evilentity

In addition to metaphysics in the Aristotelian philosophical sense, Lana also seems to be interested in the metaphysical in the sort of New Age, spiritual, eastern mysticism sense. (Note her field trip to a psychic with her Rolling Stone interviewer.) During her early career in NYC, a number of people around her seem to have been into these types of things as well. On his blogger profile, Tags from Lizzy Grant and the Phenomena lists things like qi and energy healing under his interests, and David Nichtern, founder of 5 Points Records, is a prominent Buddhist teacher. In fact, he founded a sister label, Dharma Moon, dedicated to producing music for meditation and yoga. His son Ethan is also a prominent Buddhist teacher and author.
 
In light of that, I thought these Facebook posts of hers were interesting:
 

 

 

...CONTINUED
 
The tinsel, streamers, and assorted DIY video decorations. The infamous fishtank. The trailer. The sparkle jumprope. This is like candy for fans for whom her early years are like the stuff of legend.

inb4 she had a persona called Golden Compact Mirror Princess. Checking MySpace archives now.
 
Jesus. Namedropping Steven Mertens yet again. This feels more personal than half of Lanalysis. Speaking of which, I get the feeling that unless K is a real person, Mertens is the real guy she has in mind most in her songs. She certainly has had him in mind most in her interviews.
 
Oh, I bet he gave you the fuzz.
 
It really runs in the family, doesn't it?
 
Wait... are they watching TV while driving?

Didn't another interviewer just debunk this?
 
Say what?
 

 
Put The Radio On.mp3
 
Oh, I bet you took the D train a lot.
BTW InfoSec Taylor Swift would tell you sharing even former addresses is bad opsec.
 
TO BE CONTINUED... (fucking quote limits)

inb4 Mrs. Carter releases a follow-up album called Ultrabeyoncé. Begging for a @@Trash Magic mashup tbh.

Obviously I was just being facetious with this whole thing, and didn't notice a lot of the similarities until I went looking for them, but some of them struck me watching "Beyoncé" the first time through: The general theme of the dark side of beauty queens in "Pretty Hurts", the faux-Lynchian style of "Haunted", and the plot of "Heaven", though not any specific images from those videos. Some specific images that I did notice the first time through were Beyoncé at the gas station in "No Angel", Jay-Z smoking and the sequined flapper headdress thing in "Partition", and some of the Rosalita-esque scenes. But the black & white close-up underwater face shots in "Rocket", the Pieta pose in "Mine", and the Coney Island setting of "XO"-- strong Lana parallels in three consecutive videos-- started feeling downright eerie. 
Anyway, go watch all these videos if you haven't. They're really good. I highly recommend them.

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

inb4 Mrs. Carter releases a follow-up album called Ultrabeyoncé. Begging for a @@Trash Magic mashup tbh.

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

PARTITION
In "Partition", the camera takes us inside a palatial estate that almost looks like it could have been the setting for the "Born to Die" video. See the exterior and interior below:

 
In the first of several scenes curiously similar to ones out of "National Anthem", we find Mrs. Carter seated at an immaculately set table, barely noticed by her rapper husband peering over his newspaper:

 
In her mind, she embarks on a sexual fantasy. Again she channels Rosalita:

 
Her rapper husband feels up her leg in a vehicle:

 
She puts on a show for him, donning a sequined flapper headdress like Lizzy wears in this photo:

 
Silhouette techniques like something out of "Summertime Sadness" are employed:

 
Beyoncé pole dances like Lana in Tropico over a sexy French spoken interlude like in "Carmen":

 
Like A$AP Rocky in "National Anthem", her rapper husband watches her performance voyeuristically, smoking a cigar:

 
 
JEALOUS
Beyoncé is a jealous, jealous, jealous gurrrrrl. This video begins in the same estate reminiscent of "Born to Die" as in "Partition". In one scene, the former Miss Knowles is draped over a pinball machine like Lana in "Ride":

 
In another we see a "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
 
ROCKET
Like "Blue Jeans", "Rocket" opens on a black & white close-up of a reflection of the artist's face in a ripple of water:

 
Later in each video we watch the artist submerge her face in water in slow motion:

 
 
MINE
Like Lana in the poster for Tropico, we find Beyoncé re-enacting Mary in the Pieta:

 
Also, is that another Shaun Ross cameo?
 
