How You Discovered Lana

[trailer park 249]

I stumbled upon a post about West Coast on a britney fan site back in april 2014... I think it was the first song of hers I listened to, I wasn't thrilled about it at the time (now it's one of my favourites), but I gradually started listening to her music and after that there was no turning back. I replayed the BTD album so much it wasn't even funny. From time to time tbh she's the only artist I listen to. I love her <3

[Mind Melt 10,095]

I had seen her name all over tumblr shortly after BTD released but I never knew she was a singer or anything about her.
A few months later one of my old friends was telling me how she wanted to change up her hair and get it done how Lana Del Rey had it.
My friend sent me the BTD cover as a reference and I was like yo wtf this chick is weird looking (to this day i still think she looks weird on the cover)
She told me I should listen to her music, so I looked her up and got Video Games. Hated it. Listened to Born to Die. Didn't like it. Couldn't understand the appeal behind her one bit.
Cut to like 2 weeks later for some reason I have parts of a song stuck in my head, but I didn't know what it was. After hours of trying to figure it out I finally realized it was VG. Decided to give it another listen, and I decided it was just an alright song. Went back to play Born to Die, again, felt it was just alright. This time I moved on to Blue Jeans and I immediately fell in love and down a rabbit hole. From then on I went to OTTR, then the rest of the album. 
Since I already had a friend who listened to her, she pointed me in the direction of Serial Killer, I stared looking for other unreleased songs afterwards on tumblr, where I discovered a bunch of fan blogs on there, which eventually led me to right here!

[kitschesque 9,884]

I was ditching class with my friends when I was 15 and we were sitting there hiding behind the bleachers

We were exchanging our headphones because we all had different tastes and one of them gave me BTD the song playing

I was HOOKED and then some time later I rushed home excited to discover more about miss Lana

It was April 2012 so thankfully BTD was fully out

 

I know this girl to this day and usually I blame her for my 8 year obsession whenever we go out like the old times

[Make me your Dream Life 88,714]

plain n simple. I was on youtube listening to some Gaga, Born to Die came up, n I was like, wtf? this song makes me so tired. Blue Jeans came on, and little did my gay self know.  like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies ~ 

[West Coast 45,897]

I don't remember the exact date I discovered Lana, but what I can recall is that it was mid-August in 2012. It was late at night and I was browsing YouTube and watching a lot of these "Question Box/La boîte à question" and I came across the Lana ones:

 

 

At exactly 0:38 seconds I immediately fell in love with her voice, then I went to look at the actual "Video Games" video... I loved the song immediately and was obsessed with its glamorous/timeless atmosphere, but most of all her deep vocal register.

 

After that I looked her up and realized that I had heard "Blue Jeans" in a couple commercials for like six months prior to that. The thing is, I saw Lana's name pop up every now and then on Facebook/Twitter, but I never really gave her much attention. It really was the first time that I indulged into her music and I don't regret anything. For like a solid three months I was obsessed with the song, then came Blue Velvet, Ride, and during that time I listened to all the songs she had put up on her YouTube page.

 

It took me to buy the "Born To Die: The Paradise Edition" CD to really solidify my status as a fan of Lana. For the next year after that I would listen to these albums almost daily. The rest is history. 

[Charlottexseax 8,011]

I guess I learnt about her how every other italian did, and that is through summertime sadness which got a lot of airtime in the radios, at least during the summer, but I wasn't that into it, and so I just kinda forgot about her.

 

A few years later, summer of 2014, I discover torr*nt, and start downloading a whole lot of music, including Born To Die, but I never actually listened to it that much, and it kinda stays there in my itunes

 

Then came spring 2017, one day my parents and I decide to go on a day trip to a city nearby and for some reason I had downloaded her music on my iPhone, and I listen to her during the trip. 

 

I vividly remember laying in the backseat, looking up, almost asleep, while my parents were out for a walk, and the chorus to Radio starts playing:«Now my life is sweet like cinnamon, like a fucking dream I'm livin' in, baby love me cause I'm playing on the radio, how do you like me now?» and it hit me like a revelation. I don't know how to explain it, I was in awe.

