Lana Del Rey as A Touchstone
One of my most formative arcs of maturation from when I was 16 to 22, and I don’t remember when it happened, was moving from not liking Lana Del Rey because “her lyrics are so stupid” and I wanted to be serious and deep or whatever to not minding because the melodies are so good to understanding that her lyrics are a complete fucking monstrosity of genius.
Just look at this:
Come on down to Florida
I got something for ya
We could see the kilos or the Keys, baby, oh yeah
Guns in the summertime
Chic-a-Cherry Cola lime
Prison isn't nothing to me if you'll be by my side
~Florida Keys
She pulls it off, in every song—without making it senseless or without emotional coherence with the entire song. This is hard to do!
I am currently in my “rare Lana Del Rey songs” era.
I am preparing to make a “My favorite Lana Del Rey Albums in Order” post. I wanted to do a silly introverted exercise.
There are many posts like this, but the point is to add a new post into the public discussion by figuring out my own feelings and opinions and putting those feelings and opinions thrustily.
And that is meant to be a beginner exercise to thinking about about putting into language what she is doing and why it moves me as much as it does, and what I am bringing into the conversation as myself, to be so moved.
I was definitely inspired by my friend John Encaustum’s thoughtful series of essays on intellectual touchstones, linked at the end of this post. This essay is not an attempt to mirror those, as I do not yet feel prepared to write a post like that, about any writer. But starting to think seriously about a musician who I reliably return to, in this way, seemed like a fun first step in that direction.
Let’s start by pointing out that Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence in its full version is an entire one hour and 17 minutes long. It is basically a double album, and it maintains thematic and musical coherence this entire time. This is a formidable work. She had put out 9 albums in about 15 years. And then she shows off by having lyrics like this:
My pussy tastes like Pepsi cola
My eyes are wide like cherry pies
I got sweet taste for men who are older
It’s always been so, it’s no surprise~ Cola
And the audience swoons for the virtuoso. I love it. I am glad that I learned to appreciate this.
I wish I had more to say. I guess I can’t do the thing for a musician either. But that I’d listened to Lana Del Rey for years and am realizing I have not even listened to every album says something about the extent and variety of her discography.
And so I will listen to every rare song she has, and rank her albums, to have a more intense relationship with an artist I already have an intense relationship with.
John Encaustum’s touchstone series:
I definitely have some musical and artistic touchstones as well. What are some of the main ways that other people’s feelings about Lana tell you about them?