 
XO
In "XO", Beyoncé orchestrates perhaps the largest NYC land grab since Dutch settlers bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 24 bucks, stealing the famed amusement destination from the Queen of Coney Island herself:

 

 

 

 
 
***FLAWLESS & SUPERPOWER
Since I can't find any Lana plagiarism in either of these videos, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they must be borrowed from the "Dark Paradise" and "Cola" videos that never materialized. @@Ultraviolence Watch these. One of them may be the closest thing you'll ever get to your precious "Cola" video.
 
 
HEAVEN
Here we have the biggest plot heist since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds ripped off Gremlins. In "Heaven", Beyoncé portrays a woman mourning her deceased female bff in a series of flashbacks. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's the plot of Lana's "Summertime Sadness" video. Not content to copycat one Lana video, "Heaven" filches from a few. A shot in a church mirrors the chapel in "Born to Die":

 
In a flashback, Beyoncé's girlfriend sprays alcohol at a campfire party echoing scenes in "Ride":

 
And we see her and her gal pal riding in a car like Lana & Jaime King:

 
She only barely tries to disguise her copying Lana's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Tropico by saying it in Spanish. Oh, and speaking of Spanish, here's Rosalita yet again:

 
 
BLUE
Sure, there's another "tunnel lined with yellow lights":

 
The sequined bra is back:

 
And she evokes Lizzy's showgirl style:

 
But most saliently, this song is about Beyoncé's, uh, baby Blue love, the black baby daughter she had with a rapper. What a blatant "National Anthem" ripoff!

 
 
GROWN WOMAN
Last but not least, the video for "Grown Woman" consists of home footage of Beyoncé's childhood performances, a clear homage to Lana's DIY videos.
 
 
 

Beyoncé is certainly no stranger to accusations of plagiarism in her videos. Considering the large number of videos comprising her eponymous visual album, it would not be surprising if some of them were less than original. Did she copy Lana Del Rey?
 
Compare the album cover design and font to a Paradise box set booklet:

With Tropico, the "Ride" video, the "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M, and the "Song of Myself" promo for L'Officiel set to the intro to "Cola", Lana released some sort of video for almost every song on Paradise. One could argue that even the idea of releasing videos for the entire album is derivative. Now let's look at those videos.
 
 
PRETTY HURTS
Much like the opening bars of "Ride", the opening bars begin with the image of Beyoncé singing into a slender microphone, wearing a mostly white dress against sparkly blue stage curtains:

 
The song's themes—eating disorders and the dark side of being a beauty queen—are straight out of "Boarding School", "Brite Lites", and "Pin-Up Galore". Indeed, here we see Mrs. Carter in Ms. Grant's short-cut meth-haired beauty queen style complete with sash accessory:

 
Beyoncé also replicates Lana's arched back & cupped hand underwater poses from the "Blue Jeans" video:

 
She not only borrows Tropico co-star Shaun Ross, but doubles down on the African albinism by casting Diandra Forrest. To top it off, Beyoncé even has the audacity to lift Lizzy's iconic trademark sequined bra:

 
 
GHOST
In "Ghost", Sasha Fierce is not herself, assuming the identity of Lana's Rosalita alter ego from her "Song of Myself" video for L'Officiel:

 
 
HAUNTED
The "Countdown" singer's video for "Haunted" begins with a hauntingly familiar countdown straight outta one of Lizzy's DIY "Gramma" videos:

 
Then in true diva style, Beyoncé makes her male servant light her cigarette for her like a little bitch like Barrie at a Lana show:

 
The whole video imitates the imitated Lynchian style of Lana's "Blue Velvet" promo for H&M complete with the requisite Doppelgangers:

 
Yet it borrows scenes from "National Anthem" & Tropico. Black guys gambling? Check.

 
Strippers giving lapdances to white businessmen? Check.

 
People in whiteface? Check.

 
Bubbles? Check.

 
Originality? ...Anyone? Bueller?
 
 
DRUNK IN LOVE
In addition to lyrics that sound like a first draft of "Brite Lites" ("Flashing lights, flashing lights, you got me faded, faded, faded"), this intoxicating concoction's potency is poured from "National Anthem", where Lana grinds on another snifter-wielding rapper, A$AP Rocky:

 
 
BLOW
The cotton candy confection of the music masks Lana-like lyrics ("Every time I close my eyes", "I'ma let you be the boss of me", "Give me that daddy long stroke" and an interlude in French) in a video easily summarized as "pin-up girls at the roller derby". We also see a close-up of a disco ball a la her DIY "Yayo" video:

 
And Beyoncé perched on the hood of a car in a fuck-me pose like Lana in the "Born to Die" video:

 
In this case, we're lucky that "Blow" doesn't Soileau. Bradley sucks.
 
