Currently, Lana Del Rey is hosting a birthday party for her friends Jen Stith & her husband Mike Longenbach and John Booth at her home in Los Angeles, California.
Also in attendance are her sister Chuck Grant and her other friends Val Vogt, Jessica Buch, Annie Tomberlin, Tatiana Dieteman and her boyfriend Tobey Maguire, and Jen's sister Mackenzie Stith.
As a gift, Lana bought Jen a diamond "Lennon" nameplate necklace, which is the name of Jen's newborn baby.
In the photo below, you can see her new lighter locks, which she had recently coloured by her hairdresser Tracey Cunningham.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I do believe the original statement and the way she went about that was problematic - I still don't believe her intention was to be racist and I honestly still don't believe that Lana is a racist. She's very good friends with both The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky, her 2 backing dancers and best friends are both women of colour and in her original statement she said the women she listed were her friends. I do however disagree with the way she went about that whole situation and have made my opinions about that whole saga clear in a previous post.
I think being labelled a racist a few days prior to such a traumatic event that is so heavily political and race based, is unfortunate on her account. Again, I'm not defending her, the statement was ignorant and she deserved the criticism she received, in my opinion. But having a platform like hers, she's expected to comment on events like the protests and the #blacklivesmatter movement that are happening right now. I honestly think, and again, just my thoughts... I think she remained silent as a show of respect, you know if she had of posted straight away about the incident she would have received major backlash following last leaks allegations of racism. Camila Cabello also receieved criticism on social media for posting about #blacklivesmatter (she was exposed for posting racist tweets (pre-fame) back in January).
And yes, it was easier for her to remain silent, I can see that side and see how she could be seen as somebody who doesn't care etc. But, I do believe she remained silent in hopes of not adding fuel to the already burning fire, surrounding her priviledge and status. Of course, she couldn't stay silent forever, other peers calling her (and others) out for not speaking up and using their platforms - therefore she posted about it. Here it gets tricky, the way in which she posted did feel very, I have to do this etc. However, maybe it was for the best after all that she didn't write a statement, and she was potentially scared to, following on from last weeks events.
She clearly went to a protest and was there, it's one thing posting on social media cos you have to, or your management want you to, or it's the right thing to do. But to actively go and protest, I think says more than you think. Again, it got problematic, she posted the video of people looting and didn't blur out their identity, even zooming in on some people - I genuinely don't think this was her trying to expose the looters or protestors (as she's been accused). I think this was a legitimate mistake and she has since removed the video after people pointed out her error.
As for, what happens to Lana Del Rey now? I personally don't think this will effect her career as much as people think. Like I mentioned above Camila Cabello was exposed as a racist earlier this year and at the time, with cancel culture, it's easy to get caught up in the hyperbole of a situation. I do think her next record will probably decrease in terms of sales and acclaim, sales because she probably has lost fans due to her recent posts and behaviour (and that's her own doing). However, Norman Fucking Rockwell was well received as a coming of age, self reflection, looking outwards record. Clearly the new album is a return to her earlier style of songwriting, which as she pointed out, was heavily criticised and therefore I think recent events aside, the forthcoming album would have always been negatively received in comparison to Norman, especially as a follow up record. Whether or not the album is released this year, I don't know, I can't imagine them delaying it. But, I don't think her career is over, far from it to be honest.
The difference is TFM and BTW both were unique, there was nothing like it out. This doesnt sound like her, vocally or production wise, it just sounds stale and boring to me.
You can like or love the album as much as you want, I’m not trying to invalidate your opinion because you’re entitled to that, I’m just sharing my opinion of it and why I can’t listen to it, because it doesn’t resonate with the sound that Lady Gaga is known for. Honestly, if she released it under her real name without the Lady Gaga tag on it, it might be a better album.... but its a Gaga album and it doesn’t hold the quality that a Lady Gaga album did 10 years ago, even being out today.
Every song to me sounds the same or similar and the lyrical content falls shy of what I’d expect. The way she looked in the Stupid Love video made me wonder if this would be her Ziggy Stardust era, but it turns out that the aesthetic makes no sense for the album and music. I don’t understand the reason for it. It’s like she wants to stay unique and interesting, yet her music isn’t showcasing the weird, beautiful art we know she is more than capable of crafting.
Let me put it in perspective: With Lana, I expect a certain quality of sound and with every record, it turns out she delivers. She has every time. I don’t like LFL, but it still has the quality of a LDR record. LG on the other hand hit a high peak somewhere between BTW & Artpop, but ever since, the quality has been declining. Try listening to this album 5 years from now and you’ll notice the difference, where TFM, BTW, and even Artpop (which a lot of people disliked, considering the change of style it had), still hold up in the quality standard she set for herself with her first album. This album won’t hold that longevity. Even as much as I dislike LFL, I know it’s still going to hold the quality expectations from a LDR album another 5 or 10 years, even being my least favorite in her discography. Is that subject to change? Sure! Opinions are fluid
I typically don’t like drawing comparisons between Gaga and LDR, bc they’re very, very different artists making very different types of music, but that’s the easiest way to explain my opinion.
