A Close Reading of 'Looking for America'
2023-07-07
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1In today's Everyday Grammar we do a close reading of Lana Del Rey's 2019 song, Looking for America.
2The song explores different places in the United States, American culture and even fireworks.
3A close reading is a deep reading of a story.
4It is seeking greater understanding beyond the main idea.
5It is often used in literature to understand the writer's intentions by looking at the details.
6With a close reading we can look at the grammar of the text, cultural elements, and poetic devices.
7As we read "Looking for America" we will talk about location, American culture and grammar.
8Let's discuss the last two parts of the song.
9I flew back to New York City
10Missed that Hudson River line
11Took a train up to Lake Placid
12That's another place and time, where
13I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues
14So many things that I think twice about before I do, no
15I'm still looking for my own version of America
16One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly
17No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide
18It's just a dream I had in mind
19In the second verse she sings about the East Coast, particularly the state of New York.
20I flew back to New York City
21Missed that Hudson River line
22Took a train up to Lake Placid
23She sings about three places: New York City, the Hudson River, and Lake Placid.
24These places are important for her.
25She was born in the city and came back to it as a young adult, but her family raised her in upstate New York, Lake Placid.
26Took a train up to Lake Placid
27That's another place and time,
28She sings of Lake Placid as "another place and time."
29This could signify personal memories of growing up there.
30But the lines also suggest that the town itself is frozen in time.
31No Lana Del Rey song is complete without notes about American culture.
32In line five, she sings about listening to blues music and going to drive-in movies. Both activities are nostalgic.
33I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues
34So many things that I think twice about before I do
35Del Rey sings that now she "thinks twice" about all the things she once did without a care.
36To "think twice" about something means that you reconsider your actions or thoughts.
37We normally think twice about something before we do it, so we do not make a mistake.
38I'm still looking for my own version of America
39In line seven, she uses the present continuous tense to say that her search for the peaceful, easy America she once knew continues.
40Her use of the adverb "still" suggests a long search.
41She sings what she hopes the future will be like in lines eight and nine.
42One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly
43No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide
44The "bombs" are contrasted with "fireworks."
45A line in the U.S. national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner tells of "the bombs bursting in air," during a war.
46But the light from the bursts showed that the American flag was still flying. It was proof that the U.S. had not been defeated.
47Fireworks are always celebratory and they are very important to the observation of America's Independence Day anniversary on July fourth.
48And lastly, we have the verb "collide," which means to come together by force, to crash.
49It can also be used to describe a clash of opinions.
50No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide
51"Bombs" are negative, and the "fireworks" are positive.
52So, if the singer and the other person come together, only good things are possible.
53If there is a difference of opinion and they "collide," the experience will still be productive.
54It's just a dream I had in mind
55In Del Rey's final line, she talks about her dream of a peaceful America.
56When we keep something "in mind" we keep that thing in our close memory.
57We may not even realize that we are thinking about it often but if we keep it "in mind" it will affect our choices and decisions.
58The line suggests the idea of the "American dream."
59This is the idea that anyone, of any background, can find opportunity and success in the United States based on his or her own ability and skills.
60In today's Everyday Grammar, we learned about close readings and found the details of Lana Del Rey's song "Looking for America."
61We looked at her use of location, her references to American culture, and even some grammatical elements like the present continuous tense and the double meaning of the verb "collide."
62In a future episode, we will look at some of the sounds and rhymes of the song.
63I'm Faith Pirlo.
64And I'm Andrew Smith.
1In today's Everyday Grammar we do a close reading of Lana Del Rey's 2019 song, Looking for America. The song explores different places in the United States, American culture and even fireworks. 2What is a close reading? 3A close reading is a deep reading of a story. It is seeking greater understanding beyond the main idea. It is often used in literature to understand the writer's intentions by looking at the details. With a close reading we can look at the grammar of the text, cultural elements, and poetic devices. 4As we read "Looking for America" we will talk about location, American culture and grammar. Let's discuss the last two parts of the song. 5Looking for America 6I flew back to New York City 7Missed that Hudson River line 8Took a train up to Lake Placid 9That's another place and time, where 10I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues 11So many things that I think twice about before I do, no 12I'm still looking for my own version of America 13One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly 14No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide 15It's just a dream I had in mind 16Finding meaning 17In the second verse she sings about the East Coast, particularly the state of New York. 18I flew back to New York City 19Missed that Hudson River line 20Took a train up to Lake Placid 21She sings about three places: New York City, the Hudson River, and Lake Placid. These places are important for her. She was born in the city and came back to it as a young adult, but her family raised her in upstate New York, Lake Placid. 22Took a train up to Lake Placid 23That's another place and time, 24She sings of Lake Placid as "another place and time." This could signify personal memories of growing up there. But the lines also suggest that the town itself is frozen in time. 25No Lana Del Rey song is complete without notes about American culture. In line five, she sings about listening to blues music and going to drive-in movies. Both activities are nostalgic. 26I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues 27So many things that I think twice about before I do 28Del Rey sings that now she "thinks twice" about all the things she once did without a care. To "think twice" about something means that you reconsider your actions or thoughts. We normally think twice about something before we do it, so we do not make a mistake. 29I'm still looking for my own version of America 30In line seven, she uses the present continuous tense to say that her search for the peaceful, easy America she once knew continues. Her use of the adverb "still" suggests a long search. She sings what she hopes the future will be like in lines eight and nine. 31One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly 32No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide 33The "bombs" are contrasted with "fireworks." A line in the U.S. national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner tells of "the bombs bursting in air," during a war. But the light from the bursts showed that the American flag was still flying. It was proof that the U.S. had not been defeated. 34Fireworks are always celebratory and they are very important to the observation of America's Independence Day anniversary on July fourth. 35And lastly, we have the verb "collide," which means to come together by force, to crash. It can also be used to describe a clash of opinions. 36No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide 37"Bombs" are negative, and the "fireworks" are positive. So, if the singer and the other person come together, only good things are possible. If there is a difference of opinion and they "collide," the experience will still be productive. 38It's just a dream I had in mind 39In Del Rey's final line, she talks about her dream of a peaceful America. When we keep something "in mind" we keep that thing in our close memory. We may not even realize that we are thinking about it often but if we keep it "in mind" it will affect our choices and decisions. 40The line suggests the idea of the "American dream." This is the idea that anyone, of any background, can find opportunity and success in the United States based on his or her own ability and skills. 41Final thoughts 42In today's Everyday Grammar, we learned about close readings and found the details of Lana Del Rey's song "Looking for America." We looked at her use of location, her references to American culture, and even some grammatical elements like the present continuous tense and the double meaning of the verb "collide." In a future episode, we will look at some of the sounds and rhymes of the song. 43I'm Faith Pirlo. 44And I'm Andrew Smith. 45Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 46_______________________________________________________________ 47Words in This Story 48intention - n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve 49location -n. a place 50drive-ins - n. places where people watch movies in their cars 51blues - n. musical genre created by African Americans in the Southern United States 52collide - v. the action of two (or more) objects crashing into each other 53genre -n. a kind or group of literature or art that has similar qualities 54nostalgic -adj. the feeling of both pleasure and sadness of remembering the past 55tense - n. a form of a verb that is used to show when an action happened 56contrast - v. to compare two things to show their differences 57negative - adj. having harmful or undesirable effects 58positive - adj. having good and/or hopeful effects 59rhyme - v. to have two or more words that end in the same sound 60________________________________________________________________ 61What do you think of this story? 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