Interview with Swedish magazine BON

[nevada darling 540]

"Lana Del Rey's lust for change"
(Translated from Swedish)
 
One late night it finally happens. The interview has been pushed back a few times, but now I’m sitting in my kitchen as an unknown number from Santa Monica calls me up.

Hi Annah, how are you? It’s Lana Del Rey. It’s morning in California.

Good morning Lana! I’m good, how are you? It’s nice talking to you again, I interviewed you in 2012.
Oh, wow. Really?

Yes, on the phone. You were in Paris.
Yeah, I remember now. In that hotel room… Yeah. That was a long time ago.

What has happened since we last spoke?
Everything has just been very fantastic. When you’ve only released one album you don’t know what to expect, so I think it’s very cool that I’ve also had the chance to do both Ultraviolence and Honeymoon.

What’s been the biggest change since then?
Well, I’ve moved to California. I didn’t live here then. But I really like it and I’ve really made myself comfortable in Los Angeles now.

You have a big smile on the cover of Lust for Life. Does that mean Lana Del Rey is… happy now?
(laughs) Well…

No more sad girl?
Let’s just say that it’s always in progress. But it’s true I have a lot of things in my life that makes me excited. I love my work and what I do. I also have a lot of time to go out and hang out with my friends. So, let’s say I’ve become more rooted.

Tell me more about the idea of smiling on the cover.
My little sister took the picture, just like she’s taken most of my pictures. We both agreed that we wanted to capture a new feeling — while alluding to the first album. We shot it in front of a white truck, and the picture has a spark in it that I like.

Following you through the music, and the long music videos and movies, is like entering a fantasy world. Would you say the smile is a part of the story you’re telling through Lana Del Rey? You know, from Born to Die to Lust for Life.
There’s no answer to that question yet. I don’t really know how the story of Lana Del Rey ends or where it’s heading. I’m really creating it as I go along. But I know that the first songs I wrote for the album were Love, Lust for Life, and another song that didn’t make the record. The intention was to bring a new playfulness into the music, to make something a little lighter; not just low, muddy, and bass. I wanted to move on.
I feel like I’m moving forward and exploring new things. A part of that meant inviting some friends to be on the record. I brought ASAP and The Weeknd over to my house to make some stuff together, and all of that was super cool. But I’ve also made some new friends, Sean Lennon and Stevie Nicks. The two of them really embodied the idea I had for the record. Sean Lennon is pure love, and Stevie Nicks is powerful music personified — she’s SO cool.

The Sean Lennon duet has a lot of John Lennon harmonies. Did you write that song before or after you asked Sean if he wanted to be on it?
Yes, it’s full of Lennon influences. You know the part where I sing ”Lay lady lay, on this side of paradise…”, I think that’s, like, a straight up Beatles-chord progression, but I’m not sure. Anyway, it was when I wrote that part of ”We could turn on the radio, play our favorite song, Lennon and Yoko, we could play all day long”, that I realized this song was meant for Sean.

Did you record it together?
No, he lives far up north in the country. I called Sean and he was super happy. He told me he was looking for a new project, and that his girlfriend liked my records. So that part was pretty easy. Tomorrow Never Came is the only song I wrote that I’m not sure where it came from, not the chords or anything. It just wrote itself.

What is the song Change about?
It’s about feeling like you have to change on many different levels. First of all, that something has to change in the world. In the first verse, I sing ”There’s something in the wind, I can feel it blowing in”, and in the second verse I sing that it’s ”on the wings of a song”. When I express my thoughts about change through lyrics and music, it can be about North Korea launching missiles or whatever. But it can also be directed inwards. So in the second verse I make it personal, when it’s about being stable, strong, and secure, and not looking for new discoveries when I don’t even have my shit together.

I feel like Change is very political, which is a new direction for you. What made you want to go in that direction?
Yeah, but those are the times we’re living in. Like I say in the song, ”There’s a change gonna come, I don’t know where or when, but whenever it’s here, we’ll be here for it”. I want to be involved in igniting a spark; a spark that’s the beginning of the end of what’s happening in our country right now. I want to be part of the conversation and make way. I don’t necessarily believe that I will be a catalyst for that change, but I’ll definitely be here when it comes — and be part of it.