 
NO ANGEL
In an inversion of Lana's "angels forever" refrain, the "Halo" songstress proclaims, "You're no angel either, baby." She asks, "Tell me do you want to ride?" Like Lana in "Ride", Beyoncé is Queen of the Gas Station, knocking off Lana's hot long curly hair and cut-off jeans look. Unlike Lana, at least she's responsible enough to only be figuratively smokin' at the pump.

 
We see chicks on the back of motorcycles:

 
Tacky word bling:

 
And pole dancers making it rain:

 
 
YONCÉ
In "Yoncé", she continues the ghetto theme, banging around with her gang of ghetto girls like Lana in Tropico:

 
Who does Beyoncé think she is to appropriate all these signifiers of ghetto culture from gangsta Nancy Sinatra? Rather uppity if you ask me.
 
 
CONTINUED...

"Bob" is obviously Bob Leone. "Lorraine" is almost certainly Lorraine Ferro, who worked with Bob for the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (SHOF) at that time. It's true Bob was divorced five times and "surrounded himself with girl singer-songwriters" (usually much younger) both personally and professionally. Lizzy and Brea played at the same SHOF Showcase in 2006. Here is a photo from that event. They are at opposite ends of the front row:


In the "Info and Links" section of the thread for that show you can see more information detailing Lizzy, Brea, and Bob's relationships to each other. Some of the links no longer work, but there are still screenshots of everything listed there in the Imgur album for that show.

The link I posted years ago to an imgur album of them all that I made still works too.

Boy, it's late, walk me home, put your hand in mine
At the gates, stop and say, "Be my valentine."
You are by far the brightest star
I've ever seen and I never dreamed
I'd be so happy that I could die
 
You used to say that I was beautiful like Cleopatra
But you the king too, so I would say it back at ya
I'd flip my hair and make you stare and put my makeup on
And make up stories 'bout my life and put on very cherry balm
And even then I knew that we were something serious
That you would dominate my thoughts like radio to Sirius
 
It's you in the hall like hello, hello
Up against the wall like let's go, let's go
 
Let me take you out of this town
Let me do it right now, baby
Dancing 'til the dawn, staying forever young
Let's get out of this place
'Cause you're starting to waste within this teenage wasteland
You will never see my face
If you don't get me out of this place now, baby, I'm not crazy
I'm leaving, are you coming with me?
 
If you're lonely, baby, hold me
You're my only one
Watching television, kiss until we see the sun
So far we are safe in the dark
And I never dreamed that I'd be the queen
And I'd be so happy that I could die
 
You used to call yourself the don and call me queen Diana
You always make me blush and say "Shut up boy, you're bananas"
You pull my hair and push me down and chase [me make me run?]
You played me Biggie Smalls and then my first Nirvana song
So even though when no one's friends we're really serious
I knew you loved me by the way you looked in second period
 
It's you in the hall like hello, hello
Up against the wall like let's go, let's go
 
Let me take you out of this town
Let me do it right now, baby
Dancing 'til the dawn, staying forever young
Let's get out of this place
'Cause you're starting to waste within this teenage wasteland
You will never see my face
If you don't get me out of this place now, baby, I'm not crazy
I'm leaving, are you coming with me?
 
I know that they say that all I want is to have fun
And get away for rainy days
I know that they think I've come undone, but I'm in love
I wannna run, run, run away
I'm leaving, are you coming with me?
 
Let me take you out of this town
Let me do it right now, baby
Dancing 'til the dawn, staying forever young
Let's get out of this place
'Cause you're starting to waste within this teenage wasteland
You will never see my face
If you don't get me out of this place now, baby, I'm not crazy
I'm leaving, are you coming with me?

I'm going to let you all enjoy this as the innocent teenage love song it appears to be for about a day before I completely ruin it with some Lanalysis.

I mean, everyone has a front hole...

Was listening to Sirens on the way in to work this morning when I realized these lyrics likely foreshadow her lying about her age.