takeitdoen

A premonition. A look. A concept. Yo soy la princessa. 
ETA: I have a photographic memory but I can't remember how I discovered Lana's music. One day it just suddenly appeared. I knew vaguely of Lana del Rey but I started listening and it was all familiar like a dream even though I'd never heard it before.

So, yesterday was my 8 year anniversary of the day I first discovered Lana. I thought it would be fun to share my story of how I discovered Lana, & I'd love to hear how you all discovered her as well!
 
On January 29th, 2012 I made the innocent gesture of complimenting my friend's makeup, having no idea it would change my life forever.
She told me her makeup was inspired by the singer Lana Del Rey, and I told her I didn't know who that was. She played me a small clip of 'Video Games' and it was enough to leave me interested to know more.
Later that day, I typed "Lana Del Rey" into the YouTube search bar, not really knowing what to expect. Upon hearing the name "Lana Del Rey" and hearing her dark, narcotic voice from the short bit of 'Video Games', I honestly assumed I'd be stumbling upon a hispanic woman in her late 30s, early 40s.
The first result was the Born to Die music video, and I was stunned. At first I was so shocked to see this young, white, strawberry-blonde woman sitting on a throne surrounded by tigers, singing so deeply yet so beautifully. I kept watching the video, and became just so hypnotised by the beauty of the video, the song, and the singer herself. I had the video on replay for the rest of the night. I even had it going while I was removing my makeup & washing my face at the end of the night. I was so lured in. It was instant.
I, of course, immediately downloaded 'Born to Die' and 'Video Games', and downloaded the album on iTunes the next day. I also remember 2 months later watching American Idol with a friend and Ryan Seacrest announced that Lana was going to do a performance of 'Video Games' - I excitedly called over my friend who was getting snacks in the kitchen to come sit down and watch the performance with me, and I was telling her about how Lana was a new artist I was getting into and really loved.
So, I always say 'Born to Die' is the song that truly introduced me to Lana, and started my now 8 year journey as a fan.
 
This next part is how I stumbled upon her unreleased music and got myself even further down the rabbit hole - 
I listened to the Born to Die record throughout the next several months, and then the day of the Paradise release on November 9th, 2012 came. I remember going to Grooveshark (does anyone remember that now-defunct streaming service?) to stream the new EP. This ended up being quite a silly memorable moment as I was with some friends helping set up for a movie night and had the aux cord, and of course this being my first listen of the new EP, I was very embarrassed upon "my pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola" blasting through the speakers of the room, catching some confused stares from all my friends lol. Nevertheless, once the EP finished streaming, I saw a few other songs I didn't recognise from either record, so I added those to the queue. I especially fell in love with this song 'Kinda Outta Luck,' so later that evening I typed the song into iTunes assuming it was a non-album single, and was puzzled when nothing came up. At this point, I didn't really know that unreleased music was a "thing." So I took to google, and it was then that I discovered the plethora of unreleased songs in an LDR megapost. I couldn't believe it. It was like finding buried treasure. I also discovered her whole past as Lizzy Grant, which made things even more intriguing. It was in that moment I sort of converted from fan to full on stan. Lana was all I listened to for months - absolutely nothing else. All my other artists I loved took a backseat. I was constantly watching interviews, live performances, reading up on her - I was so mesmerised. I can't quite explain the feeling I had then, and still have, of just this extreme amount of interest and fascination with someone. Upon getting to know more of her story through the interviews I was watching & reading and through the lyrics of her hundreds of songs, I related to her so much. I felt so understood, like I finally found this sort of soundtrack to my entire life. & 8 years later, I'm still riding that stan train hard.
 