Here's the complete post transcribed:
"Hey. So I don’t wanna beat a dead horse and I don’t wanna go on and on about this post thing, but I just wanna remind you that in that post, my one and only personal declaration I’ve ever made - thanks for being so warm and welcoming - was about the need for fragility in the feminist movement. It’s gonna be important. & when I mentioned women who look like me, I didn’t mean white like me, I mean the kind of women who other people might not believe because they think “oh, well, look at her, she fuckin’ deserves it” or whatever. There’s a lot of people like that, y’know? I just think it’s sad that the women I mentioned about, whether they sing about dancing for money or whatever, the same stuff by the way that I’ve been singing about chronicling for 13 years. That’s why I’m in that echelon, yes they are my friends and peers, contemporaries. The difference is when I get on the pole people call me a whore, but when Twigs gets on the pole it’s art. So y’know I mean I’m reminded constantly by my friends that lyrically there are layers and complicated psychological factors that play into some of my songwriting, but I just want to say y’know the culture’s super sick right now and the fact they want to turn my post, my advocacy for fragility, into a race war, it’s really bad. It’s actually really bad, especially when it that same declaration I was talking again about the idea of how important it is for me to make reparations to the Navajo community because they touched me so much in my youth and that I believe in personal reparations because it’s the right thing to do. I think what’s really sad is like as a personal advocate, as a girl’s girl, as somebody who wants the best for every culture, when Marianne Williamson was talking about reparations to the black community that never got done during the emancipation period. That was why I liked her, because I always felt that way. So I just wanna say to all of the other women out there who are like me – good girls, good intentioned, who get fucked up the ass constantly by the culture just because you say what you really mean - I’m with you and I feel for you and I know that you feel for me. Y’know I’m super strong, you can call me whatever. I’m sorry that I didn’t add one caucasian, 100% caucasian person, into the mix of the women that I admire. It really says more about you than it does about me. I think what’s interesting is that the very first time I decide to tell you anything about my life or the fact that I’m writing books that chronical that fragility, that 200,000 hateful, spiteful comments come in, and my phone number leaked, and comments like “you fucking white bitch…” It’s the opposite of the spirit of an advocate. It’s what causes fragility. But it’s not gonna stop me. Period. I just want to say nobody gets to tell your story except for you, and even if that means it’s kind of messy like this along the way, ‘cause unfortunately when you have a good heart it doesn’t always shine through, and you trudge on anyway. You make those personal reparations to heal your own family karmic lineage and the sickness of this country, y’know? Domestic abuse, mental health problems, this is the second epidemic that’s arising out of this pandemic. It’s a real thing. That’s what I was talking about. So, as ever I’m grateful that my muse is still here and that I have over the last 3 years been blessed to have the insight and ability to channel two books worth of beautiful poems. I think my new record Chemtrails Over the Country Club is special as well. I’m sorry that a couple of the girls I talked to who were mentioned in that post have a super different opinion of my insight and especially because we’ve been so close for so long. It really again makes you reach into the depth of your own heart and say “am I good intentioned?” and of course for me the answer is always, yes. I barely ever share a thing, and this is why, y’know? The reason why I’m making this post and I know it seems a bit much, right? But there are women out there like me who have so much to give and don’t quite get to the place spiritually or karmically where they’re supposed to be because there are other women who hate them and try and take them down, whether in my case it’s certain alternative singers or malintented journalists or men who hate women, yknow? But I’m not the enemy and I’m definitely not racist, so don’t get it twisted. Nobody gets to tell your story except for you, and that’s what I’m gonna do in the next couple books. So god bless, and yeah, fuck off if you don’t like the post."
As a soft/delicate woman I always felt glad someone like Lana made it big. What she says is so relatable. It always seemed like there is only space for loud or outspoken people. If you aren't like that, you are perceived as weak and, especially as a woman, it is your duty to show that you are "strong" and impose yourself. This reminds me of what Susan Cain said in her TED Talk titled "The power of introverts".
Sylvia -
I knew what you meant when you talked about swimming in the ocean and leaving your patent leather black shoes pointed towards it while you swam It tickled you to leave them there It was the thought of a young child or of a lost fairy It reminded me of who I am
That's why I'm now at this facility by the ocean & why I go barefoot and why I go calmly Why I leave my shoes up by the stairway I do it for you, and I do it for me Because having learned from others and from you, I learned there was a missing piece to finding existential calmness and domestic bliss to lead to peace
You see, you cant fall in love with a man like Ted or a musician who sings about being free A woodworker doesn't a good man make if he wants his work to be on TV You have to separate the wheat from the chaff You have to be discerning It takes diligence, consequence, and other things to keep that sea from churning & to keep yourself from longing to let those painted waves take you under It isn't just the water black that makes the body plunder from high sea cliffs I know, my dear, I wish that I had been here or there I wish that you were here now if you're not now because who knows how these things work?
Sylvia, Marilyn, Violet, Diana
All of my kind women who came before me, blonde I dyed my hair black for you I turned my back on that black pond I swear I wont stop 'til I'm dead & here I am at 34, and what for?
