West Coast

This song is strictly about a high that she can only get from one person. She wants to live by "west coast" standards. "If you're not drinkin' then you're not playin'.." So she steps away to experience that life but what she feels for him is so intense that she no longer cares to live by a "standard" because passion takes over whenever she's around him. Even though the "standards" make her feel alive, it doesn't compare to how this person makes her feel. This person gives her exactly what she wants but she expects this kind of happiness to come from the "standards". So she pushes away. But the more she's around him, the harder it becomes to be away from him. But she always waits until he's just about to give up on her before she shows him how much she loves him.

It's about leaving a relationship for the music and her ignoring her own emotions. She loves him, but she can't let him know that or how much she misses him. She is rather introverted like he appears to me ("you've got the music in you"), so he keeps to himself. The boy tries very hard, but she just pulls away and can't express her real emotions for him, even though she wants to. She watches from afar, as shown in the chorus. She is madly in love with him, regardless of how flawed he is. No one has ever made her feel this way before. Lana has said also how the verse is fast-paced and then the tempo slows down in the chorus, supposedly representing how crazy her emotions are. In the verses she appears to be distant and in control, but in the choruses we see that that isn't the case, that even though she seems strong on the outside, she is weaker internally. One more point I want to make is that she has said the album is a fusion of rock and jazz, and this is also represented by the fusion of the West and East Coast. Geography, genre, emotions, themes, etc. are all concepts that are put together and compared/contrasted on this album.

I get the feeling that her boyfriend influenced her music, he is a Pink Floyd fan and she's gotten more psychedelic over the years. This one could be a 70's rock classic..

I can see my baby swingin" - swingers are couples who swap each others partner, hence why she says " that's why I'm leaving you for the moment" .. In this song she refers to swinging seeing her partner with someone else yet their both high and drinking in the song.... And she's attracted to the thrill " I'm alive I'm a lush".-

There is no context of romantic love in this song, and the meaning has nothing to do with her boyfriend.

Lana, as an artist, is divided into two personalities, or, would you rather, her inner psychedelic free world and outer.

The line ''Down on the West Coast they got a saying 'If you're not drinking then you're not playing''. West Coast is Hollywood and everyone has to adapt to their rules. She has ''the music'' and she can be free and make it without them. But Lana has the feeling like it all could happen so she is leaving her inner artist.

The chorus are the key. She is singing about herself as a free person ''His parliament's on fire and his hands are up''. It's important when she says ''On the BALCONY and I'm singing move baby move baby I'm in love''. In this line Lana expresses her infatuation towards some kind of freedom and she wants to cotton on. For this to happen, this made up fake personality ''commits suicide'' and she becomes unchained, happy, fulfilled and free. In the other hand, she doesn't have to like jump of the balcony, and the balcony can have a simple role in this line just to complement the whole picture.

I'm not sure, this is a very complex song and you can interpret however you want. I based my interpretation on the fact that West Coast is Hollywood and that's how it is.

Also, the golden god is Robert Plant, you can do some research about it. I think he once said out loud ''I am the Golden God!''. There is explanation for other lines in this song, but I'm too lazy, these were the most important.

Girl likes to drink, but knows it isn't safe and gets her into deep serious trouble. She really really wants a drink, and has to leave the company of certain people and places to avoid the temptation. Her only vice is cigarettes and she chains smokes. What saves her from alcohol, makes her feel like she doesn't need it, is music.

IMO she is in love with power, and is actually telling her lover to "move, baby" - that is, move aside so she can be with the victor. She can clearly "...see [my] baby swingin', His parliament's on fire and His hands are up", she won't go with a loser. She's gonna go with the winner, who in this case usurps her (now former) lover's power.

Interesting, mine is the only opinion of this sort out there. There must be others?

I have listened to this song over and over again without caring much about the meaning, until one day, a concept washed over me. To me it's like loving an idol. Being infatuated with a rock god and knowing that every other girl in every crowd he sings to feels the same way- sort of a nod to 70s Californian groupies "down on the west coast". These musicians are "golden gods", unattainable, inspire the awe-struck sexuality and bluntness of lyrics where she describes him dancing and feeling only a physical connection. It's a feral kind of passion hazed with drink and drugs (totally Lana), and despite such deep adoration its not reciprocated, she can only watch him and his music and pour her heart out. The last few lines "on the balcony and I'm saying, move, baby, move, I'm in love. I'm in love.", is like her being in a crowd and pushing past others to get a glimpse of her idol.

In the chorus she watches her boyfriend dance while she sings, but there also seem to be a sexual innuendo.

I think the song is about being a hippie for some reason. It is so weird, but also about the west coast, (obviously). But might mean about falling in love with a hippie.