When the chorus is performed, Lana is shown with her arms held out to either side as if she is flying and birds fly behind her as if to symbolize freedom. From this we can infer that she wishes she were free in her relationship that she feels powerless in. Similarly to strange weather her lover’s mood is unpredictable and disastrous. Her lover is calm and isn’t easily moved. He doesn’t let anybody into his “unbreakable” heart. “Shades of cool” indicate that he is relaxed and indifferent. He is very confident in himself and doesn’t feel like changing his attitude toward her or anyone else. ‘Unfixable’ indicates that he is emotionally broken and she cannot fix him. In the chorus she sings.
“But you are, are unfixable
I can't break through your world
'Cause you live in shades of cool
Your heart is unbreakable”
He consumes her world and there isn’t anything she can do to change his mood. He is cold hearted and she cannot seem to break down his emotional barrier. He doesn’t love her as much as she loves him.
In the second verse, it is important to note Lana clever play on words. The first line of the first verse is “My baby lives in Shades of Blue”, whilst the first line in the second verse is, similarly, “My baby lives in “Shades of Cool”. Lana replaces the word blue with cool to further describe her lover’s casual and carefree attitude about the world. This is to describe her man as laid back, chilled or relaxed. Lana’s lover doesn’t break a sweat for anything or anyone, not even her.
Verse two is depicted in the video as Lana is walking, seemingly disturbed, confused, and possibly in deep thought. Mahoney catches a glimpse of the songstress from afar at one point and is seemingly captivated, but nonetheless climbs into his car and cruises away as though she was just a figment of his imagination. Lana seems disappointed that he has not acknowledged her, but her lyrics imply that this is expected of him, since nothing seems to faze him. Mahoney’s hair in this scene is the color blue, emphasizing his bad weather. We get a sense of neglect from Mahoney as the dynamic of their relationship is revealed. When the screen changes into what seems like a metaphysical interpretation of the song, we see a hand pull the trigger of a gun, and a glimpse of a woman’s face. We can take this to mean that the way he neglects Lana, hurts her emotionally, and that furthermore, this may be killing her emotionally. Her lover is always out and about while she is left to spend her time dwelling on their disengaged relationship, thinking about how she can fix him to cure their relationship. This theme is similar to when Lana uses her arms to portray that she is flying during the first performance of the chorus while the birds fly behind her. We then see a glimpse of an American flag (also a consistency in Lana’s music) in the background. This part can be interpreted in conjunction with the previous ‘killing’ that she is now free from the emotional hardships of their relationship, or to simply reiterate her longing for freedom and power in their relationship.