When I ask her if the song God Bless America - And All The Beautiful Women In It is a feminist song, Lana Del Rey becomes noticeably uncomfortable. At first she’s quiet, and then she answers cautiously, as if she’s afraid she’s about to fall into a trap.

Yes… Yeah, probably. I guess so. I mean it’s not, not a feminist song. But I… (sighs) I always get uncomfortable when I’m asked that question, since I’m not exactly associated with it… THAT word. On my last albums I’ve been singing about my own experiences, and maybe they’ve not always been the most empowering for women… But I’m in a different place in my life now, especially considering the changes we’re going through here in America. And I’d be more than happy if I could be more open and sing about other women I know. Or to be supportive of women in general.
I don’t want to put my music in to genres; it’s just my music. But I’m not unhappy with calling it a feminist song, it’s just that I know what other people will say about that. You know, I can just see it; they’ll say ”Yeah yeah, I know what she’s trying to do, turning a new leaf and so on”. But I think feminism comes naturally if you only observe what’s happening around the world… It’s just common sense.
 
 
https://bon.se/article/lana-del-reys-lust-for-forandring/

[AphroditeBaby 912]

Still praying for the day where she's like "yeah, im a feminist sue me", but this is kind of progress I guess? She's not opposed to it so much as she's afraid of the reception that might get.

[hollywoodgirl 396]

Still praying for the day where she's like "yeah, im a feminist sue me", but this is kind of progress I guess? She's not opposed to it so much as she's afraid of the reception that might get.

Yeah I feel she is saying like of course I am pro women (a feminist.) How can you not be for women and supportive of women. Duh.. Only nowadays the word feminist has such negative reactions and I just think she really wants an album release without negative press for once. so she's careful

[Ultra Violet 18,421]

Still praying for the day where she's like "yeah, im a feminist sue me", but this is kind of progress I guess? She's not opposed to it so much as she's afraid of the reception that might get.

 

Yeah I feel she is saying like of course I am pro women (a feminist.) How can you not be for women and supportive of women. Duh.. Only nowadays the word feminist has such negative reactions and I just think she really wants an album release without negative press for once. so she's careful

 

She probably doesnt want people to call her a hyprocrite since like 5 years ago she said she thinks feminism is boring and that shes interested in [better things]. So yeah, wants to avoid negative articles during the release but Im sure she'll say our favourite F word within the next year

[Edelgard 1,722]

Its weird how she treats feminism like a word she's uncomfortable with pronouncing . Maybe because she had too many 'misogynistic' lyrics which is not even true.

[evilentity 13,303]

Did you record it together?

No, he lives far up north in the country.

Ha! She says this as if his location was why they couldn't work together in person on it. But in an interview Rick Nowels recently gave, he said Sean Lennon recorded his contributions "in his studio in upstate New York." I mean, it's just too bad Lizzy Grant wouldn't know anyone or have anyplace to stay in upstate New York............

 

When I ask her if the song God Bless America - And All The Beautiful Women In It is a feminist song, Lana Del Rey becomes noticeably uncomfortable. At first she’s quiet, and then she answers cautiously, as if she’s afraid she’s about to fall into a trap.

Well, that's 'cause it is a trap. One she set for herself. Not sure what you expect when you write a schizophrenic song with a deliberately overt feminist anthem chorus punctuating verses with lyrics expressing retrograde gender dynamics like "only you can save me tonight".

[Beautiful Loser 45,956]

I'm a Swede, why haven't I heard of this?? >__<

Thanks for sharing!!

[GroupieLover 1,162]

Lana is obviously a feminist. She's a supporter of women's right and has spoken about that as of recent. She just knows how awfully sexist the media has been toward her, saying she's a horrible example for women so she probably feels bad now if she admits she's trying to be a voice of power for women when her past work seems to contradict that. It's really the result of a sexist media that she can't even admit being a feminist. They make her feel like she can't be proud.