To bring my pair of baby patent leather shoes to turn them the other way Towards the sea cliff stairs, not at the ocean To bring them back up safe to the facility instead & I think of you as I walk to the 280 wooden steps dynamited into the cliffs 100 years before I let myself into room 2 and got undressed
I was sunburnt Contemplative and sore & as I fell asleep by Gabapentin I lay my head on the pillow & stretched my hand out on the cool white linen and sang you a lemon melody I kept the shoes on the sill by the window seat in case you got restless and wanted to leave & I hugged you with my baby's breath and sang your spirit to bed The way I would have if you were my child or if I had children My Queen Anne's lace heart weightless on your little head
I just got registered cause I didnt know this forum existed. I almost read every single page of this thread. And some of you spend more time talking sh*t about Lana than haters themselves lol. Are you even fans? If you think shes ignorant, racist, whatever; why do you even bother following her?! Personally, I dont even have such negative thoughts about anyone, not even about people whove hurt me. You are unbelieveble. You really have to reflect on yourselves. Some of you are saying shes in a bad state of mind... firstly, shes human too; secondly, shouldnt you be NICER if shes not doing well? Have you ever gone through a harsh time? You wouldnt like to read sh*t specially from your people. You seem to be lacking empathy big time. And want to let this clear before you reply back, theres a big difference in saying something you think shes done wrong to go ranting about and being mean. And you Foxglove are the most toxic "fan"/hater, on this thread at least, thats why I quoted your message to say this. I really cant deal with your toxicity. I really hope Lana doesnt read this forum.
If she does, a big hug to you from a sensitive soul to another one .
Um, I don't like this mindset. I don't think it sets a good example for the forum to tell a user who just joined here that "hating Lana is our specialty" because that's absolutely not what this forum is about nor promotes. LanaBoards is intended to be a positive and healthy place for discussion. Of course, all sorts of opinions are welcome even if they lean on the negative or critical side, just as long as they don't cross any sort of line. With that being said, I really don't like to see users encouraging hate. Blatant hate is absolutely not tolerated. There's a fine but very clear line between constructive criticism and blatant hate, and LanaBoards does not at all promote the latter. I still feel weird about speaking publicly during this time, but I just couldn't ignore this message.
@@Luisjeescobarb my apologies for the message directed at you, I hope you don't gather wrong ideas about this community and its intentions. x
I really hope Lana’s next album doesn’t get even nominated. She should skip the fucking grammies next year and just stay home eat some ice cream and put on a movie instead. Fuck this shit
Yeah, because the first one that leaked was different from the original snippet we got from Music Mafia. Both versions that were out there have leaked and the final is on the album. It sounds pretty different, apparently
Lana came to in Japan in 2012, but cancelled her performance citing 'exhaustion'. Despite her promise to come back, she has yet to make it back out here. Does anyone know why? What about other Asian countries? It seems like she was put off for some reason.
Concerts in Japan are smaller and more intimate, so it may not be as profitable as a show in the US/Europe, but the other artists I stan (Alison Wonderland, Anderson Paak) love Tokyo and come back every other year (or every year) even though they are used to selling out huge venues. For instance, Alison Wonderland recently sold out TWO shows are Red Rocks Amphitheatre this year and I saw her at a Tokyo venue smaller than a local dive bar. For that reason, if she ever does come to Japan, it would be well worth the trip to see her play here if you can swing it.
Last night after her show in Philadelphia, Lana was interviewed by Talia Schlanger from the radio station World Cafe.
TS - Hey you’re listening to the World Café! I’m Talia Schlanger. Today, Lana Del Rey. Lust for Life is the title track off Lana’s latest album. It features the artist The Weeknd. Lana also collaborated with Stevie Nicks, who proposed they move to one of Hollywood’s famous spots.
LDR – She always joked about how when I got older, I would live in the H and she would live in the W of the Hollywood Sign. I was like, “Really?? Let’s do it!”
TS – We also talked about how Lana looks back on older lyrics including the line “he hit me and it felt like a kiss” from 2014’s ‘Ultraviolence’
LDR – I think I was just so used to chronicling everything diary-style. I mean, that’s why I’ve been polarizing because people don’t want to look at the broader picture sometimes. & Now I’m like, “what the hell am I doing?” It’s not like I have to tell every particular detail.
TS – Lana Del Rey - She’s got a special place in my own memory. A few years ago I took my sister to see her Endless Summer Tour. I get the sense that a lot of people take their sisters to see Lana’s concerts. & Recently, when I texted my sister to say I was going to be interviewing Lana for World Café, she wrote back and said, “wait, what? I thought she was a hologram!” I think a lot of people think Lana is a hologram. Maybe it’s because there is an ethereal quality to the way Lana performs and a sort of vintage-glam about her look that makes it feel like she might be more of a beautiful apparition than a real person. But she is a very real person. Our chat in a moment, but first let’s listen to a little bit of the song ‘Love’ from Lana’s latest record ‘Lust for Life’
*Love plays*
TS – That’s ‘Love’ by Lana Del Rey off her latest album called ‘Lust for Life.’ Lana, welcome back to the World Café!
LDR – Thank you so much!
TS – We’re really happy to have you here
LDR – I’m happy to be here.
TS – Yeah? So when you announced the new record, you released this video trailer that is beautiful and very clever, and I want to play a little piece of it for people to hear.
LDR – Okay.
TS – But first, can you describe what we saw in this video? Where you are?
LDR – Okay. I had been thinking about this idea of broadcasting form the middle of the H of the Hollywood Sign in California. So, I asked my director Clark to help me set up this whole space to look like the H. In it I was sort of looking out at all of the mayhem in the city below and beyond, but I also wanted it to have sort of like a B-Movie twist on it with the narrative and the musical background. So, yeah.