 

Then I kinda forgot about it again and tbh up until coming here I had only listened to BTD in full. However, that moment was really special

[maxthehitman 1,729]

I remember it well, it was in January 2012 when I first heard her album "Born to Die". At the time I was still on my quest to collect every cool record ever made

and making my personal "History of recorded sound and music" (its up to 5 Terabytes now LOL) , and in January (a few days after my birthday) I got to listen to this cool album.

 

Honestly , I did not think much of the music and the previous videos already running through the internet. Videos are nice but don´t show much of the true singers and their art.

I believe that you really need to listen closely to the songwriting and the singers voice. The whole structure of the song. And I am always looking for singers/bands

which have song styles out of the norm. Artists and people who like to push the boundaries of what is "the norm" and "fashionable to do". No one-hit wonders.

 

I was still waiting to hear what this singer was all about by listening to a complete record from her. Upon first hearing the entire record, I said to myself, "Now she is Special" this

girl has got a great voice and the songs are not the usual stuff you hear. This woman is going to go far in her career. 

Her songwriting and lyrics are not normal, and I say this  in a good way (for myself), because I am very much in tune with some crazy-cool writers in the same style as her lyrics.

People like Jack Kerouac, Jim Morrison and so many other singer/poets who are not so well known by the general public. Beat poetry.

 

Lana´s style of make up and dressing was  also very original and cool to me. Adding bit of old retro classic from the 1950´s/60s/70´s with some modern style included. 

She was cute, but what mattered to me was her mind.  The way she thought and her singing. THAT is original.

The only thing I did not like so much was her lips. Sometimes they looked overblown in oversize with some Botox, or from a bee-sting.

But at the time, most girls were also doing it, so that did not put me off too much. I did not think too much on that.

I dare to say, she looked like a sexy vamp out of a 1940s film, and I also love that too.

 

The more I researched about her and her demos,  I began to like her even more. Her side-projects and songs (Once Upon a Time/Tropico/Burning Desire/ so many others)

made me a believer that she was something special. This was a gifted lady with a UNIQUE talent.

 

Most of my friends are not aware of Lana´s music and some simply dont´care much about music. They like to stick to their type of music, while other friends are

into some heavy drum-N-bass type music. I believe each and every person is entitled to like what they like and that is good. I used to be a DJ for many years and 

I have played all types of dance music in many nightclubs (in the USA and here in Europe) and also did alot of scratching on records LOL.

But I really enjoy all types of music.

So for this reason I like Lana´s style of music. I know that she may not have too many fans in my friends musical preferences, but that does not stop me

from continuing to listen to her songs.

 

Every other album that came after Born to Die, I have enjoyed very much. She has matured even more in her style of songwriting skills and I hope

that she continues doing what she likes.  Some people may not understand her lyrics or what she means, but I am very well in tune of how her mind is working.

Because I too have read the books she is describing in her lyrics and stories. I have also seen the films which make her imagine new songs for.

Some artists and people are well in tune with their thoughts because we have done the same thing , read the same books, seen the same films, before

other people got to know them. That´s cool to me. 

I am a Lana Del Rey fan.

 

Why am I on this forum now and not before?

Because I have a very very busy lifestyle, I have been all over the internet since 1995 and been to many other forums. I also have my art, my paintings,

and job to do.

But now I have alot of free time, and I want to spend some time with you good friends here and enjoy together the same music.

Let´s get to know each other more and go on a cool adventure.

 

Life is always made up of cool adventures with goods friends.

 

Cheers

MAX

[sweetie 6,628]

Because I can't resist a challenge... Anything else you remember about the song or artist or even an idea of what year it was?

 

It was definitely pre-2011. No single clue about the song or artist, except that it was a female. The music video did include some scenes with a clock and a paper plane. It was almost dream-like. I wish I could remember more!

