal
4. "Like lighting, white lighting" - obvious

If you watch the Carmen video closely, you can see that the some parts of the video show for a second how methamphetamine affects the central nervous system and the release of serotonin.

The French is translated to, "My love, I know that you love me also." :)

Okay I thought this song was about a very popular you lady, who everyone wanted to be like, but her life wasn't as great as what everyone thought it was.

In my mind, this is without a doubt inspired by Blanche DuBois from "A Streetcar Named Desire." If you love this song and have never read the play, its not very long or time consuming and you will see a lot of connections.

"Darling, darling, doesn't have a problem Lying to herself cause her liquor's top shelf It's alarming honestly how charming she can be Fooling everyone, telling how she's having fun"

In the play, Blanche suffers from some form of mental illness and drinks heavily, presumably to avoid the demons of her past. She charms and fools many people into thinking that she is something other than what she truly is.

"She says you don't want to be like me Don't wanna see all the things I've seen I'm dying, I'm dying She says you don't want to get this way Famous, and dumb, and no age My, I'm dying"

Blanche reveals the demons of her past at various point throughout the play. Her family dying off in front of her eyes, the loss the family plantation, the suicide of her husband which she is convinced is her fault. She is portrayed as the most notorious person from her home in Laurel because of her sleeping around after the death of her husband, hence the "famous, and dumb...." line.

"Baby's all dressed up, with nowhere to go That's the little story of the girl you know Relying on the kindness of strangers Time and cherry marks while doing party favours Put your red dress on, put your lipstick on Sing your song, song, now, the camera's on And you're alive again "

Blanche's clothing and jewelry are often spoken of throughout, as well as her enjoyment of wearing them. She truly does get dressed up with no where to go as she does not work, is seldom mentioned leaving Stella's, and can't leave New Orleans because she was run out of her home town and can't afford to support herself. "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers" is her last line in the play... This was what really sold me on the Blanche influence and made me examine the lyrics more closely.

There are other small similarities that may be a stretch... the lines in French might be from Blanche speaking in French and talking of her French heritage. The mention of "light" and "lightning"... Light, or lack there of, was important symbolism in the play for Blanche, and is mentioned in her most important and telling monologue (the one about her husband.)

For me Carmen has always been simply about a girl who is faking her perfection and carefreeness to hide insecurities, making people either love her for how flawless she is or hated for being way too charming to be real, while Carmen herself is somehow aware that the life she has is full of lies, she may even feel sorry for all the people who fell for her persona because she knows the dark side of that life, but it's just the way she has to live, the mask the must wear while her true self is so damn lost

As you all know, Lana is a big Marilyn Monroe fan. I think that in this song she's talking about her. "Darlin', darlin' Doesn't have a problem Lyin' to herself Cos her liquor's top shelf". ---Marilyn was not like "the best person in world", she had a lot of problems, and drinking can be one of them. "It's alarming, honestly, How charming she can be, Fooling everyone, Telling them she's having fun" --- Marilyn was, like, such a beautiful woman, also a great actress. But, she was in depression, even if she was the definition of perfection, in her time. "She says, "You don't want to be like me, don't want to see all the things I've seen", I'm dyin', I' dyin'" --- We all know that Marylin "knew too much", cause she was secretly the girlfriend of president. "She says, "You don't want to get this way, famous and dumb at an early age", Lyin', I'm lyin'" --- She became famous and made a lot of mistakes. "The boys, the girls, They all like Carmen, She gives them butterflies, Bats her cartoon eyes" --- everybody loved Marilyn, she was a great actress, a beautiful woman and a sexy model. "She laughs like God, Her mind's like a diamond, Audiotune lies, She's still shinin', Like lighting, White lightning" --- at the end of her life, so much people was saying that she became a mess, but that was not true. "Baby's all dressed up with nowhere to go, That's the little story of the girl you know, Relying on the kindness of strangers, Tying cherry knots, Smiling, doing party favours, Put your red dress on, put your lipstick on, Sing your song, song, now the camera's on, And you're alive again" --- I think that this part is the most representative, cause it's about her actress career and being a little sluty. She was acting and singing, and this is way everybody loved her. In the "And you're alive again" part, Lana is a little sarcastic, remaining that Marilyn is dead. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION, PLEASE DON'T JUDGE :)