I wrote exactly what I felt, and put a melody to it that was perfect for the words. I was staying in Santa Monica, California with my composer and best friend, Daniel Heath. I would sit under the telephone wires and listen to them sizzle in the warm air while he went to work.
I wanted to take the electricity and absorb it so it would make me feel alive and electric again. I felt happy in the warm weather and started writing about how sad and gorgeous the summertime felt to me.
Summertime Sadness was written about Lana's best friend who committed suicide.
Lyrics: "I got my red dress on tonight" Even though in the video she is wearing a white dress, she is wearing a red dress to represent the blood on her dress from her best friend.
"Done my hair up real big, beauty queen style, high heels off, I'm feeling alive" Here she is having a flashback to the good times she had with her best friend.
"Honey I'm on fire I feel it everywhere, nothing scares me anymore" The feelings she had overwhelms her and since she's lost someone so important to her she feels as if nothing can be worse than that.
"Kiss me hard before you go, summertime sadness. I just wanted you to know that baby you're the best"
Girls especially show their love for their best friends in numerous ways, in this case she is kissing her best friend goodbye. She also wants to see her again so she can tell her how much she meant to her and how much she loved her.
"I'm feeling electric tonight, cruising down the coast going 'bout 99. Got my bad baby by my heavenly side, I know if I go I'll die happy tonight." She is being careless with her actions so that if she does die she wouldn't mind because she thinks she will be reunited with her best friend again. Hence "I'll die happy tonight."
"I think I'll miss you forever, like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies."
I think she meant that she misses her best friend but will never see her again because she belongs to the sun, and Lana will always be a star. The sun also once started out as a star, but now has become a bigger entity. This shows how her best friend was once with her but she died or moved on, intent on not giving her a second chance.
"Late is better than never, even if you're gone I'm gonna drive."
She's saying how even though she committed suicide she's happy with all the memories they had together and all the times she got to be with her. When she says that she's gonna drive she means that she's gonna try to move on from the past.
_______________________________________...
In the video the meaning is still the same however it's a bit different. Lana is all dressed angelic and with fog all around her to represent an angel (also to represent her best friend/the blonde girls actions in the video). The blonde girl represents Lana (I know it seems confusing but basically in the video just switch the roles and it makes it 10 easier to understand the concept of the video). While the blonde girl is driving and when she is standing at the end of the bridge she is remembering all the memories she had with Lana. She thinks that if she kills herself she will be reunited with Lana again "I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight.". When the girl jumps off the bridge a red glass drops to represent her death. But in the end even though she thought that if she committed suicide she would be with Lana again, they still did not end up together. That's what made it a summertime sadness.
Sorry if it's so long, I just really love this song and I want people to know the real meaning behind it c:
Wow. It's interesting seeing other people's interpretations because I thought it was super obvious and very few people share my interpretation...
I see it as someone close to her died. Not necessarily a lover, maybe a friend or a family member. Not necessarily suicide, just died for whatever reason.
The "Kiss me hard before you go..." part is about her reminiscing and missing her loved one.
"I got my red dress on tonight
Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight
Done my hair up real big beauty queen style
High heels off, I'm feeling alive"
She is giving the impression that she's going out to have fun to live life or whatever.
"Oh, my God, I feel it in the air
Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare
Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere
Nothing scares me anymore"
Here she's revealing that she actually plans to commit suicide by driving into a utility pole. She either dressed up because she didn't want people to know her intentions and wanted it to look like an accident for her family or she just wanted to go out with a bang.
"I got that summertime, summertime sadness"
She's revealing that she's deeply depressed and her fun behavior is an act.
"I'm feelin' electric tonight
Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99
Got my bad baby by my heavenly side
I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight"
She knows she'll be with her loved one soon and can almost feel their presence now. Again "feeling electric" is further alluding to how she plans to commit suicide- if you didn't get it the first time around. She's been depressed but the thought of sweet blissful death actually makes her feel alive.
"Think I'll miss you forever
Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky
Later's better than never
Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive"
If she doesn't do it, she'll always feel the emptiness. "Later's better than never"- she wishes that when they died, they would have taken her with them right then. "Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive" to me means that people tell her all the time that "she has to live life for both of them" and even though she knows that would be the right thing to do, she's determined to kill herself and join them instead.
Its a metaphorical way to interpret a feeling of nostalgia you get from something bad that happened in a previous summer and summertime sadness is when you relive that moment in time every year during summer
I'm not sure, but I heard that the song is really about Jimmy Gnecho. Jimmy was the love of Lana's life but their relationship was haunted by his ex- lover who committed suicide in a car. Lana always felt there was three in the relationship. Summertime sadness is about her twisted feelings towards this third person. In some ways they were very alike - perhaps physically? and they loved the same guy, which gives them a sympathy link. Also, they both know what it's like to be depressed/suicidal, hence the falling or the feeling like you are falling and the sense that Jesus is letting you down/silent/just a statue. But when the ex died, she didn't just destroy herself. She destroyed a part of Jimmy and she destroyed his relationship with Lana and so lana herself. It might as well have been Lana who died in the car. In some strange way Lana fantasises that she had been the one who died so that Jimmy might have loved her instead. 'Baby you're the best' seems to be an admission that the best woman won. I definitely get the sense in the video that the two women are suppose to be two sides of one person. I don't get a lesbian vibe but wikipedia doesn't agree with me.
Wow. It's interesting seeing other people's interpretations because I thought it was super obvious and very few people share my interpretation...
I see it as someone close to her died. Not necessarily a lover, maybe a friend or a family member. Not necessarily suicide, just died for whatever reason.
The "Kiss me hard before you go..." part is about her reminiscing and missing her loved one.
"I got my red dress on tonight
Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight
Done my hair up real big beauty queen style
High heels off, I'm feeling alive"
She is giving the impression that she's going out to have fun to live life or whatever.
"Oh, my God, I feel it in the air
Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare
Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere
Nothing scares me anymore"
Here she's revealing that she actually plans to commit suicide by driving into a utility pole. She either dressed up because she didn't want people to know her intentions and wanted it to look like an accident for her family or she wanted to go out with a bang.
"I got that summertime, summertime sadness"
She's revealing that she's deeply depressed and her fun behavior.
"I'm feelin' electric tonight
Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99
Got my bad baby by my heavenly side
I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight"
She knows she'll be with her loved one soon and can almost feel their presence now. Again "feeling electric" is further alluding to how she plans to commit suicide- if you didn't get it the first time around. She's been depressed but the thought of sweet blissful death actually makes her feel alive.
"Think I'll miss you forever
Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky
Later's better than never
Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive"
If she doesn't do it, she'll always feel the emptiness. "Later's better than never"- she wishes that when they died, they would have taken her with them right then. "Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive" to me means that people tell her all the time that "she has to live life for both of them" and even though she knows that would be the right thing to do, she's determined to kill herself and join them instead.
38c6e68cf9