essiductonto

http://www.complex.com/tv/shows/complex-news/lana-del-rey-covers-complexs-augustseptember-2014-issue

Not sure what someone who is uncomfortable with female sexuality was doing listening to LDR in the first place . . .

Not sure what someone who is uncomfortable with female sexuality was doing listening to LDR in the first place . . .

Not sure what someone who is uncomfortable with female sexuality was doing listening to LDR in the first place . . .

Not sure what someone who is uncomfortable with female sexuality was doing listening to LDR in the first place . . .

Not sure what someone who is uncomfortable with female sexuality was doing listening to LDR in the first place . . .

I’ve read the Rolling Stone article several times.  I think it was an awesome interview,  well written,  and very illuminating.  More of the puzzle of who Lana Del Rey is gets filled in.  I also think that the article was respectful of Lana.  Brian Hiatt did not cast her in a poor light unlike the Guardian article that sensationalized her “death wish”.   I seriously don’t think there was anything wrong with the behavior of either Lana or the reporter Brian Hiatt.  They were both doing their jobs.  Hers for Interscope doing promotions (which she hates) and his as a reporter trying to sell magazines.

A couple of thoughts come to mind.

First:   Lana is an artist.  She owes us nothing.   Artists make art for themselves.  We get to listen to her music, or not.  She owes us no explanations of song meanings or anything else we wish we knew.  As the listening public, we get to interpret her music as seen through our own internal filters and life experiences.  This has always been the relationship between artist and public.

Second:   it was an incredibly long interview.  A day and a half?  10 hours?  Can we safely assume this was her longest interview to date?  As an introvert, she must have been feeling drained of energy, vulnerable and exposed by the time the interview started to end.   Clearly Hiatt knew he was pushing the envelope with the questions he started asking (he as much says so), and as soon as he went too far, he tried to recover.  But, it was too late.  She’s an introvert.  She is sensitive.  Her feelings get hurt easily.  That’s who she is.
 I don’t see that as a fault of Lana, or Hiatt.  She was done.  Simple.  I don’t see the histrionics, or bad behavior or unprofessionalism.   She politely got up and escorted him out.
And really, think about it.  Would you have wanted to hear another 3 hours of her being in a hurt and defensive mood?

Third:  Where were the questions about the music?  I mean, this is Rolling Stone magazine, and he is interviewing a singer-songwriter.  While I enjoy the deeply personal questions as illuminating knowledge for this intriguing woman, where are the questions about the actual music?   Ok, he asked her about the meaning of  FMWTTT and Ultraviolence, but that were more personal questions than musical questions.

Finally:  I don’t want her to change.  Like it or not, this is who she is.  She is eccentric.  She is sensitive.  She is probably prone to existential depressions, that go as quickly as they come.  She has a deep inner world.   She is clearly intelligent.  And at the end of it all, she makes fucking brilliant music.  That’s all that matters.

It just occurred to me that the interviewer mentions bob dylan several times in his write-up and I think he's implicitly trying to compare her to him (kind of a notorious asshole, bordering on insanity in his 2012 interview with rolling stone http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-unleashed-a-wild-ride-on-his-new-lp-and-striking-back-at-critics-20120927.) I don't know if she's fucking with them on purpose like he did, but either way I just don't see it as that big a deal that she says obnoxious things - I think people on the internet are inclined to hate her no matter what she says, and nothing she's ever said has really been that bad

There's a strong division between her identity as an artist and that as a person though. In that rolling stone interview she clarified her remark that she doesn't feel any responsibility towards others as an artist by saying that she does feel a sense of responsibility as a citizen and a human being. So if you're talking about her as an artist maybe you have a point but I also wouldn't go so far as to claim that an ethos of "extreme selfishness" pervades her entire personality because it doesn't seem to.

The more I read that part, the more I agree, even though it hurt my feelings for a fraction of second at first.
 
I agree that people should make art for themselves and themselves only. I don't find it selfish, it's just common sense. Then if they want to share it with people and the publics is responsive, it's great and they can live from their art like so many artist wish they could. When it's made to please the crowd, to become rich and famous, it's not art anymore to me, it's entertainment. Well, I think for most cases.
 
She's sharing something precious and personnal with us through her music. By opening her diary, she makes herself vulnerable. Talking about her death thoughts, mental issues etc in a casual discussion/interview is completely different, not subtle and not pretty at all. Art is another world where you can be whoever you want, do whatever you want. Talking about the same topics IRL and you open the door for awkward situations.
 
People don't need to know the story and the meaning behind lyrics. I think she'd prefer her fans to appropriate her songs for themselves and interpret it their own way according to their own experiences and dreams. It's part of the fun. I personally rely to many of her songs. I had some crazy episodes and experiences in my life and I'm nostalgic of the past and those great, powerful moments. When she says "he hit me and it felt like a kiss", I cannot rely because if a man lay a finger on me, he got two seconds to get the fuck out of my life. I don't tolerate physical violence, but I'll tolerate despite me a guy who almost never return calls, who disappear for weeks without notice, who's ignoring me. It hurts, but it feels like a kiss. It's stimulating when things are not that easy. Kind of. And if other people interpret it differently, good for them. I won't feel the need to change my perception of the song. Because things don't always have to make sense.
 
/slice of life

There's a strong division between her identity as an artist and that as a person though. In that rolling stone interview she clarified her remark that she doesn't feel any responsibility towards others as an artist by saying that she does feel a sense of responsibility as a citizen and a human being. So if you're talking about her as an artist maybe you have a point but I also wouldn't go so far as to claim that an ethos of "extreme selfishness" pervades her entire personality because it doesn't seem to.