Cruel World

It talks about the "then" ("Shared my body and my mind/life with you") vs. the "now" ("That's all over now"). She acknowledges the wasted time, energy, passion, and devotion of a relationship, which is an interesting thought: where does all that love go when a relationship ends? And even though she has "found another, anyhow," it is clear that she is not fine at all. She puts on her "little red party dress" and talks about candy, fun, happiness, and such, yet "everybody knows that she's a mess," and "fucking crazy." She completely admires his lifestyle ("you're young, you're wild, you're free") and has adopted it as her own, but she knows he is still "dancing circles" around her. All in all, the song sonically and thematically introduces the conflicting emotions she says the album itself contains (ex: the quiet, almost lifeless verses followed by the hectic, bitter and loud chorus). A great way to introduce the theme/story and sound of the record.

I think the song is about her trying to convince herself that she is over this guy and that she is better off.

But I think she isn't completely since she says: 'I shared my body and my mind with you That's all over now I did what I had to do I found another anyhow'

It just doesn't sound like she is over him and happy about the end. And clearly he left her. She also sings about him in praises and that he is 'running circles around me'.

And to me it sounds like at the end of the song after she sings 'I'm so happy now, now that you're gone'.. when she sings the next part 'got my little red party dress on' she sounds really sad like she's crying almost.

She wants to be over him and wants to think she is better off... but she doesn't believe it yet either...

Being expressed by someone who has woken up understanding the reasoning behind true love who is also carefree and selfless with her mind body and heart she explains to her former lover why they must part ways. While he was with her, she gave him the artistic expression and the inspiration he needed to make a name for himself whether it be fame, his dreams coming true or his desires he now possess all because of her. "I found another anyhow" means that she found another person whom she fell in love with and viscera, however only she knows that their affair is temporary and that once he gets to where he wants to be she will no longer be needed in his life because just like the former, he has gained the inspiration he needed to fulfill his life's goals, dreams and/ or desires.

Cruel World sets the tone for Ultraviolence, an album full of opposites and different meanings. It is quite an intense yet sarcastic track filled with passion and longing. The lyrics for this song and the rest of the album could be either talking about her drinking problem, which she had suffered from when she was a teenager, hence the ‘Get a little bit of Bourbon in ya’. Alcoholics usually find it hard to stay away from the substance as they are addicted. This may be why the relationship she is in is so abusive. This could also be referring to the ‘Jim’ that is spoken about in many of her unreleased songs and in the Ultraviolence title track. Jim could be referring to Jim Beam which is a type of whiskey or a person. However, the lyrics may be talking about a person- a man she dated or a family member, as her Uncle was named Jim. If Jim is a person, he is presented to be a violent cult leader during this album that doesn’t care much for Lana. The softly spoken verses contrast to the crazy, wailing chorus. The difference in the verses is to show her ups and downs with Jim was and how chaotic being with them was, also it shows how Del Rey’s life was so much more peaceful when they weren’t together rather than how intense it is when they are which is represented in the chorus. In this song, it shows us how Lana has finally decided to ditch Jim for good as things have gone too far. We find out that Jim is very famous, around drugs and has lots of women/lovers, furthering the suspicions he might be a cult leader. Lana tells us that she loved his bad ways, but it portrays that she is over it. The lyrics ‘got your bible got your gun’ that are repeated shows that he has different sides. Bible represents his ‘good’ side and how he can be nice to Lana and peaceful. However, gun represents his violent side (his true side) and how he is quite a dangerous man and how the lifestyle he lives is dangerous. Using them together in the sentence shows the contrast and how his mood changes lots. This is usually a sign of toxic relationships as he is hot one minute then cold the next. The chorus is a reflection of how they used to go out dancing and drinking together, showing how they were so ‘young, wild and free’ which Lana liked. However, Lana couldn’t keep up with him and his crazy lifestyle as shown by ‘you’re dancing circles around me’. This can also represent the fact there relationship just goes around in circles, he’s nice then mean; this parallels with my ‘got your bible, got your gun’ analysis before. She knows he’s crazy and she thinks of herself as a little crazy too but she is fine with it at the start as she thinks he is crazy for her (‘you’re f***ing crazy oh you’re crazy for me) however as the song goes on the lyrics change to ‘everybody knows that I’m a mess’. This could be because they see how she has been treated further into the relationship and how it has took its toll on her. Lana is trying to convince herself she is better off without him, which is true, even if deep down she knows would do it all again to feel like she did, which is why the chorus is about her reflecting on the ‘then’ (‘shared my body and my mind with you’) and the ‘now’ (‘that’s all over now’ together. Lana is truly happier without him and realises she can be happy without partying, Jim and substances. The repetition of the album’s lyrics and chorus is to set the tone for Ultraviolence as lots of the album conveys longing. It also represents how she wants to make herself believe she doesn’t need him and that she’s past him but as the story goes along and the album continues- she realises that she can’t stay away from him and his dark world she is drawn to.