Crystal Aura Gaze

“A&W” by Lana Del Rey is a track from her “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd” album from spring of 2023. This song is a total masterpiece and there is so much to unpack here.

Pitchfork recently posted an article rating their top songs from the decade of the 2020s (so far) and determined Lana’s “A&W” as #1! I am so excited to see this song receive the recognition it deserves.

However, the description that they provided for this song is totally off the mark.

Lana Del Rey dropped “A&W” eight months after the Supreme Court handed down Dobbs v. Jackson, as tradwifery was gaining traction in online corners and the politics of sex and femininity in America seemed fated for a precipitous backslide. The song is both a staggering work of self-mythology and a first-person treatise on the national state of womanhood, tacked up by its central declaration: “This is the experience of being an American whore.”

It’s sneaky, though—more probing than polemic. Jack Antonoff’s production, built around somber broken piano chords and dry guitar strums, seems innocuous enough, at first. Lana’s most explosive lyrics—cataloguing the impossible standards set for victims of sexual violence, the stigma around expressing sexuality as you age—are diffused by her vaporous whisper. Patriarchy is loud, flagrant; Lana’s rejoinder is harder to pin down.

Then the radical switch-up in the song’s second half introduces a thunderous beat, a slew of references to Lana’s own back catalog, and a more impish persona. Behind the whiplash and psychedelia of it all is the impression of a woman pushed over the edge. “Look at me,” she sang earlier, the demand of someone all too familiar with the forces that conspire to make complicated women invisible. Here, she makes it impossible to look away. –Olivia Horn

I think that most fans can disagree with this review. It’s clear that they do not completely understand the meaning behind this song.

This song is raw, vulnerable, and brave. This is not about pride or even empowerment. I think that so many women can relate to this, especially in this modern day era. I’m not sure if any man could truly relate to this song (but let me know if I’m wrong.)

A&W is a long listen, but completely worth listening to from start to finish. The song is split into two parts: part one as a melancholy, acoustic sound – and part two as a hiphop and minimal-electronic production.

The title

First, let’s talk about the name. “A&W” is likely the abbreviation for “American Whore.” I also notice that it could be a reference for A&W soda – and Lana has a history with naming songs after sodas. “Diet Mountain Dew” is an early song about being in love with a man who’s not good for you, and the relationship may be a little toxic, but it’s fun.

And then there’s “Pepsi,” one of her most controversial tracks, about having an affair with a married man and feeling no remorse. Another thing to point out about “Pepsi” is that it has Americana references – “I fall asleep in an American flag” / “I pledge allegiance to my dad” – which draws similarities to the use of “American” in “A&W.”

If you have any other theories or explanations on the title being “A&W,” let me know in the comments!

The lyrics (Part 1)

I haven’t done a cartwheel since I was nine
I haven’t seen my mother in a long, long time

The song starts off with a reflection on the shedding of innocence. She’s not a little girl anymore. Instantly, from the melody and tone, you feel a sense of apathy and carelessness.

I mean, look at me
Look at the length of my hair and my face, the shape of my body
Do you really think I give a damn
What I do after years of just hearing them talking?

This shows a woman who is aware of her sex appeal, who dresses how she wants and acts how she wants, despite any judgment. Again, more carelessness and apathy.

I say I live in Rosemead, really, I’m at the Ramada
It doesn’t really matter, doesn’t really, really matter

Rosemead is a town in California that’s known for being very nice and safe place to live. Meanwhile, the Ramada is a hotel. It shows that she’s sneaking around and lying about her whereabouts. But then adding, it doesn’t matter, probably because she is a grown woman who can make her own choices and doesn’t care about the judgment of others.

I believe this is a literal translation, but you could also see it as metaphorical. It can be about your public image and persona representing “Rosemead,” being very conservative and traditional on the outside. And “the Ramada” can represent who you are on the inside, the dirty secrets that you hide.

Call him up, “Come into my bedroom”
Ended up, we **** on the hotel floor
It’s not about havin’ someone to love me anymore
This is the experience of bein’ an American whore

She calls him, they meet at a hotel, and they sleep together. This is a relationship with a man that is strictly physical. And they’re meeting at a hotel in order to sneak around.

“It’s not about having someone to love me anymore” is a powerful line. Sex is something that used to be associated with love, and now it’s become something entirely separate — an addiction, a transaction, a drug.

The following line, “This is the experience of being an American whore” takes a dark turn. The melody pauses and suddenly the song becomes very dark. The tone of apathy becomes borderline sociopathic. We now see that this is less about carelessness and more about becoming numb.

It’s also shocking to hear her call herself this title. She doesn’t say it with pride but she also doesn’t say it with self-pity. It’s very accepting – this is the life I chose and I’m living with the consequences of my own actions. But she does the opposite of glamorizing it. And LDR has been constantly criticized for her music glamorizing pain and abuse. This song is doing very much the opposite of ‘glamorizing.’ Instead, it’s like getting cold water splashed in your face – this is my reality. This is unfortunate acceptance.

Called up one drunk, called up another
Forensic Files wasn’t on
Watching Teenage Diary of a Girl
Wondering what went wrong
I’m a princess, I’m divisive
Ask me why, why, why I’m like this
Maybe I’m just kinda like this
I don’t know, maybe I’m just like this

“Forensic Files” is a crime show and “Teenage Diary of a Girl” may refer to the movie “Diary of a Teenage Girl” which is about a fifteen year old girl who has a romance with her mother’s boyfriend. This brings more themes of crime and adultery into the song.