TS – Yeah. Let’s hear a piece of what you said in it. This is a piece of the clip
*“When I’m in the middle of making a record, especially now when the world is in the middle of such a tumultuous period, I find I really need to take this space for myself. Far away from real life to consider what my contribution to the world should be in these dark times. So each morning, I have the luxury of asking myself, ‘What shall I cook up for the kids today? Something with a little spice?’”*
TS – That’s a clip of the trailer Lana Del Rey released before releasing her latest album called ‘Lust for Life.’ So, you sing about the H of the Hollywood Sign on the title track of ‘Lust for Life’ with The Weeknd.
LDR – Yes.
TS – Great collaboration.
LDR – Thank you. I did not think I was going to get him up there to dance with me on the H.
TS – Really? How did you convince him?
LDR – He was actually a good sport. He was like, “if you’re doing it, I’ll be there.”
TS – Did you guys actually go?
LDR – We made our own H.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah. It was like, it was really big. But, I don’t know, I just thought he was going to be too cool to do it, but he was awesome. & Then the only thing he didn’t want to do was slide down the sign, so I was like, “no problem, I’ll just meet you down there in the flowers.”
TS – Awh nice! What did you have in mind while you were writing the song?
LDR – Well, ‘Lust for Life’ was actually the first track I wrote for the record, and I wrote it the day after I finished my record before that. But um, what I ended up wanting for it was a little bit of a girl group feel, a little bit of a Shangri Las feel with that spoken word for the verse. But so, yeah, with ‘Love’ and ‘Lust for Life’ I kind of started to change the aesthetic of the record into something that was a little bit, I would say, just a little bit brighter. Not more pop necessarily, but a little bit, like rosier in its hue.
TS – Yeah…
LDR – Yeah.
TS – You can feel it. I also like the girl group reference, and I was thinking about, when I was thinking about the record as a whole, I was sort of thinking about The Shirelles’s version of ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow”
LDR – Really?
TS – Yeah, because it’s sort of, um, it makes sense as a reference because its people working out thoughts that are confusing but in this really mature way.
LDR – Oh, I love that.
TS – Yeah, and you can read, like, that’s what was happening at that time. Like, ideas were being expressed in music that people couldn’t talk about necessarily with their classmates or their parents, but would hear on the radio and identify with. & I think that’s something that you touch on with your fanbase so much.
LDR – Mm, that’s a really good point. That, that is so true about the dawn of rock and why it was so appealing
TS – Yeah. Let’s listen to a little bit of ‘Lust for Life’ then, the title track.
*Lust for Life plays*
TS – That’s from ‘Lust for Life’ the title track off Lana Del Rey’s latest record. She’s my guest here on the World Café. So, that song features The Weeknd. You got some really wonderful cameos on the album.
LDR – I do.
TS – A$AP Rocky, Sean Lennon…
LDR – Sean Lennon!
TS – Playboi Carti…
LDR – Yes.
TS - & I want to talk about Stevie Nicks.
LDR – Yes.
TS – So, she sings on ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems’
LDR – Yeah.
TS – There’s such a great interplay between your two voices. Like, the fact that you open the song and then she comes in. You can really hear, like, the saltiness in her voice in a different way, like, in the juxtaposition of it.
LDR – I know. Yeah.
TS - & You had her raw. You’re really involved in mastering your own music I know, too, and mixing it.
LDR – Yep.
TS - & To have your hands on her raw vocals?
LDR – Yes.
TS – What’s that like?
LDR – That was actually nerve-racking. Um I called her more than once about that to keep on checking if she was sure she liked her take. & She was so easy, I mean, she just was happy with everything.
TS – Huh.
LDR – She just loved, she really liked that song. & Actually, I had, funny enough, I had wanted her to open the song, ‘cause, you know, she’s Stevie. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to take the second verse and step into it. So, yeah, she was full of surprises. She gave me a little golden diamond H ‘cause she always joked about how I got older I would live in the H and she would live in the W of the Hollywood Sign. Turn it into a little A-frame house. I was like, “Really?? Let’s do it!”
TS – That’s so sweet!
LDR – Yeah.
TS – Let’s listen to a piece of the song that you did together. This is ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems.’
*Beautiful People Beautiful Problems plays*
TS – That’s a bit of ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems,’ Stevie Nicks appearing on Lana Del Rey’s latest record ‘Lust for Life.’ When you first met her in the studio, what was going through your mind?
LDR – Well, at first I FaceTimed her and I just asked her if she wanted to do it, and I just thought it was probably 50/50, like she could say no. & um, she just said she had already heard it and it was a definite yes, but that she had been touring for, she had done something like a hundred and something shows and that she was not feeling well, so she wanted to stay in New York ‘cause they do, I do day on, day off, day on, day off. But they just do, like, days on. So, Rick actually flew to, um, Electric Lady Studios.
TS – Rick is your producer.
LDR – Sorry, yeah.
TS – Yeah, Yeah!
LDR – He started recording her first there and kind of Skyped me in. & Then he flew back the next day, and then Stevie got done with her tour the next week and came in and I think she re-sang almost everything in our studio in Santa Monica. So, she was amazing. She kind of flew in all in black with like gold accents everywhere. Like, her hair was gold, her glasses were gold, she had gold rings on every finger, and I was like in my flannel and sweatpants ‘cause I was exhausted at the end of our recording process, and I was like, “Oh my god. Why did I not dress up for Stevie Nicks?” That’s what I remember. Um, and then, I remember so many different things about that session. I was way more ner-, she wanted me to go in and do something at the end. Like, a little “oooooh” thing. Like a little tag. & I got on the microphone and I had, like, red light fever ‘cause she was watching me. & Um, I did it, and I said, “That was bad! My voice was breaking.” And she’s like, “I liked that it was breaking! I’m gonna, I’m gonna try and do it like you now.” And I was like, “Alright.” You know? But, um, yeah. It was just great to be in the same room.