I never would have thought that simply asking my friend about her makeup one day would lead to all of this - owning a whole fansite, my insane magazine/dress/merch collection, traveling the world for 15 shows, meeting amazing friends through her & even being able to meet Lana herself and thank her for all that she's done for me - it's just unreal. I always wonder what would have happened if I never discovered Lana that day back in January of 2012. I'm sure I would have stumbled upon her somehow, but would I have ever dove deeper into her music and became such the huge fan that I am today that's led me to have so many wonderful and important life experiences? It's always surprising to me when I reflect back on the smallest of gestures that have changed my entire world. This was definitely one of them. & one of the biggest ones at that.
 
x

@Jared

Lana, Jack and a police man
 

posted by Takeitdoen
Posted 27 January 2020 - 08:28 AM
 
I will admit, I would like to be in a fandom where an artist wins for once. However, I don't live my life liking things based on what awards they get, so I'm not too fussed! It would have been a deserving win,
but on reflection here are some factors I think of why NFR didn't:
 MAX -  Don´t worry, you are not alone. I also like many bands and singers which never got any awards, but they surely deserve them.
 
- Little to no campaigning from Lana to actually win the award. No interviews, long stretches on social media with no content related to the album, no TV performances or high profile talk shows to
build and maintain hype. Is this her management or her? I'm inclined to think her.
MAX - I actually think its the management fault. I never trust big business. They have lots of MONEY to promote a record, and in this case, they did not promote it so well.
 
- Shambolic roll-out of the album, including confusion over the singles. Venice Bitch and MAC weren't even confirmed inclusions until the track list came out, and at the time were called something
dumb like 'fan singles'? The slow roll out of some of her strongest and well-received pieces (Venice Bitch, MAC and even Hope) meant they almost entirely dropped out of public view,
and lead to an ineligibility of those tracks leads to none of them being able to nominated for Song of the Year. Norman Fucking Rockwell simply didn't have the same appeal. 
MAX - I agree. Things should have been thought out properly before releasing the entire package to the public.
 
- Norman Fucking Rockwell was never, ever, EVER going to win song of the year. It didn't even have a film clip until very late last year. It wasn't sent to radio stations, and wasn't radio friendly. 
MAX - I also agree. Perhaps this was not meant to be. It may be more of a "side-project" for Lana , or as they say "An Art Album", which many musicians have put out in the past.
 
- She never sung her singles at her concerts. She balks at performing new material, and has fucked up with shaky performances live more than once. She didn't even perform at the awards.
This is basically cementing the perception that she is still living in 'Born to Die' territory. Again, this is self-sabotage. 
MAX - "Self Sabotage", it does sounds like it, but I would wait a little more before I spank her butt. Perhaps she is passing through a down-phase in her life and needs some "L - O - V - E" once
again to make her life feel complete.
 
- The title of the album, and the singles ('Venice Bitch', 'Norman FUCKING!! Rockwell', 'Fuck It I Love You') put prudes off, affected YouTube algorithms and search results on Google, and would have diluted
aggregated results for the album due to the different titles (Norman Fucking Rockwell OR NFR! or Norman F**king Rockwell OR Norman Rockwell OR whatever else). The album didn't have the same appeal
as things that regularly popped up like Bad Guy. The sacrifice of this title didn't really resonate with a lot of people and an artistic choice that probably put people off.
MAX - This I totally agree. Even tho I like the profane Title words used, I would consider a diferent word, because of the Internet searchs AND the "moral" of some Americans.
Here in Europe we are used to seeing everything (profanity, girls taking showers in commercials, and nudist beaches - to Europeans it is all normal life style and nothing to be shocked about, BUT
in America, most of these things are still considered "Tabboo", they are a No No.
You cannot even say the word "FUCK" on the U.S. Television, but you sure can buy a machine-gun at your local Wallmart store.   
 
- The awards are rigged (discussed as recently as this week from the President of the Grammys), and most likely a committee was wanting to pick something popular to stay 'in touch' with current trends.
MAX - VERY TRUE ! It was no secret. The same things happens with the Oscar awards.
 
- It's still not 'cool' to like Lana del Rey. 
MAX - Unfortunately this is also true for a large part of the American population... But everywhere else she goes to out of the U.S. she is a major STAR. She really
needs to start doing more overseas concerts in Central and South America, Europe and Asia !!  The U.S. market is already sold on too much Hip-Hop artists and one-hit single artists.
But so what?   -> It´s still "not cool" to listen to Bjork, Alanis Morissette, Adele, Cher, Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion etc. etc., and they are some of the best singers we
have the pleasure to listen to in our lifetime.
 
