I started translating the article, but everything may not be perfect, so… Be indulgent guys!!
The many shades of a young and beautiful girl
In a very short time, Lana Del Rey has become one of the most famous artists of this decade. For Grazia magazine, she remembers her strongest moments of 2014 and talks about the future, her next album and the madness of fame at the time of Twitter and Instagram. A very shy star.
There is something really strange in the eyes of this young lady, a flash of lightning that comes right to her hands, swallowing around her tattered jeans. This is the lightning of her phlegm, the way she moves and talks. Here she is, right in front of us, quiet and mysterious, and yet she seems to not be really aware of her terrible charms. Then it appears hard to explain exactly what she inspires to us - is she just a good-looking girl? To be fair, she’s far from this archetype. An assumption comes to our mind when she starts posing for the photographer: Lana Del Rey is gracious, yet obstinate. Fragile, but confidente. She is a shy star who fell on earth to possess (or even haunt?) the body of a 2010s pop star. And this duality is responsible for her unpredictable personality. She’s probably the only one who’d be ok for an interview in such a short time before the end of the year (when usually it takes months before getting a proper interview of anyone really famous). We had asked her last Wednesday by mail, and only a few days later we were on the way to meet her in a city similar to Los Angeles (where she currently lives), New York city (where she goes whenever she can) and Paris. Yeah, we’re talking about London. That’s it, the strange freedom of this singer made of paradoxes: being able to control every aspect of her career and suddenly deviate from her initial path if she feels the need to do it. Taking time for herself, and giving to the others, investing all her energy into her interlocutor’s comfort if she feels relaxed with them. Our meeting could have lasted one day, one night, one week, one month or one life-long, with Lana, we never know. While we were chatting, she recalled that, when we first interviewed her two years ago, we had noticed how long her nails were. She showed them up again and told us that she had just shortened them. Then she started drawing little palm-trees in the sketchbook that was laid on the table while playing us some extracts of songs she plans to record. She also asked us our respective birth dates and started talking about astrological signs and american writer Joan Didion… Despite all of this curiosity, Lana never revealed herself completly. That is probably what makes her such a modern woman. She still is under her thirties and wears all the typical features of her generation (which is usually called X, Y or even Z depending on who you will be talking to). And although she is a celebrity, she is very discreet when it comes to her personal life. And although she has millions of fans over the world, she remains true to herself. She chose to sing her love and her lovers, but keeps protecting her privacy. Well, at least she tries to keep protecting it… The conversation that follows is a rare insight into Del Rey’s perception of the various events that marked 2014 and the release of her newest album, Ultraviolence. This interview is the first she gave for a very long time.
How was your year? I’d say unusual. I’ve been messing up everything: I toured, from april to june, before releasing the album, and then I did absolutely nothing. I was really happy with how Ultraviolence sounded; but now when I hear it again, I start thinking about hunches I got when I still was writing the songs. These things make me think I went too far. I’ve been in some awful situations, you know, situations that I couldn’t control, that I didn’t even want to create. Especially with journalists, the one from Rolling Stone and the one from the Guardian, and all the others who were always asking me the same goddamn questions… “Do you really wish you were dead?”, “Did you fuck with someone in the industry?” Obviously, when I wrote tracks like Fucked My Way Up To The Top, I knew such kind of things would happen, and I should have simply answered “no”, I should have moved on.
What is your state of mind now? I’m afraid this album will be forgotten. I’m always afraid good things will be forgotten, burried. Musically, I’m still looking for something different, with majestic choruses, beautiful orchestrations, a type of 50s vibe with a bit of soft grunge. Since march, I’ve been writing a lot of new songs, in a more conventional way -the verses, then the refrain, with a strong jazzy influence. I’m having a lot of fun with all of that. And next year, I’ll tour across the USA. I’ve been doing it only once before and I was really moved, especially in Detroit where I could feel the weight of its History. So, that’s why I decided I wanted to do it again, this time with my friend Courtney Love, for two months. My new album will come out after, maybe for late-august.
