Am i the only one who doesnt get the concept of badlands? I feel like she hyped it up too much. It doesnt even speak on political or societal issues. Its just relationships and shit.
Except she didn’t over hype anything. This album is exactly what she said it would be.
Castle is about our patriarchal society and how they expect so much from her, yet so little. They expect her to be everything they want her to be, and they also expect her to be quiet and not speak out about what’s wrong and attempt to change the system. The old man she sings about in that song represents patriarchy.
Hold Me Down is about her needing help from her demons in order to speak out about what she knows is wrong. She’d like to do it on her own, but she doesn’t really have that level of courage yet so she relies on them to give her that extra push. But, that push turns into a shove and next thing you know, she’s angry and wreaking havoc everywhere, and her demons are enjoying it. The demons are actually the judgements everyone has toward her, yet they’re the only thing holding her down because she finds positivity in the negative remarks people say about her being different. She likes being different.
New Americana is about how this generation is less scared of diversity and how we’re more accepting of things. Take the line “raised on Biggie and Nirvana” for example. Two very different types of music, yet both were loved by nearly everyone. It also touches a little on homosexuality with her James Dean verse, and how we’re okay with that too.
Drive is about two people who obviously have feelings for each other, but they refuse to say anything or make the first move. So they’re kinda just stuck.
Hurricane is about a girl who’s with a guy who’s not too good for her and takes advantage of her. He thinks he has her wrapped around his finger, but she’s a wanderess. She doesn’t stay with anyone and she doesn’t stay in one place; she belongs to herself.
Roman Holiday is about an emotionally toxic relationship that’s coming to an end. Lots of people think its just a ditzy love song, but if you look into the lyrics, its so much more. They know they’re gonna break up, but they’re having one last “adventure” together, then they’re done.
Ghost is about being in a relationship where your partner is emotionally detached and its kinda just like their body is there, not their heart. Then you make up your mind and realize that you deserve better, so you leave that relationship.
Colors is about a guy who’s addicted to drugs and how he can’t find happiness unless he takes them. When he does take them, he pours out deep thoughts into her and kind of turns her into him. But then, he doesn’t like what she’s turned into, so he leaves her. Its also saying how he’s lost his colors and how he’s gray and dull.
Colors Part 2 is kinda like a memory of that, like she’s hallucinating and reminiscing on it.
Strange Love is basically a big ass “Fuck you, mind your own gohdamn business” to those people who keep asking her about her and Matty Healy’s (from The 1975) rumored relationship. Colors was supposedly about him, but I don’t know if that’s true or not, so I didn’t use his name.
Coming Down is about her loving someone who’s toxic for her, but she loves him so much that she’s willing to sacrifice her happiness to be with him (idk if that made sense). She compares him to a God, but also a Devil, obviously because he’s both. He’s a God because he makes her feel so warm inside, but he’s also a Devil because of how he takes advantage of her and how he has control over her. He could also be a Devil because of how sexy he is and how he gets her all hot and bothered. He also kind of puts her down, which is where the toxic part of him comes in. He tells her that she’s never gonna be who she wants to become and he crushes her self-esteem.
At this point, this is where the darkness of Badlands takes place.
Haunting is about her wanting her Ghost (a character from an earlier song) to come back and continue “haunting” her. Even though she’s got a better boyfriend, she can’t stop thinking about her ex. She describes herself as “cold” because she kind of feels off without him. Its almost like she can’t find herself without him, so she needs him back so he could do it for her. She’s used to relying on him.
Gasoline is about society and the effect it has on her. It causes something in her to snap, which is why she describes herself as insane and deranged. She kind of compares society to robots (like how robots are filled with gasoline in order to work), like how they’re programmed to think certain ways, practically from the moment they’re born. They judge her a hell of a lot and its like she can never get a break from them. When she sings “low on self-esteem, so you run on gasoline”, she’s talking about how they can’t think for themselves and how they’re so judgmental that they even judge themselves, so they just continue doing what everybody else does and keeps putting others down and its basically just like an endless cycle. When she sings “I think there’s a fault in my code”, she’s talking about how she’s different from those people.
Control is about her bipolar disorder. They’re the demons in her head, battling each other for control. She feels like her vibe is kind of scary, which she clearly shows when she sings “All the kids cried out ‘please stop you’re scaring me’, I can’t help this awful energy”. The good side of her apologizes for her bad vibe and feels sympathetic. But then, the bad side takes over and kind of brags about it, saying “Goddamn right, you should be scared of me. Who’s in control?” And its almost like its proud of being so evil.
Young God is about another toxic relationship, but it started out sweet. In the beginning, he was kind to her. He calls her a queen and himself a king, and she’s so infatuated with him. There’s a little foreshadowing though, when she sings “I’ve been sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool for a while now, drowning my thoughts out with sounds”. I think it means that she has that gut feeling that the relationship is gonna take a turn sooner or later. She ends up being right because he becomes conceited and cocky, calling himself a king, but not calling her his queen like he used to. Instead, he’s kind of belittling her and he uses his tongue as a “weapon”, which goes both ways. It can mean that he’s occasionally sweet to her to keep her with him, or it could mean that he uses his tongue on her to make her feel so good that she doesn’t wanna leave him.
I Walk The Line is actually a cover of Johnny Cash, just a little more sultry. Nevertheless, its basically a conclusion of this album because she’s singing about how all of this has given her emotional damage that she feels is permanent. Now, she watches out who she gives her heart to, whether it be a friend or a potential lover. She’s got walls around her now and she’s careful about who she lets inside.
So, there you go. Badlands. She didn’t over hype anything, you just need to look deeper into her lyrics and sit there and think about it.
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