- Obviously she would be proud of the music, but apparently she can't even produce nice artwork for her singles, or format the titles of her tracks correctly. That really projects a feeling like she
couldn't care less. If she doesn't care, why bother giving it to her? 
MAX - Maybe she does not know about "Lanaboards.com" ? An important rule of a musician who wants to continue in the business is to TALK to their FANS.
To Listen to their ideas and opinions. She does NOT HAVE to do exactly what we want, but take things into consideration, AND there are many fans here who could
give her ideas for a better looking record cover for her singles and albums. 
 
- Maybe controversially, it's simply not as good as her previous albums (?) and didn't have as many hits.
MAX - Personally, I like them all. A person has to take into mind that NOT ALL records are perfect, but rather have some cool music to keep a person feeling good about themselves and
the world around them... unless you have a John Lennon + Paul McCartney in your band. Then all sorts of magic would be happening in the studio !
 
While I wish she'd won, I think if she DID win, it would undeservingly absolve a lot of these issues that we were unhappy with during the roll-out of the album. If she is truly driven, and keen
on winning the Grammy, then for the next album hopefully she will trust her managers a touch more, and we will see a refreshed approach, with a more considered approach to promotion
and sensible choices. But maybe she actually doesn't care! (we know she does but eh). 

MAX - Don´t worry too much about it.
An award is only good to gather dust on the shelf. What matters is that she continues doing what she does because she ENJOYS IT.
Once the "joy of making music" ends, then its time for Lana Del Rey to retire and become once again Elizabeth Grant.     I still miss Alanis Morissette and her songwriting genious.
She chose to be a full time mom, I understand that, but I will cherish all of her cool music and lyrics.
 
 

Well, that's exactly what I meant. The random capitalization of the song titles is weird and very random to me. Also, the singles' artwork were really bad (she legit took a selfie for Hope and that was it). Furthermore, I venture to say that a lot of people have mixed feelings about the album's artwork. To me it's a pretty picture, but the execution is muted and amateur (much like the content of the album itself). Finally, why bother naming your album 'Norman Fucking Rockwell!' when you never even refer to the album with its actual title, which very much includes, literally, all the released physical copies of the album.

That is not what I meant though. The other user said the songs aren’t taken seriously because they aren’t “properly” titled

Nah, his whole summary is very, very accurate, but especially the last two points. I feel like something that people seem to have missed about the whole Grammy debacle is that often times so called "critical acclaim" doesn't necessarily translate to guaranteed victory. 

I loved your post. The only point I didn't agree with was the second to last one (and obviously the very last one) -- The song titles are in sentence style (as you most likely already know)... and Billie's album's first track is literally titled "!!!!!!" and they're all in lower case, so I don't think it really matters.

I wasn't ready for this

I could have articulated the last two points, but to elaborate:
The song titles whatever, they're yuck for me but probably inconsequential in the grand scheme. But the artwork and the roll-out of the singles and 'fan' singles were really nonchalant. It did have the vibe of 'whatever I don't care' and I do believe if you're very blasé about these sorts of things, it's really hard to expect others to also have respect. It ties back in with self-promoting, but telling everyone that the album isn't a big deal and then expecting it to be a big deal is counter-intuitive.  The question of it not being as good is of course subjective, but undeniably there are less radio-friendly singles on this album. We know this based on individual song placements, which are virtually nothing, and certainly not #1 material (songs, NOT album). Her management seems to not have promoted the works appropriately and the tracks are either too long, have obscene titles, or are just not poppy hits (which is what the Grammys are all about). Therefore I think it's reasonable to say it didn't have as many 'hits'.   
omg do people not know my name I try so hard   lel

