"Video Games" & "The Greatest" Make Pitchfork's 200 Best Songs of the 2010s

[evilentity 13,351]

"The Greatest" clocks in at #79 and "Video Games" cracks the Top 10 at #9.

 

79.

Lana Del Rey: “The greatest” (2019)
On “The greatest,” Lana Del Rey’s world is aflame. Carefree nights have been poisoned by the constant threat of nuclear warfare; her beloved Malibu is ravaged by monstrous wildfires; nothing feels like it used to, and holding onto hope no longer seems plausible. “The culture is lit, and if this is it, I had a ball/I guess that I’m burned-out after all,” she concludes over a noir swell of strings and keys. Despite its tongue-in-cheek fatalism, “The greatest” doesn’t submit to nihilism; it feels like the logical apex of Del Rey’s ever-present nostalgia. Surfing on a languid ’70s guitar wave, her blasé murmur wraps each turbulent image in a gauze of comforting warmth. The end of the world has never felt so assured. –Quinn Moreland

 

9.

Lana Del Rey: “Video Games” (2011)
When Lana Del Rey first arrived, she was bored and glamorous, looking by turns like a queen of Old Hollywood and like she was too young to be smoking. Her makeshift visual for “Video Games” confronted the incongruity without shame: The retro-gazing torch singer uploading webcam footage to YouTube, the beautiful pop star acquiescing to feeling ignored. The most familiar version of “Video Games” is actually the rough mix, a working draft built over live vocals and piano. It’s not quite polished, and like the grain on a photograph, that’s part of its charm. Tolling church bells, harp arpeggios, and chilly gasps of electric air swirl around submerged 808 hits, as Lana, low and smooth, sounds self-assured or desperate or even sarcastic. “They say that the world was built for two/Only worth living if somebody is loving you,” she sang, pining after a man-shaped vacancy, as if self-sacrifice could make her any less alone. It was outright depressing, and she made it look good. –Anna Gaca
 
 

 

source:
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-songs-of-the-2010s/

[Barry 5,972]

But wheres Old Money and Black Beauty  

[Edelgard 1,849]

Venice Bitch tho lmao

[Trash Magic 28,471]

Definitely do not have the will to read through the entire list but wow what a task. I absolutely love The Greatest my second favourite from NFR! behind Venice Bitch and I think the first verse are my favourite lana lyrics. But it seems quite hyperbolic to include it in this list considering it's, what, 1 month old - especially when Ride has existed for 7 years.

Okay list is absolute pretentious garbage

[evilentity 13,351]

Definitely do not have the will to read through the entire list but wow what a task. I absolutely love The Greatest my second favourite from NFR! behind Venice Bitch and I think the first verse are my favourite lana lyrics. But it seems quite hyperbolic to include it in this list considering it's, what, 1 month old - especially when Ride has existed for 7 years.

 

Okay list is absolute pretentious garbage

Recency bias is definitely a factor here, but I don't think we should be surprised it would be the other song besides "Video Games" to make this list. Obviously stans are gonna have different favorites from her catalog, but it makes sense that "The Greatest" would resonate most with non-stans. It really captures the moment we're in right now as well as any other song. It's also beautifully written and executed.

 

Full disclosure: "The Greatest" is my favorite track off NFR.

[Araby 676]

I'm actually really happy with this list— there are a lot of good (and surprising!) picks like Phoebe Bridgers, Sky Ferreira, Fleet Foxes, and even a few Charli tracks!

 

That being said, Venice Bitch should have been on rather than The Greatest, imo. 

[Wynwood 19,967]

wheres Sad Girl? wheres Shades of Cool? Wheres Brooklyn Baby? Wheres Ultraviolence?

[Elle 122,853]

Very appropriate for Video Games's 8th birthday x

[White Hot 527]

Obviously there's more than one way to rate music but when the list has songs like Teenage Dream over West Coast I just can't take it seriously.
Video Games deserves it though, love that it's in the top 10 too

[Nobody 21,608]

Recency bias is definitely a factor here, but I don't think we should be surprised it would be the other song besides "Video Games" to make this list. Obviously stans are gonna have different favorites from her catalog, but it makes sense that "The Greatest" would resonate most with non-stans. It really captures the moment we're in right now as well as any other song. It's also beautifully written and executed.

 

Full disclosure: "The Greatest" is my favorite track off NFR.

 

I believe it's actually called "The greatest" 

 

why did she do that it's so ugly

[blameitonme 15,680]

oh thas on periodt luv x

[drowning mermaid 1,706]

grimes is no 2? i don’t listen to her enough to have a opinion on whether or not she deserves it but i was surprised

[SparkleJumpropeNoose 8,750]

grimes is no 2? i don’t listen to her enough to have a opinion on whether or not she deserves it but i was surprised

their reasoning for it was surprisingly convincing in the second half after all that technofascist apologist type shit, however i really do not agree with it being at #2

[Creyk 11,727]

I think The Blackest Day is one of her best written songs and captures the charm of the Lana Del Rey persona with a dash of Lizzy Grant thrown in because it is honest, but does not try to be grandiose. It's like an evolved version of Dark Paradise.

[SparkleJumpropeNoose 8,750]

wait the more i think about it the greatest of all songs being included on this list is so fucking weird

[Make me your Dream Life 88,871]

Those descriptions tho *whew* 

[YUNGATA 14,955]

this list is missing so many important and influential artists, some really weird picks.

[Bootynugget 2,926]

its_what_she_deserves.gif

 

the greatest > venice bitch 

[GeminiLanaFan 49,389]

Definitely do not have the will to read through the entire list but wow what a task. I absolutely love The Greatest my second favourite from NFR! behind Venice Bitch and I think the first verse are my favourite lana lyrics. But it seems quite hyperbolic to include it in this list considering it's, what, 1 month old - especially when Ride has existed for 7 years.

Okay list is absolute pretentious garbage

 

Well, most of these songs are chosen for representing the 2010's. I get the two choices, though she made so many more gems that aren't on that list. 

wait the more i think about it the greatest of all songs being included on this list is so fucking weird

That song kinda encapsulates the time we're living in: everything is going to shit, I want the old times back. Its melancholy is really 2019. 

[Cacciatore 19,347]

This list is so weird... Like where's Lady Gaga with Born This Way and Shallow? Why is Nicki there with Come on a Cone and Beez In The Trap? Where's Kate Bush? Only one song by Sky and St. Vincent? Where's Arctic Monkeys? Also Grimes at #2 doesn't make any sense because when Oblivion was released they nominated it the best song of the decade PERIOD so it should be #1.