Did you writing style change for this next record? My lyrics are very similar to me, who I truly am, but I must admit that I’m currently trying to do some new things. It’s a bit surrealist, full of colors. I feel much more inspired by people like Mark Ryden, Fellini or Picasso… Oh, I’m totally fond of this documentary: “Fellini : I’m a Born Liar”, which explains that the film-maker was in love with his hometown, and each of his movies is like one of its facets. I like his idea, the fact that truth should never impede to a beautiful lie… (she smiles)
You seem to like evoking the 50s imagery in your songs: the golden age of recording studios, ladies singing late at night with their big band… Yeah, I love it. I love nightlife, the mood that comes from it. That’s why I wanted to meet Mark Ronson: I played him ten songs I just composed for this next album. Not so much that he added his usual signature, soul and funk, but rather it explores a sound close to the golden age of jazz. I wasn’t even born in the 50s but I feel like I was there. And when I still was living in New York, I was looking for this dream, maybe some other girls had the same, to live as a singer in a jazz club where I could sing some standards, but my own compositions too. I had a very ‘romantic’ vision of what a singer’s life should be. I daydreamed about tours in Europe, just like Chet Baker did, for example.
You like drama, right? You find it attracting? I don’t. I came in [the music business] without any drama in me. But immediately, things started to get heavier.
Isn’t it strange to be nostalgic of an era you never lived? Yes, yes it is and it might be the reason why I never really had a lot of friends -only those who feel, just as me, connected to the past and the future at the same time. And we are not many out there. I’m firend with James Franco… He’s one of the very few people I feel like really linked to the past, the actors of the past, the California of the 60s, and the New York of the 70s.
You grew up in a small town near the Adirondacks. Do you miss the places of your childhood? Yes… The house is full of memories. It’s hard for me to come back there… I did two weeks ago, I was coming from New York, for the first time in four years. My room hasn’t changed. There’s the same poster as ever pinned on the wall, but everything seemed much smaller to me…
You did a cover of ‘The Other Woman’, which was already famous for Nina Simone’s interpretation. The song is about a love triangle. But your version isn’t very clear: we don’t know which point of view, which ‘other woman’ you finally are in the song. So, I’m asking you: who are you? Are you the wife, the mistress, or even the husband himself? I always wanted to cover this song. I’ve been constantly listening to it for years. It’s interesting to see an ambiguity in the lyrics… (she starts humming a bit of it) I think I’ve always been ‘the other woman’ in a sense, well at least I always felt this way. I don’t necessarily wanna be at the edge of everything, but it’s a fact, I’m a kind of outsider. I’m always the one who stands outside of the circle. Even in my private life, I often feel like overwhelmed by what happens around me. That said, I already played the part of the normal girlfriend, the more ‘legitimate’ one…
Do you feel like you are the spectator of your own life? More and more. With the Internet, now, when you are with someone else, it’s very different. People do not know you only from what you chose to tell them, they know you from what they’ve heard, seen or read on the Web. This is undeniable, especially when I meet someone for the first time.
Even so, are you loyal? I want to be and I think I am in my heart. If I find someone I love, I will probably love them for ever. I am a very faithful person, emotionnaly, I offer all my trust. But I’m always careful. Because I always see like red flags around everyone new I tend to meet. Finally, I think I like people with a constant temper the best. I don’t want any more surprises in life.
Are you a control freak? No, not really… OK, I totally am! (she laughs) When I have a sound or a mood in mind, even for a very simple song, sometimes I have to fight to get precisely what I wanted. But I try to chill. Otherwise I’d be doing the same things over and over again… And that’s not what I like in music.
Do you think you’re impinged by your perfectionism sometimes? All the time. When I tour, for example… It’s painful for me to sing the same songs every night.
Did you ever want to give up, to erase all this and start afresh? I have often thought about that, but I can’t. I’m famous.
So, the fame is like a burden for you? It makes things more complicated than they used to be… I can’t do wathever I want, whenever I want anymore. Now even my hobbies, my other interests are planned. Apart from my private relationship with my family, everything is public. Even my phone calls: I can’t be sure they’re not listened to. You can’t even imagine what people already stole. Basically, excepting my memories and my imagination, there is nothing really private left to me! (she laughs before pausing for a moment) I am a very shy person, maybe even pathologically shy, and being famous doesn’t improve that. I like hanging out, dining in a restaurant, but it became almost impossible for me. Everyone has a phone or a camera… This is odd to say, but that’s what my daily life is made of. I’m always being photographed, even when I’m buying aspirin. Obviously I should have known better. But it is also true that when I started singing, when I was 20, the world was very different. It’s not easy to be quiet now. I never suffered from that; but I must be careful. There are many strange people out there. (she laughs again) I swim carefully in new waters.