TS – It sounds like she was so supportive. Like, so into what you were doing.
LDR – She was one of the first women I’ve met who – Courtney Love is like that. Like, she just, everything I do she’s just like, “that’s fucking great.” It’s interesting, it’s not always the people that you think. A lot of the times it’s the tough girls who actually, you know, are real, like, ‘girls’ girls.
TS – You and Stevie Nicks have called each other witchy sisters.
LDR - *laughs*
TS – What does that mean?
LDR – I think it means having, like, a bit of a mystical side. You know? Having a perspective musically where you take everything into account. Not just, like, your interactions, but like, you can read between the lines of when you meet people, how they’re feeling, how you’re feeling. I think it’s being able to sort of pick up on things like that, that sixth sense kind of thing, that can help really – like Jeff Buckley was really like that, I think. But I kind of think it’s just about having sensitivity, a real sensitivity.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah, having a lot of feelers out there and being able to pick it all, everything up in the atmosphere.
TS – Lana Del Rey is my guest here on the World Café. Her latest record is called “Lust for Life.” There’s a lot of energy that floats around you being a famous person as you are.
LDR – Yes, there is.
TS – A very famous person. & Sometimes, I mean, I, when I was getting ready to talk to you, just sort of doing the trolling that you do…
LDR - *laughs*
TS – Right? & Seeing some of the videos and things that you put up with where you’re walking through an airport and there’s flashbulbs going off everywhere, and your life is basically happening in like a strobe-light disco.
LDR – Yeah.
TS – Um, and I want to talk about the song ’13 Beaches.’
LDR – Mmhmm..
TS – Which I think captures that, right? Tell me a little bit about the inception of this song.
LDR – So, I love this song on my last record. Um, yeah its, I mean, gosh, call it luxury problems, but it’s about passing every beach from Santa Monica until you get to Ventura, thirteen beaches, where, that’s where the paparazzi stop. So, it’s about finding that place where you can just be quiet. There’s so many layers to this song for me, like, this idea of dripping peaches kind of reminded me of a dolly painting, and I’d have to sort of sing it to make it make sense.
TS – Well you can if you want to! We’ll play it in a minute, but if it helps you! I’m here for it!
LDR – Oh god. Yeah.
TS – Would you say that the opening line of this song I really love, and it hit me like really hard. Would you just even just say the lyrics of the opening lyrics of the song?
LDR – Um, yeah! It took thirteen beaches… I do actually have to sing it I think.
TS – Oh, yeah, go for it.
LDR – (singing) It took thirteen beaches to find one empty, but finally it’s mine. With dripping peaches, I’m camera ready almost all the time. Yeah.
TS – Thank you.
LDR – I did actually have to sing it to remember it. *laughs*
TS – That’s beautiful, but it’s so, anybody who can’t relate to the…
LDR – Right. It’s, well, it’s definitely, it’s a unique sentiment.
TS - Yeah, oh, but what I, I took it as a very universal sentiment.
LDR – You did?
TS – Yeah, for sure. Especially “I don’t belong in the world, um, something separates me from other people.” Like, you don’t have to be a famous person to feel the isolation of looking through many different places to find a place that feels like its yours.
LDR – Mm, that’s true.
TS – I was wondering if it was entirely about fame or if it was also sort of about finding your place or feeling like outside of something.
LDR – Well, mine intention with that song was literally finding one quiet physical place to spread out on, like, and just be without anybody looking at me, especially on a beach when I’m in a bathing suit. But um, for me it was kind of about doing whatever it takes to find that quiet place no matter how far you have to drive, ‘cause I know for me my songs really do come to me when I’m, you know, like, in nature and usually by myself, at least the beginning of them. So, for me it was sort of like another commitment to finding that place where I can be creative.
TS – Can you remember the first time you would have found a place by yourself like when you were a teenage when you were starting out songwriting, like, the first place where you were like, “oh this is, this is a “me” space that I can creative in the way that I need to be?”
LDR – I do, and I actually incorporated the word into this particular song, funny enough. I’m from the north country up in Lake Placid, and so for me, you know, my mother was always telling me, like, you know I could never come home after school I was always like stay outside until it’s dark. So, for me it was in the pines, in the pine trees. You know, we were in the, um, they call it the 46ers. Our town was surrounded by 46 -- some of the tallest peaks in the nation, and so, just go to the mountains and climb trees! & So, for me it was a lot of, like, stargazing, lying on trees, it was kind of picturesque in that way. So, that’s why I actually took a little liberty in my, in that song we’re talking about ’13 Beaches’ in the second verse where I say, “but you still can find me if you ask nicely, underneath the pines with the daisies, feeling hazy in the ballroom of my mind.” Uh, but there’s no pines on the beach. It’s actually Monterey Cyprus. But I added pines because it reminded me of the first time that I needed to find that quiet place. I’m a big -- I’m very dorky in that way. I’m a big, like, tree lover, so. Who knew?
TS – Who knew??
LDR – Trees were such an inspiration. *laughs*
TS - *laughs* Well let’s listen to that part of the song then. This is a bit of ’13 Beaches.’