I will admit, I would like to be in a fandom where an artist wins for once. However, I don't live my life liking things based on what awards they get, so I'm not too fussed! It would have been a deserving win, but on reflection here are some factors I think of why NFR didn't:
Little to no campaigning from Lana to actually win the award. No interviews, long stretches on social media with no content related to the album, no TV performances or high profile talk shows to build and maintain hype. Is this her management or her? I'm inclined to think her. Shambolic roll-out of the album, including confusion over the singles. Venice Bitch and MAC weren't even confirmed inclusions until the track list came out, and at the time were called something dumb like 'fan singles'? The slow roll out of some of her strongest and well-received pieces (Venice Bitch, MAC and even Hope) meant they almost entirely dropped out of public view, and lead to an ineligibility of those tracks leads to none of them being able to nominated for Song of the Year. Norman Fucking Rockwell simply didn't have the same appeal. Also releasing the  Norman Fucking Rockwell was never, ever, EVER going to win song of the year. It didn't even have a film clip until very late last year. It wasn't sent to radio stations, and wasn't radio friendly.  She never sung her singles at her concerts. She balks at performing new material, and has fucked up with shaky performances live more than once. She didn't even perform at the awards. This is basically cementing the perception that she is still living in 'Born to Die' territory. Again, this is self-sabotage.  The title of the album, and the singles ('Venice Bitch', 'Norman FUCKING!! Rockwell', 'Fuck It I Love You') put prudes off, affected YouTube algorithms and search results on Google, and would have diluted aggregated results for the album due to the different titles (Norman Fucking Rockwell OR NFR! or Norman F**king Rockwell OR Norman Rockwell OR whatever else). The album didn't have the same appeal as things that regularly popped up like Bad Guy. The sacrifice of this title didn't really resonate with a lot of people and an artistic choice that probably put people off. The awards are rigged (discussed as recently as this week from the President of the Grammys), and most likely a committee was wanting to pick something popular to stay 'in touch' with current trends. It's still not 'cool' to like Lana del Rey.  Obviously she would be proud of the music, but apparently she can't even produce nice artwork for her singles, or format the titles of her tracks correctly. That really projects a feeling like she couldn't care less. If she doesn't care, why bother giving it to her?  Maybe controversially, it's simply not as good as her previous albums (?) and didn't have as many hits. While I wish she'd won, I think if she DID win, it would undeservingly absolve a lot of these issues that we were unhappy with during the roll-out of the album. If she is truly driven, and keen on winning the Grammy, then for the next album hopefully she will trust her managers a touch more, and we will see a refreshed approach, with a more considered approach to promotion and sensible choices. But maybe she actually doesn't care! (we know she does but eh). 

i'd try not to worry too much - lots of people have recovered, it's mainly babies, older people and people with serious pre-existing health conditions that will be badly affected. of course that's awful too, but as many as 61,000 people die from the regular flu each year and nobody worries too much about that. just keep washing your hands as much as you can, take your vitamins and drink plenty of water 

This!

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.

Yes I'm with you . . . it also comes across as externalising and playing a bit of a victim. If we've interpreted it right, she's essentially saying "Oh haha usually everyone HATES my work which is very sophisticated, so it's so unexpected and random that people now like it!" 
 

I think she is saying the reception of the record (among fans, critics, GP?) was so different to what she'd had with her previous work; it was more like what she perceives her peers (Ariana, Taylor etc) receive when they release an album. She might be referring to the critical fanfare and unanimous praise. 
 
So she thinks she is the only one that never gets that praise, then basically alludes to that idea that the reasons why it was received so openly as opposed to her previous (just as good works) will eventually reveal themselves. Then guesses it was because she made very accessible music this time, rather than previous albums.
 
Maybe it's her clumsy way of acknowledging she sold-out/didn't work too hard on this album and got a lot of praise but isn't really sure why. 

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.

And she's really not wrong with that. We love a passive agressive remark towards the media 

Yes I'm with you . . . it also comes across as externalising and playing a bit of a victim. If we've interpreted it right, she's essentially saying "Oh haha usually everyone HATES my work which is very sophisticated, so it's so unexpected and random that people now like it!" 
 

I think she is saying the reception of the record (among fans, critics, GP?) was so different to what she'd had with her previous work; it was more like what she perceives her peers (Ariana, Taylor etc) receive when they release an album. She might be referring to the critical fanfare and unanimous praise. 
 
So she thinks she is the only one that never gets that praise, then basically alludes to that idea that the reasons why it was received so openly as opposed to her previous (just as good works) will eventually reveal themselves. Then guesses it was because she made very accessible music this time, rather than previous albums.
 
Maybe it's her clumsy way of acknowledging she sold-out/didn't work too hard on this album and got a lot of praise but isn't really sure why. 

When the world had a great big virus, we just kept dancing.