She’s questioning “what went wrong” in her life, implying that she is unhappy about her current situation. When she calls herself a princess, she shows that she does think highly of herself and does believe that she is worthy. It sounds like she is facing this internal conflict, going back and forth between feeling proud of herself and then shameful of herself.

I say I live in Rosemead, really, I’m at the Ramada
It doesn’t really matter, doesn’t really, really matter

Call him up, he comes over again
Yeah, I know I’m over my head, but, oh
It’s not about havin’ someone to love me anymore
No, this is the experience of bein’ an American whore

The chorus only changes slightly with one verse – “yeah, I know I’m over my head.” And this indicates even more conflict that she’s feeling against herself.

I mean, look at my hair
Look at the length of it and the shape of my body
If I told you that I was raped
Do you really think that anybody would think
I didn’t ask for it? I didn’t ask for it
I won’t testify, I already fucked up my story
On top of this (Mm), so many other things you can’t believe

This gets so much darker here. She’s saying that no one would believe her if she testified that she was raped. It’s because her sexual behavior has been loose and everyone would assume that she asked for it.

Did you know a singer can still be
Looking like a sidepiece at thirty-three?
Got a cop who turned on the backbeat
Puts the shower on while he calls me
Slips out the back door to talk to me
I’m invisible, look how you hold me
I’m invisible, I’m invisible
I’m a ghost now, look how you hold me now

So, Lana mentions the age thirty-three – she was in her late thirties when this album came out, which tells me that this song may have possibly been written a couple years back. She also mentions a cop here, and we know that Lana dated a cop around the age of thirty-three. It’s interesting that this song was written about 1-2 albums beforehand, meaning that this song could’ve been recorded a few years earlier and she decided to exclude it.

She feels like a sidepiece at an age in which many people are in serious relationships or married. The man who she’s seeing is sneaking around in order to be with her. He’s turning on the shower so that someone can’t hear him talking to her. He’s secretly meeting up with her in hotels. He’s hiding her. This makes her feel completely insignificant – like a ghost.

After this, is the chorus again, and then the song moves into “part 2”

The lyrics (Part 2)

Now, the melody completely changes. It’s almost like an entirely different song.

Jimmy, Jimmy, cocoa puff, Jimmy, Jimmy, ride
Jimmy, Jimmy, cocoa puff, Jimmy, get me high
Love me if you love or not, you can be my light
Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high
Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high
Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high
Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high
Your mom called, I told her, you’re fuckin’ up big time

I don’t think “Jimmy” is the real name of anyone from her life. This also brings me back to her song “Ultraviolence” in which she sings about “Jim.” I think that this is simply an anonymous coverup – but it represents one specific man. It shows that this entire song really is about one man – it’s not about several men, or just men in general, this is one person who she has in mind.

And in her song “Ultraviolence,” Jim is the man who is physically abusive and hits her. So in this song, it connects themes of abuse. But Jimmy may not be hitting her, he is sexually and emotionally abusing her.

I had to look this up – apparently “cocoa puff” is slang for cigarettes and cocaine. This could literally be showing a man who is addicted to these substances, or maybe the two of them are using together, or maybe she’s using this as a metaphor for the sexual addiction between them.

So much more emotion comes out in the second half of the song. In the first half, so much apathy and carelessness, and you may believe that this is a sexually free woman who feels empowered. Yet as the song goes on, we see her internal conflict growing, until finally she admits her true feelings – she feels invisible, unseen, and unworthy.

Now, both desperation and anger comes out. I love you, even if you don’t love me back. I don’t care if you don’t love me. I realize that you probably don’t love me – you only love my body.

And then that final line is absolute gold. The way that he is mistreating her shows that he is extremely damaged and making messed up choices. And it does make you wonder, when men treat women with total disrespect, like how would their mother feel about that!?

Jimmy, you should switch it up, baby, light it up (Yeah)
Jimmy, if you leave the house, find me in the club (Like)
Jimmy, if you switch it up, you should light it up
Jimmy, if you leave the house, find me in the club (Like, surf’s up)
Your mom called, I told her, you’re fuckin’ up big time
But I don’t care, baby, I already lost my mind
Jimmy, if I lie it up, find me in the club (Mind, mind)
Your mom called, I told her, you’re fucking up big time

Yet we see that she is addicted to this man. Nothing is really going to change because she is not strong enough to leave him. She understands how messed up the situation is, and how horribly he is mistreating her, but she is addicted to him.

This is unfortunately, a situation that many women have found themselves in. And again, I don’t think that this is much relatable for men. Women have so many mixed messages being thrown at them all the time. On one side, women are told to embrace their sexuality, and to separate sex from love, and that you need to do these things in order to be empowered. But on the other side, they are then blamed for doing these things that society encourages them to do, and they fall into these unsafe and abusive situations.

This man is hiding her and sneaking around in order to be with her. I think that at first she is trying to glamorize as a way of coping with it. But she realizes that this may have been a useful coping strategy in her younger years, but she’s matured enough to fully realize the heaviness of it all.

I find this song to be very refreshing in a world of music that completely simplifies and reduces female sexuality into some kind of shiny object. This song is complicated, deep, and layered.

And to add more context to this song, take a look at the album – ocean blvd. This entire album is about the desire to find a committed relationship and start a family. Also, look at the surrounding tracks – the song before this is “Sweet,” which is about desiring a simple and uncomplicated relationship – the song afterwards is the Judah Smith interlude which is about resisting lust and focusing on your family.

This song goes deep and I could really go on further, but I’m going to stop here! Let me know what your interpretations are.