This is my translation of the interview posted by Vanity Fair Italy with Lana. She is on the cover of the magazine, anyway it is an old photoshoot. There will probably be a lot mistakes, but I'm not a native speaker and I tried my best.
Enjoy your reading
Her first record was Born to Die, the last one it titled Lust for Life and it is not a case. Lana Del Rey is happier and less dark at our time, she has found out political commitment. She got rid of all of the covers that she used to hide herself behind, but she still keeps beautiful memories from the past. Some of them more special than others, and some of them are Italian.
She admits that something has changed and it comes to my mind that the first sign of this change may be her smile on the cover-art of the record, even though it is pretty ironical. Daisies in her hair, a long white dress hippie-style and a retro feel that reminds of Summer of Love. And then there are the titles of her records, that seem to give no explanation except for some hints: we’ve come from Born to Die, 2012, her first album, to the last one, out a few days ago, Lust for Life.
“For what concerns the titles, that seem to mirror one another, I actually noticed it a lot after, it wasn’t something thought in advance, but I really like the idea, I think it is really cool. For me it symbolizes the beginning of a new chapter. But the contents of this new chapter are yet to decide” she says before bursting in laughter, and it won’t be the only time she will during this chat. Calling from Los Angeles, Lana Del Rey speaks so slowly, you can hear an undertone of music and people talking.
Conspiracy theorists from the business probably will have a lot to say about this change, going from the dark David Lynch character singing about death, violence, hopeless love, to a Californian Style popstar, always sad but with hippie features (there’s also a duet with Sean Lennon, which is called Tomorrow Never Came, and she tells us why she choose him: due to the “peace & love” concept that runs in his veins.)
When Lizzy Grant changed her stage name to Lana del Rey, with her first song, Video Games, getting millions of views on YouTube, suspicious was after her: her look was considered too perfect, planned in advance, that goth imagery – she seemed to be a marketing product, with nothing authentic in it. “A reflect of our common nightmares about cynicism and fake American culture”, that’s what was written by New York Times. It was 2011. Her career eventually told us another story. There have been successful records as Ultraviolence and Honeymoon, new scandals, an important love affair with Francesco Carrozzini, son of Franca Sozzani, who died last December, and above all the desire to carry on, among haters and loyal fans.
Have you still got that tattoo that says “trust no one”?
Yeah and I never understood why I did it, I think it was a subtle message to myself. At first I thought I did for fun, but at a certain point I wasn’t that sure about it.
Have you been betrayed so many times?
She laughs. “I’d say that a good half of my boyfriends cheated on me. I’ve never been good at picking them.”
But today you sing about your lust for life. Is it a statement?
Yes, I think so.
So, does it mean that you’re happier?
When I started making this record and I wrote Love, the first single, I was in a place where doing this kind of statements was really easy and I wanted to change.
How have you changed?
In the last two years a lot of things happened that made me a different person. Relationship, thoughts. This is the direction I’m going to: more colors, more light, a sound with a seventies aftertaste.
What does this new light you’re talking about illuminate?
Beautiful melodies, a sixties mood but still with a contemporary atmosphere. It’s the tone of my songs that is different: they are what they are, without barrels, without covers.
And what did the covers used to hide?
The story I was telling. So that the listeners weren’t able to understand and empathize. For me it’s an achievement to have gotten rid of them.
It’s a new season for you.
I like my last records, in them I told my whole life and it was a hard challenge making them. With Lust for Life I felt like I could be more relaxed and experiment new things, such as having other people on my record, and also at the same time having the opportunity to stay in my comfort zone.
Love it’s a hymn to youth, to the sensation of having endless possibility in your hands.
Yes, it’s a feeling that I have often, that I can do everything. I like my life. After a day in the studio, I go out and do whatever I want with my friends, like going to the beach or just hanging around the city. I really feel lucky, and free in every moment of my life. Nowadays I only see people that make me feel good and give energy to my life. Love talks about this energy that you try to grow in yourself.
And yet a few years ago you said in an interview that you whished you were dead. It was a scandal: did you regret that statement?
No, I don’t regret it, that’s because I really thought it, it was a hard time in my life. I just never thought that the journalist would publish that sentence. I was in tour for 14 months and in this kind of situations the only persons you talk to the most are journalists. To this person in particular, I had developed a confidential relationship. That’s how it went. My fault was to be too naïve.
