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Johnny Depp, the song for Hedy Lamarr: the lyrics meaning

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After teasing something big coming soon in a post on Instagram, on June 9th 2022 Johnny Depp shared a live video of the new song he composed together with the guitarist Jeff Beck, a song dedicated to one of the women with the most interesting stories ever lived: Hedy Lamarr, a Hollywood star that for a while was considered the world’s most beautiful woman, and who at the same time was a smart scientist who, besides other achievements, co-invented a radio communication system that many years later served as basis for the invention of wi-fi. Since the very first moment after the release, everybody is delving into the lyrics of the song, trying to understand the hidden meaning and eventually the correlation with the recent events in Johnny Depp’s life. In this article we will provide an explanation of the song lyrics and give some answers.

You can find the live video of This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr below.

Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp - This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr [Official Music Video]
Watch this video on YouTube.

The story of Hedy Lamarr that inspired Johnny Depp

In order to better understand the meaning behind the song lyrics, we need to know more about Hedy Lamarr’s life.

Hedy Lamarr’s fame arose as an actress, especially in movies that highlighted her sex appeal. For years she was known for her role in Exstase, a movie that caused scandal for its nude scenes (we are in 1934, too early for audacious movies like that) and for its story, where a woman divorces her husband and won’t be punished by law or life. For years she kept playing controversial roles in movies. That, joined to her incredible beauty, defined the character for years and years.

But Hedy Lamarr was also a smart woman and a creative inventor. She didn’t have an official education for it and was basically self-trained, but she was able to give birth to wonderful ideas. She was giving suggestions to Howard Hughes for his aeroplanes, she provided improvements for the traffic lights. And above all, she contributed to the battle against Nazism patenting, together with George Antheil, a frequency-hopping radio system that could help radio-controlled torpedoes to work without being jammed.

This patent was never implemented during World War II, considered too expensive. For many, the real reason was that nobody trusted the invention of a sexy Hollywood diva: a beatiful girl cannot also be a good scientist. They decided to not trust enough the idea. Nevertheless, in modern times, the idea patent by Hedy Lamarr became the basis for the invention of the wi-fi technology that we all use.

Johnny Depp, the song for Miss Hedy Lamarr: inside the meaning of the lyrics

Knowing the story of Hedy Lamarr, the meaning of the song written by Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck becomes clearer: Hedy Lamarr was a genius, imprisoned in the appearance of a movie diva. Her beauty became the cage that prevented the world to take seriously her genie. It’s a sad perspective, and it’s the reason why Johnny Depp says “I don’t believe in humans anymore”: it’s pure prejudice, something that men should fight if we want to generate fairness in the world.

This is a song for Ms. Hedy Lamarr
Erased by the world that made her a star
Strung on beauty, trapped by its web
She’s a perfect cocoon twined in gold thread

The metaphor now is clear: Hedy Lamarr’s beauty is the trap that prevented her to emerge for her intelligence. “The world that made her a star” -cinema- erased her, or in other words, blocked the rise of her genie.

The song goes on by creative images depicted by Johnny Depp, like this beautiful line:

It’s so hard to speak when you’re frozen in scream

which could be interpreted as “it’s hard to appear serious, if the image of you that everybody sees is driven by your beauty and by Hollywood limelights”. On this point of view, Hedy Lamarr’s life is a symbol of how a person can lose their battle to be credited for their true talent, if the world marked them differently.

How bright your eyes, those lost white knights

Is Johnny Depp song about the trial against Amber Heard?

The question came natural, since the song was shared just few days after the verdict of Johnny Depp’s trial against Amber Heard. But the answer is: no. There is no correlation between his Hedy Lamarr song and the trial he went through against his ex-wife. The song has been written years before the trial.

Jeff Beck, the artist that teamed up with Johnny Depp for the album 18 that is going to be released in 2022, said that Johnny presented him the Hedy Lamarr song years ago, and that song was the reason why he wanted to collaborate with him for an album, whose works started in 2019.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The Hedy Lamarr song: the full lyrics

This is a song for Ms. Hedy Lamarr
Erased by the world that made her a star
Strung on beauty, trapped by its web
She’s a perfect cocoon twined in gold thread
The music is spectacle, the thoughts too pure
The letters of being her exotic galore
Was torn at the seams for daring to dream
It’s so hard to speak when you’re frozen in scream
Yes it’s all that it seems
Feels like a dream
But it’s life, and it’s death
like baby’s breath

Don’t believe
I don’t believe
Humans anymore
Don’t believe
I can’t believe
I won’t believe
Humans anymore

So hard to talk when no one will hear
And everyone stares as you quiver in fear
It’s shameful, shameless, painful, painless
This song’s for you Ms Hedy Lamarr
How bright your eyes, those lost white knights
So long ago, so far away
Feels like a dream or a cosmic fiasco

Don’t believe
I don’t believe
I don’t believe in humans anymore
Don’t believe
I can’t believe
I won’t believe in humans anymore
Not anymore

Stripped of belief
A thief is a thief
Who’s gonna stand up
To give you relief
Of all dispossessed
It’s so hard to digest
You’ve no right to sit down
If you’re nobody’s guest

Published by Carlo Affatigato

Carlo has been a web content creator for over 10 years. He founded Auralcrave in 2015, envisioning it as a new space capable of offering different perspectives on topics that passionate all of us. With a scientific background, Carlo developed an interest in music, cinema, literature, and art at a young age, transforming it into a complementary dimension to his professional growth. For years, he was a music journalist specializing in electronic and dance music, writing for the most important Italian magazines (both online and print). Movies and TV series have been a true obsession in many phases of his life: during university, it was not uncommon for him to set the alarm in the middle of the night to watch classic films airing on TV. With the advent of the Internet, Carlo became a keen observer of web and social phenomena, addressing light topics such as advertising, trends, fashion, and general themes. He is the main author of Auralcrave and personally manages its social media, editorial line, book publication, resource management, and business expansion. A former engineer, life coach, husband, and father, he believes that every area of knowledge has interesting stories that deserve to be told and is convinced that doing so makes the world a better place.