*13 Beaches plays*
TS – That’s from ’13 Beaches,’ Lana Del Rey, off her latest record called “Lust for Life.”
LDR – Trees.
TS – Trees!
LDR – So thrilling.
TS – Here are some of them now!
LDR – For all of you botanists out there.
TS - *laughs* But there is something to be said for – especially when you live the kind of life that you live with people being bonkers. Do you – I read that you had people break in, like, break into your house.
LDR – Mmhmm.
TS – That’s got to be the most terrifying thing in the world.
LDR – It’s been a lot. Yeah.
TS – So, first of all what are people looking for when they invade your personal space like that?
LDR – It’s been different every time.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah.
TS – God, that’s got to be scary.
LDR – It’s been different every time. But, you know, this is not every artist’s, like, reality. It really isn’t. I have a bunch of, like, girlfriends and like a couple rappers I’m close with in music and they’re kind of like, they’re just like, “What happened this week?” You know? *laughs* It’s just this, ahh it’s just this thing!
TS – It’s so weird though and it’s very, it feels like it’s very particular to you ‘cause there are lots of people who manage to go through a career and not have that.
LDR – Yeah! Absolutely. In fact, when I played for Eddie Vedder at his Ohana Fest, he actually came up to me and he was like, “How ya doin’?” and I was like, “Yeah, pretty good.” He was like, “I bet it’s pretty fucking crazy for you.” And I was like, “You know what, it’s been a lot.” And he was like, he recounted a couple of stories, told me about a few times he had to move and he said, “You know, it’s not everybody and it doesn’t really mean that you’re, like, better or worse than any other artist. It’s just a particular type of…” I don’t want to say an audience, I think it’s just, it really could be like a combination of timing and genre and just personality. *laughs* I don’t know.
TS – Yeah, but, and it also I think that the kind of music I guess I could see a similarity with Eddie Vedder too where you, where people really feel like they know you, or like you owe them something that is personal and so feel like entitled to be in your space. Do you know what I mean?
LDR – Yeah, the way I’ve come to see it over the past 7 years is, like, I think they’re just, the people who are interested are very interested and they would love to just be in the house. You know? It’s not like they take anything. It’s just like they love to just see what’s on the wall.
TS - *laughs*
LDR - *laughs* It’s like…
TS – You’re freaking me out! That scares me!
LDR – Yeah, I can laugh now, which is so good. It took me a minute because it was a bit, it’s been a bit of an ongoing, you know, thing, but um, you know, like, I just really have come to terms with the fact that I’m just in such a unique situation and, you know, I just have to step up my game when it comes to, like, my perspective on it. You know, I need a lot of help. I call a lot of people, especially when stuff goes down. I’m like, you know, “this happened today. It was crazy.”
TS – Who’s your go-to person?
LDR – You know who I am very good friends with actually is one of my best friends is Father John Misty’s wife Emma Tillman.
TS – Whoa!
LDR – She’s my go-to. Not Father John Misty. *laughs*
TS – *laughs* We’re not calling Josh.
LDR – No offense, Josh! No, I’m just kidding. But um, Emma, she’s like very balanced and um… She’s a photographer and a director in her own right, but like in a way that’s – we have a similar perspective, we have a more grounded, well, it would be weird to call my perspective grounded. It starts, mine starts that way. I have a real little kinship with her. My sister Chuck I can call. Stella, my friend Stella. So yeah, those are all people I can call, and I mean I can call Abel I think and tell him.
TS – The Weeknd.
LDR – Yeah, The Weeknd. I could call him, or I would call Courtney.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah. She’s another person who’s like, I mean, anything you can picture happening, it’s happened to her obviously. *laughs*
TS – Well, yeah!
LDR – Yeah.
TS – Yeah. So what’s, like, what’s the best advice that you get about moving through that or making it okay. Like, can somebody say something?
LDR – Well Courtney, like, somebody like Courtney just doesn’t care. She’s just like, “screw it!”
TS – Yeah. *laughs*
LDR - *laughs* You know, like, no. But my best advice would just be like, the easiest thing you could let happen would be to let your world get smaller. You know? Or like get like that house on top of a mountain. You know? But really what you have to do is ground everything, and, like, just say, “screw it!” Get the house in the middle of the town! You know, just be like, “Alright! We’re here! We’re doing this!” and everybody knows!
TS – Wow.
LDR – And you just, just kind of like everybody else except everyone knows who you are at the coffee shop. That’s okay.
TS – Lana Del Rey is my guest here on the World Café. Her latest record is called “Lust for Life.” Um, I read a tweet that you sent around the Women’s March that happened just this year, so the one year anniversary I guess of the inaugural women’s march on Washington, that you had dropped your sister off, but didn’t feel like you could go because it would be a distraction maybe to the women who you were bringing there who wanted to be there.
LDR – Yeah.
TS – That’s, I mean, I would think that that’s incredibly disappointing.
LDR – I was a little disappointed in myself for that. That was last year’s women’s march. I dropped my sister off and I started it, but it quickly became distracting with the younger girls marching. It sort of became like a little yarn ball around me. I thought, you know, it’s not about me. It’s not about a famous person marching today. So, I got back in our van and I waited. But again, I will say sometimes it is a little different when I’m around, you know, the energy changes. But that being said, I would say there’s a time and a place for everything and there’s no reason why next year I couldn’t be right in the middle and feel comfortable. But it really just depends on the moment. You can tell right away whether something is going to work or not. Like, that day it didn’t work.