You spent a lot of time in Italy. What have you learnt from our country and our people?
I found out that Italy is really beautiful as you see in movies. My experience was exciting: when I was in Milan I used to be part of a world that was separate from everything. At that time I only knew a couple of Italians and their friends were people with a strong sense of freedom, they were wild, they were artists, joyful and had this motto on their mind: live and let live. And then there was fashion.
What relationship did you have with Franca Sozzani?
I used to see her very often, that’s because every time I was in Italy she stayed with us. I was a big fan of her, I really appreciated the way she brought Italian fashion at the top of the world, I think it is extraordinary. And she was extraordinary too.
And what memories do you still keep with you from your Italian lover?
The days spent with a beautiful and slow rhythm in Portofino, a dream place; playing soccer in Miami with his Italian friends; spending time with his mother.
Even when you were in Italy you were followed by paparazzi. You always say that you don’t really like fame.
It’s not that I don’t like fame, it’s just that I consider it being a total different game that has nothing to do with music. When I lived in London I used to ride around with my bike and it was so easy to be recognized that I always ended up with being caught by paps. Then I learnt some tricks, it takes a couple of years to get used to this kind of life. Now is good, definitely, I feel at ease.
What’s the worst part of being famous?
I don’t know.
You have many haters.
She laughs: “maybe that’s the worst part of being famous.”
This record is more political involved than the others. How come?
I was a girl with a good voice, who loved singing and who knew that she was going to be a musician. After my debut, I spent a lot of time trying to understand what was happening to me. I mean, I was figuring out who I was, so that means that I wasn’t ready to express my opinion about problems going on in the world. Now, six years after Video Games, I feel like I am part of a community, so I can take part of the social talk where are involved millions of people.
There’s a song on the record, called God Bless America – and All the Beautiful Women in It, dedicated to American women.
Yes, that’s because we are the most hurt by the new administration. Just think about all the stuff going on with Planned Parenthood, trying to limit access to birth control. I’m just one out of many women who feel outraged.
But feminists have never loved you.
At the beginning of my career people wanted to label me as “the singer who doesn’t like to feminists” because of the things I was singing and so I received a lot of questions about the theme. I have never answered, I have never wanted to get at the same level of this kind of discussion. I always believed music goes beyond everything, and in a year as the one that we are living in the U.S.A, it was natural to speak to women and say: I’m with you.
Speaking about Trump, on Twitter you posted some magic formulas to get rid of him…
I red somewhere that witches from all parts of the world were organizing a ritual against the president. Obviously, it was a joke. Was it that hard to understand?
Lana's brand new album, Lust for Life, has debuted at number one in several countries including the US, UK, Canada, Norway, Australia, Spain and more. It actually debuted in the top 10 of almost every country it charted in, which is an impressive feat considering not as many artists are as successful internationally as Lana is. In its first week, Lust for Life sold approximately 194k units worldwide and debuted at #3 on the Global Album Chart http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-week31-2017.htm.
This thread is a place to update chart & sales information on Lust for Life as time progresses.
I was thinking just now about the original album titles, and noticed we don't have a thread comprising of them... So here it is
LANA DEL RAY
Nevada God Bless America
BORN TO DIE
G. B. A. (God Bless America) The Best of Lana Del Rey The Revenge of Lana Del Rey The World is Ours Do You Luv Me Yet? Born 2 Die
ULTRAVIOLENCE
Lana said Ultraviolence was always the title, but I wonder what the original UV album was called
HONEYMOON
Music To Watch Boys To
LUST FOR LIFE
(The Next) Best American Record
i don't think any of these people look like lana
the biggest look alike will probably be this unknown model in vogue 1969
most likely just because of the similar and heavily stylized make up tho.
I'm not amazing at using photoshop. I've used photoshop and coreldraw for work buuuut I don't have access to those things on my home computer jfklsajfdskljdf but here's what I did with free stuff
I can't hear anything until Monday when I get a new pair of headphones 1:39 AM here, late night is always the best time for listening Lana's music but I can't godddd.
Lana Del Rey has just posted a video teaser of something (presumably White Mustang music video) onto her old Twitter account, @missdaytona! Check out the tweet here and discuss what you think it might be!
https://twitter.com/MissDaytona/status/891124518307090434
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