Salvatore

This song is an ode to the first vacation Lana took with her boyfriend Francesco Carezzoni to Italy. There are pictures of her eating "soft ice cream" and hanging out with him in an idillyc Italian city. Lana said this song sounds the "most different" on the Honeymoon album.

The first line should be, "All the lights in Miami," not "my attic," haha.

This is one of my favorites from Honeymoon, Lana has a knack for painting vivid pictures with her music. Listening to it I feel like I'm walking through the winding streets of some Italian town in the summer. The chorus melody almost sounds like it was taken from an Italian movie score or something. (She has said of the song "Old Money" from Ultraviolence that the melody for that song was partially taken from an instrumental piece from the 1960's Romeo & Juliet film, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was inspired by another piece of film score.)

Also, "salvatore" means "savior" in Italian. Which on the surface implies that he's saving or rescuing her ("I've been waiting for you"... "I've been cold without you,") but I think it really means the opposite, because the song has a kind of lonely, melancholic feel to it, she's "dying by his hand," and in the end, "Salvatore can wait." And just in conjunction with the rest of the album where she's singing in classic Lana-style these songs about being with a man but he's distant, elusive, etc. So, maybe she wants him to be her savior, yet finds herself disappointed.

I don't know, who really cares. Lana rocks no matter how people interpret her songs :)

Is it bad that I thought of The Vampire Diaries the first time I heard this song? Because of the Salvatore Brothers...

a portrait of divided emotions: being in a new relationship but still longing for someone else (salvatore). everywhere the narrator looks, the memory of this absent figure appears (all the lights are sparkeling for you, it seems). the new romance is framed by luxury and pleasures; eating, ice cream, limousines, yet these joyful, superficial activities only serve as reminders of the one who is missing.

the phrase soft ice cream becomes a symbol with layers of meaning: on the surface, it suggests indulgence and sweetness, but beneath it lies the pun “soft i scream,” pointing to the quiet pain of unfulfilled desire. lines such as “summer’s hot (because of the current relationship) but i’ve been cold without you” capture this contradiction (warmth on the outside, emptiness within).

even surrendering to another (“dying by the hand of a foreign man, ‘happily’”) carries irony, as the fulfillment seems hollow without salvatore. ultimately, the sentence “salvatore can wait, now it’s time to eat, soft i scream” suggests a postponement of true longing, temporarily masked by pleasure.

bonus thought: "ciao" is both a greeting and a farewell, i.o.w. a word that captures her ambivalence.

[Edit: ]

I also thought this song was kind of like a tribute to Francesco. Francesco is Italian like the man she sings about in this song and they've been seen together quite a few times in Italy on romantic vacations.

So brilliant. Kinda surreal for me. Im reading hundred years of solitude these days and the song is kinda connected to the south American atmosphere,don know why. So sad and weird.

It is a sad song, a love that didn't last long...

As I munch on the words, it sounded like a young girl's heart has been stolen by a really handsome man (...cacciatore...). A man with great facial feature and deep blue eyes (...everything looks better from above my king, like aquamarine ocean's blue). A wealthy and charismatic man (...all the lights are sparkling for you it seems....) loved by everyone (...like a boss he sang, Jazz and Blues...). The rest of the lyrics described how deeply in love this young girl towards this guy and how she longs for him so much. Not confessing this love was such a huge mistake as it imprisoned her in a dream-world, hoping she can be with him. (....I was so wrong not to tell, I'm in regine, tangerine dreams...).

The next set of the stanza is a bit tricky as it explained a short picture of the story as it revealed the word behind the songs rhythmic melody ("humming"). The girl kinda enjoyed the company of Salvatore as they chase each other "near the beach" under the heat of the sun (...catch me if you can, working on my tan, Salvatore....calling out my name....in the summer rain.....Ciao Amore). She was so enjoying the moment and thought that the guy can wait for her, however, like a soft ice cream the guys interest melted away. (Salvatore can wait...now it's time to eat...soft ice cream...)