TS – Yeah, but it’s generous to not want it to be about you, like, to want people to have their experience that isn’t distracted by…
LDR – No, yeah. It wouldn’t have gelled well.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah.
TS – In the last year a good handful of women who make music have sat here with me and we’ve talked about…
LDR – They have?
TS – Yeah, and it’s been such an interesting year to talk about what this all means and we had First Aid Kit and Tori Amos recently, and when St Vincent was right there, we were talking about the sort of latex costume she wears on stage where she looks like wonder woman/cat woman.
LDR – Okay. I think I’ve seen that. I’ve seen her in that.
TS – It’s incredible, and we were talking about it and she said it makes her feel incredibly powerful.
LDR – Interesting.
TS – & Then she said, this is a quote, “this is what feminism is: is getting to decide what power looks like for you.”
LDR – Yeah. I’m down with that.
TS – Well, it reminded me of your attitude, or at least what I’ve heard in your music, which is sort of unabashed saying what you need to say. & I think that’s a very powerful thing, and I think that’s the point.
LDR – I would say with my stuff, in a way I did what I had to do in terms of, like, chronicling my own stories. You know, I wasn’t happy with how a lot of my own story went up until recently. So, I didn’t always like the way I was putting things, but it was just the way it was. You know? So, I don’t know if that’s feminism, but it is what it was. I think for me one of the issues I had over the last ten years was there weren’t that many options to be super vocal and powerful without a lot of backlash and repercussions. That was in my own personal life, I felt. It was a very male-dominated, um, environment at certain times. But I do feel – that’s why I think this whole movement is so important, because, like, the people who don’t get the #MeToo movement are just, I don’t get them. I don’t get those people. It’s like, have you not, like, *laughs* do you not get how hard it is sometimes to just sort of be safe and have your own voice as a woman?
TS – Yeah.
LDR – I think it’s really interesting to me.
TS – Lana Del Rey is my guest here on the World Café. Her latest record is called “Lust for Life.” I wanted to ask you about, um, the song “Ultraviolence” the title track from 2014.
LDR – Yeah.
TS - & the lyric “he hit me and it felt like a kiss.”
LDR – Yeah.
TS – Which in 2014 may have felt like a really different thing to sing than it is now, and first I want to say that what I really appreciate about that and about the movement in general right now is that a lot of behaviours or things that are normalized women are realizing are not normal.
LDR – Right. I would totally agree with that.
TS - & so, yeah, so when you, I noticed that the song didn’t show, hasn’t shown up on a lot of setlists recently, but you played it, we’re recording this the day after your show in Philly and you played it last night.
LDR – Right.
TS – What made you want to sing it last night?
LDR – I usually bring it back every third show. That’s the part of my show where I switch it up with one of five songs. Um, actually, it’s usually just about whether I can hit some of the notes. *laughs* It’s kind of as simple as that. Or if I want to sing the lines. Sometimes I don’t.
TS – What does it feel like to sing it or to hear it sung back to you? Like, does it feel different than it used to?
LDR – Yeah... Now?
TS – Yeah.
LDR – I don’t like singing it.
TS – What I appreciate about it is that it’s, like, an artifact of something that might have made sense at a time.
LDR – I’ll say. *laughs*
TS – Yeah. Does it take you back to something in your own memory? Or where do you see that, like, did you see that model built somewhere?
LDR – It takes me back to, um, a general perspective on *sighs* I guess… I guess I would say I didn’t have a great reference for, um, what a really nurturing relationship would look like and that I kind of realized that was going to have to start with me just imagining what that would be like. & Then meeting other people who had relationships like that… So, I had to grow a lot for that not to feel like a comfortable song to sing, but luckily, you know, I’ve done that, which is good.
TS – Yeah. Let’s hear a little bit of it.
*Ultraviolence plays*
TS – That’s from ‘Ultraviolence,’ Lana Del Rey, she’s my guest here on the World Café. That’s the title track from the 2014 record. Her latest is called “Lust for Life.” Um, there’s a huge difference between condoning something and reflecting something, which is why I think it was important to talk about Ultraviolence, like, there’s a very big difference.
LDR – I agree.
TS – Yeah, and I wouldn’t want, so…
LDR – I agree. I think that’s why I was upset with, like, I had a really tough interview with Rolling Stone that year where they were, like, hammering me on that song. & I was like, “Look, buddy. You know, you want me on the cover or not? Like, it’s just, you heard it already. You heard all the music already.” So, you know, hey, I have to own my part in all of it, and it’s like I’m the one who wrote it, so I’ve got to answer the tough question about it.
TS – Right.
LDR – But um, I definitely felt like, you know, when it came to, like, that song in particular, or like I had a really tough interview with The Fader magazine that same year where this guy was hammering me on feminism and the word. & You know, I knew he wanted me to say, like, “I’m not a feminist.” He was just like jabbing away at it. &What I wanted to say, is like, this is just my experience in my own relationships this far. It’s not going to be my full story. But, I mean, that’s why, you know, I’ve been polarizing because people don’t want to look at the broader picture sometimes. They want to just stick to the facts. But that’s been a really good lesson for me ‘cause I think when I was younger I thought, you know, I’m not going to edit my own music. This is just what came out. & Now I’m like, “What the hell am I doing? I’m not going to say that! I’m going to edit that shit.” You know? Like… *laughs*
TS – For the protection of you or for people who are hearing it?
