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longtimeman

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  1. CherryGalore liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana Del Rey and Intertextuality   
    Lou Reed: "Come take a walk on the wild side" (Born To Die)
     
    Bryan Adams: Cruel World: "You're young, you're wild, you're free" // Heaven: "We were young and wild and free".
     
    Funkadelic: "Feet don't fail me now" (Born To Die/One Nation Under A Groove)
     
    Phil Collins: "I can feel it coming in the air tonight" (Guns and Roses)
  2. TrailerParkDarling liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  3. PrettyBaby liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Ultraviolence Reviews: 74 Metascore (DISCUSS REVIEWS ONLY)   
    I wouldn't call it philosophy - just the usual moralistic garbage from the religious right. I'd file it next to the 'Lana is a brainwashed puppet of the Illuminati' videos.
  4. TRASHBABY liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in LANA DEL REY - OLD MONEY (CLUB MIX) (2014)   
    I  have to frame this comment by saying that remixes are not for me - I don't generally enjoy listening to them, but I'm happy for them to spread enjoyment of songs I like, to people who like going clubbing.
     
    Having said that, I thought this was one of the best ones I've heard of Lana's music, for the fact that you are respectful of her voice. I hate when the vocals are chopped up to repeat a single phrase, or generally if the passion of the singing is removed, but this version works better than a lot of professional (ie released by the artist on CD singles or iTunes) remixes. I'm not sure I'll listen to it again, but if I heard it in a club, I'd probably lose my shit and pull all my friends onto the dance floor 
  5. Wilde_child liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Cruel World   
    It's probably important to put this here - a song I hated for many years, but now kinda like, and Bryan has shot some nice pics of Lana too.
     

  6. Halcyon liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  7. longtimeman liked a post in a topic by FROGGO in Listen: NYT Popcast "Lana Del Rey, Downcast Superstar" discusses LDR, Ultraviolence   
    thanks for posting this! i feel sometimes i am too critical a fan, and being trapped in the bubble that is lanaboards, i really easily lose of what an anomaly she actually is in the pop world and the unique talent and devotion to her artistry she truly possesses... i'm just too busy ragging on her for all the dumb shit that she says. and monicker was right about the discourse being great between the more dismissive/skeptical person and the supportive person. that was neato, i think i needed to hear these perspectives to remind me why it is i'm still a fan

    two things i especially liked
    1) the synthesizer is a homage to dre! 
    2) there was this line was something like "lana's just not very good at explaining herself", which i think accounts for 95% of the things i give her shit for 

    here is the obligatory bear gif!

     
  8. COLACNT liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  9. BLOODSHOT liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  10. Summersault liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  11. The Red Woman liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana Del Rey Speaks About Next Record, "Music to Watch Boys To"   
    "Music to watch boys" doesn't really make sense in English - it sounds like you're saying that the music is watching the boys. The 'to' at the end is a construction that tells what you're doing while you're watching boys - meaning, listening to this music.
     
    ETA: Or, if you want to stretch the phrase out into a sentence, it would be something like: "This is the music that has been made especially to be listened to, while you are sitting on your banana lounge, watching the boys (or girls, or whatever it is you enjoy looking at)."
  12. Kommander liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Ultraviolence Reviews: 74 Metascore (DISCUSS REVIEWS ONLY)   
    This is more of a general LDR piece than a review, but it's of interest (and I don't think it's been posted here):
     
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/06/20/323943849/darkness-comes-alive-the-paradox-of-lana-del-rey
  13. ednafrau liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Ultraviolence Reviews: 74 Metascore (DISCUSS REVIEWS ONLY)   
    This is more of a general LDR piece than a review, but it's of interest (and I don't think it's been posted here):
     
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/06/20/323943849/darkness-comes-alive-the-paradox-of-lana-del-rey
  14. PrettyBaby liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Ultraviolence Reviews: 74 Metascore (DISCUSS REVIEWS ONLY)   
    It's the Herald-Sun (Murdoch press). I'm thankful they spelled 'Lana' correctly.
     