Okay y'all can hate Big Eyes but I just CAN'T understand how you guys think I Can Fly is the better track
I agree with the Mariah Stan... Big Eyes is her best soundtrack while ICF is just... kinda trash.
I don't find anything offensive in there. It's like watching a movie or a series where a woman is raped. Lana is acting in the video, just like any other actress would do. And it's not like she puts on a face as if she is enjoying it.
People make this a bigger discussion than it actually is.
Stopped caring for Marilyn in 1998. He just became a parody of himself after he couldn't really do anything anymore to upset the Gee Pee after a while.
Even if you root for Lorde why do you write it down when you're on a Lana forum
I hope she is going to win, it could make her feel more "accepted" and propel her towards putting out even more music
I can't believe that the big eyes/big lies thing is real... The songs are heavenly. I can really see how Lana has entered the main character's mind. It's like a diary in song form.
Wow, it's gorgeous. I love how the song grows as the character's emotions becomes increasingly volatile/vulnerable and then explode in the final chorus.
So let's discuss every movie that has a rape scene in it. I think they should all be banned.
I've been quiet about this the whole time but I feel now that the fuzz about this is over I can express myself. It's an art project. It's supposed to be shocking as most art projects are these days. Nothing new, nothing exciting. It's not an actual rape scene but an enactment of a rape scenario. It was also probably completely taken out of context due to the fact that this might only be a short preview of the full project.
I seriously don't get why everyone is being so sensitive about everything nowadays. I've given my two cents, drag me, whatever...I'm out.
The ONLY thing I have found TRULY disturbing in this ENTIRE scenario are the reactions (not just here, but also twitter and tumblr) that say
"wow, I want to get raped now"
"wow, lana looks so fucking hot"
"Yas she looks incredible" "this makes rape look hot" "this rape looks so *~*glamorous*~*"
"wow, this is weird but Lana looks so good"
"Wow, I wish Eli Roth would rape me" "wow I would fuck Eli Roth" "wow I would fuck Lana"
"wow I wish I could rape Lana"
"wow I would love to recreate this scene with Lana"
"wow, I would love to recreate this scene with Eli"
WHAT WHAT
WHAT
WHAT
WHAT
THESE REACTIONS MAKE ME WANT TO BREAK THE INTERNET.
Meh, whatever. It's crazy how this topic has exploded. Obviously those of you who are saying it glamorizes rape or is in bad taste are overlooking something.
NOBODY HYPED THIS UP. NOT LANA, NOT THE DIRECTOR.
The only reason people found it was because the director mentioned it briefly in an interview and crazy Lana fans scoured the internet for it.
As I said before.. This is JUST A VIDEO. Not real life, not a retelling of true events.
Sure it looks like she got raped... That was the point of the scene. The whole video is chaos and anarchy and all around bad things. So fucking what? People do this stuff in movies ALL THE TIME. It's just creative expression. Nothing about it glamorizes rape.
oh my god people exaggerate so much, I really don't think anyone honestly feels this strongly about the images, they just want to be seen as some sort of anti-rape advocate. Being offended is a new trend in 2014. Get over it You're not heroic for condemning this
+ I also think it was very stupid for them to take down their site and the video itself, you should stand by whatever you create.
Funny how depicting something and glamourising it is considered the same by some persons. Does this mean "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is also doing this?
I can understand that some things Lana does are controversial. her statement on feminism. The Ultraviolence lines.
But this video isn't glamourising anything at all, in contrast, the horror of the victim is the most convincing display of emotion Lana ever did in a video. It is not supposed to be fun and cool and it's not looking like this. It looks painful and terrible. She screams, she tries to fight back, she's crying. There is nothing sexy about it. So I don't get where the assumption of the glorification comes from. And the slowmow-parts .. they are ALL OVER THE VIDEO,also during the "No Reflection" musicvideo parts, so they were not intentionally designed for the rape scene.
And apart from this we don't even know the complete clip.