LDR – Yeah! Yeah, it’s not like I have to tell every particular detail. I think I was just so used to chronicling everything diary-style, giving it to Rick Nowels and being like, “Here. Write the music.” & Then that would be what we got. But yet, I learned now I can kind of edit myself.
TS – Last time you were in Philly also you opened your set with the song “Cola,” which I know is not, it has been retired.
LDR - *laughs*
TS – Why did you decide to retire it from live performance?
LDR – …I mean, I didn’t see a way that I could… really sing that song with people thinking it was about Harvey.
TS – Harvey…
LDR – Weinstein.
TS – Right. So, there’s a Harvey line reference: “Harvey’s in the sky with diamonds.” Was it originally about Harvey Weinstein or a type? Or like, what did that name represent?
LDR – It was about an archetypal person. Like, well, “with diamonds” was, like, it was like a Harry Winston reference, and “Harvey” was a… Harvey Weinstein reference.
TS – Yeah, we get it. It’s evocative. Have you ever met him before?
LDR – It is. Yes, I worked with him… over a number of years on films.
TS – Did you have a spidey sense?
LDR – Um… well, he was flirtatious, I would say.
TS – Yeah… *silence* Um… That’s one of those things too where when you’re somebody who operated on another level or has a sixth sense about things that sometimes…
LDR - *sighs* Yeah… yeah…
TS – Yeah. *silence* Lana Del Rey is my guest here on the World Café. Her latest record is called “Lust for Life.” I want to talk about the song that, um, ends the record: “Get Free.”
LDR – Get Free.
TS - Get Free. “This is my commitment, my modern manifesto. I’m doing it for all of us who never got the chance.” What never got the chance to what?
LDR – “For Amy and for Whitney, and all my birds of paradise who never got to fly at night, ‘cause they were caught up in the dance…” It’s, it’s about people who don’t get to reach their full potential because they let controlling people stop them from being free.
TS – Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston.
LDR – Mmhmm.
TS – Yeah. So, it also has a line that’s so evocative: “I want to move out of the black and into the blue.”
LDR – Mmhmm.
TS - & I’m wondering what the black is and what the blue is.
LDR – Well, in my head, the black was negative thinking and the blue was a bit of a retreat into nature. So, visually I was thinking the ocean.
TS – Hmm.
LDR – Um, but also just the connotation of the words, you know. Blue, you think, for me I think of the sky, like, a new horizon… something fresher.
TS – What’s the key to getting free, before we listen to the song?
LDR – I think going deeper, you know? Knowing you your own doorway to the answers and not looking for answers in other people.
TS – Hmm.
LDR – Sort of taking the time to get to know yourself.
TS – Yeah.
LDR – Yeah.
TS – Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.
LDR - *laughs* You’re welcome!
TS – Yeah…
LDR – Thank you for this interview!
*Get Free plays*
TS – That’s a bit of ‘Get Free’ from Lana Del Rey’s latest album “Lust for Life.” You might have noticed, Amy and Whitney’s names, which she mentioned in our interview, don’t appear in that recorded version or in any of the recorded versions we could find. So, I’m really glad we had Lana in to tell us who she had in mind after saying “for --- and for ---” on that one. I want to thank Lana so much for coming in, Dan Reed for booking this interview, John Myers for producing it. If you enjoyed this and you’re looking for more, you might enjoy our chat with Tori Amos about her latest record and about writing a song about her own rape more than two decades ago, long before #MeToo was a hashtag. Check out our archives, and if you’re in our podcast I would for you to give us a rating. Whatever it is, we really appreciate it. I’m Talia Schlanger, thanks for listening to the World Café.
California HAS to be about Barrie. It's sure as hell not about Francesco (the lyrics just don't make sense, and considering how they ended, I highly doubt she feels that much compassion towards him). I don't think anyone else from Lana's past is in the realm of possibility, unless she managed to keep it super private. I genuinely hope she and Barrie work it out; I actually really liked them together and she always looked so happy in the Summer Wine video.
California is definitely about Barrie. You could tell by her face she was deciding what to say ... and in the end went with an answer vague enough to answer the question whilst still leaving some uncertainty.
Facts:
She ghosted the subject ("I wanted to reach out but I never said a thing"). She ghosted Barrie. He was (brutally) dumped via an interview.
"You said to a friend that you wish you were doing better" - they have lots of mutual friends (Jaime King, for example)
She described Barrie as "dark". In California, the subject "has the blues".
Barrie is from Scotland. Most people from the UK aren't acclimatised to warm weather, so him "hating the heat" makes sense.
The song contains UV references ("Flipside" for example) - she wrote UV while she was with Barrie
"If you come back to California" - so the person has at least BEEN to California, but more likely, they lived there at some point. Barrie.
And today she said "he's still in London". Barrie is from Glasgow, Scotland, but he definitely has lived in London and he goes there a lot; I've seen stuff on his insta stories. He may even be recording his album there.
And then there's all the stuff he's done lately:
He has SOTW on his story.
He put up that pic of himself playing the piano, taken by her.
Yesterday he had this clip from Vanilla Sky on his story. Make of it what you will:
The prosecution rests, Your Honour.
Stan Larrie 2.0
Plus Chase got that awful haircut, grew an awful moustache and smokes cigars. Ew. No.
Anyone who disagrees may have an argument with me and lose miserably.
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