    Also, this isn't really a review, more a discussion about the record, but William Bennett is one of my favourite artists/musicians who has been around in experimental/wild music since the late 1970's (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/whitehouse-mn0000820195) - the two are not 100% positive about UV and LDR, and they seem to get things about her that a lot of journalists just don't understand at all.
     
    http://www.electronicbeats.net/en/features/conversations/william-bennett-and-lisa-blanning-on-lana-del-reys-ultraviolence/
  15. longtimeman liked a post in a topic by PinUpCartoonBaby in LDR on German Rolling Stone   
    It's done!! But don't expect a perfect worded translation...it wasn't that easy to do this as the journalist often only wrote like half sentences, used some words even I as a german native speaker didn't know and just randomly used extremely complicate formulations. The fact that I'm not that good at english made it even more difficult to find the right words. There was also a lot of senseless blahblah and I didn't feel motivated enough to translate all of these things so I left out a few sentences (but not more than about 6 or 7). The last part is only a report about her concert in San Francisco and I didn't translate this one yet because there aren't any new information, I think...maybe I'll get on it later. Done!
    Again this is just my translation of a translation so bear in mind that what I wrote might differ from the actual interview.
     
    TRANSLATION

     
  16. FROGGO liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  17. PrettyBaby liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  18. hippocrates liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  19. redrose liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana Del Rey Speaks About Next Record, "Music to Watch Boys To"   
    Come on folks. This is Lana we're talking about.
     
    1) It's probably a joke.
    2) Wouldn't we rather her talking about getting right onto another record than saying she's quitting music again?
    3) I want this now!
  20. lazybooklet liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Ultraviolence - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll   
    It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
     
    Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
     
     
     
     
    tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.
  21. ednafrau liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  22. longtimeman liked a post in a topic by Wilde_child in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    All said and done, their love was sweet tho.


  23. timinmass101 liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
  24. hollywoodgirl liked a post in a topic by longtimeman in Lana and Barrie are no longer together   
    I really wonder if you've ever seen any other performers, to make a comment like that. I've seen performers do all sorts of things to deal with their insecurities (which every performer has, and tries to mask in one way or another) - I've seen them get drunk and abuse the audience; I've seen them ignore the audience completely; I've seen them turn up the 'rock star' act to 100% in a tiny club where they looked ridiculous; I've had artists pull me up on stage so that I could dance around [note: I'm a not particularly good looking guy who clearly wasn't being brought up for the eye candy value], and distract everyone's attention from what was going on.
     
    Lana, in those times she's directly with her fans, seems so embarrassingly, ridiculously real that it almost hurts to watch her. If she acted any differently outside of shows, I'd wonder, but she's the same in every video I've ever seen of her meeting fans in the street, outside shows, at random encounters, and so on. She actually doesn't owe anybody anything in these meetings, but she has always seemed to me (as someone who's only seen videos) to be as genuine as is possible. If you want to experience a singer who introduces every song and sings every line to the back row, you can check out pretty much every other pop artist in the world at the moment. Lana is one of the very few singers around who is actually unpredictable and exciting enough to make watching videos worthwhile - you never know how she's going to sing something, or what she's going to do. Almost nothing is scripted, and the things that she repeats are so awkward and charming that she never looks like she's just crossing them off her list.
     
    The end of relationships in real life is almost never like it is in the movies - it's messy and ugly and heartbreaking, and it never makes any of the parties involved look good. Lana herself puts it beautifully in 'Cruel World' by singing 'I'm finally happy, now that you're gone', and sounding like she's about to break down.
     
    I find the easiest way of making sense of all of her contradictions and strange statements is to consider her a regular person, unschooled in how to act correctly, but trying to do the right thing. Sort of like the rest of us, when we're at our best.
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