[Barttender 1,118]

I discovered Lana Del Rey in 2013.

At the time, I was dating a girl who hated her and it ended up piquing my curiosity.

 

Until then, I only knew the song "Born To Die". I liked the melody and especially the voice, but I didn't know who she was. I had never seen Lana Del Rey. And when the music started to play, my girlfriend changed the station immediately.

 

At the same time, I started working in a trendy bar, frequented by a young audience, and who used to show music videos on big screens.

I barely had time to look at the screens, but one day, when I recognized the introduction of "Born To Die", the curiosity to know who she was made me stop for a few minutes and... Holy shit!

 

All that mystery, that dark air, that voice ... And that beautiful woman!

 

From there, I tried to find out more about her: I watched her videos, searched for songs, read interviews, I bought her albums... I fell in love! lol

 

In time, the girl with "bad musical taste" is gone... Lana Del Rey stayed!

 

And two years later, already working as a bartender, I went to answer a girl's drink order at a private event. "Young and Beautiful" was playing... And when I approached, she smiled at me and said: "I love this song!".................... This year we are getting married.

 

(She was the one who introduced me to the unreleased songs.)

[Trash Magic 28,452]

It was definitely pre-2011. No single clue about the song or artist, except that it was a female. The music video did include some scenes with a clock and a paper plane. It was almost dream-like. I wish I could remember more!

 

Made me think of this music video 

 

[Ultra Violet 19,026]

 

So, yesterday was my 8 year anniversary of the day I first discovered Lana. I thought it would be fun to share my story of how I discovered Lana, & I'd love to hear how you all discovered her as well!

 

On January 29th, 2012 I made the innocent gesture of complimenting my friend's makeup, having no idea it would change my life forever.

She told me her makeup was inspired by the singer Lana Del Rey, and I told her I didn't know who that was. She played me a small clip of 'Video Games' and it was enough to leave me interested to know more.

Later that day, I typed "Lana Del Rey" into the YouTube search bar, not really knowing what to expect. Upon hearing the name "Lana Del Rey" and hearing her dark, narcotic voice from the short bit of 'Video Games', I honestly assumed I'd be stumbling upon a hispanic woman in her late 30s, early 40s.

The first result was the Born to Die music video, and I was stunned. At first I was so shocked to see this young, white, strawberry-blonde woman sitting on a throne surrounded by tigers, singing so deeply yet so beautifully. I kept watching the video, and became just so hypnotised by the beauty of the video, the song, and the singer herself. I had the video on replay for the rest of the night. I even had it going while I was removing my makeup & washing my face at the end of the night. I was so lured in. It was instant.

I, of course, immediately downloaded 'Born to Die' and 'Video Games', and downloaded the album on iTunes the next day. I also remember 2 months later watching American Idol with a friend and Ryan Seacrest announced that Lana was going to do a performance of 'Video Games' - I excitedly called over my friend who was getting snacks in the kitchen to come sit down and watch the performance with me, and I was telling her about how Lana was a new artist I was getting into and really loved.

So, I always say 'Born to Die' is the song that truly introduced me to Lana, and started my now 8 year journey as a fan.

 

This next part is how I stumbled upon her unreleased music and got myself even further down the rabbit hole - 

I listened to the Born to Die record throughout the next several months, and then the day of the Paradise release on November 9th, 2012 came. I remember going to Grooveshark (does anyone remember that now-defunct streaming service?) to stream the new EP. This ended up being quite a silly memorable moment as I was with some friends helping set up for a movie night and had the aux cord, and of course this being my first listen of the new EP, I was very embarrassed upon "my pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola" blasting through the speakers of the room, catching some confused stares from all my friends lol. Nevertheless, once the EP finished streaming, I saw a few other songs I didn't recognise from either record, so I added those to the queue. I especially fell in love with this song 'Kinda Outta Luck,' so later that evening I typed the song into iTunes assuming it was a non-album single, and was puzzled when nothing came up. At this point, I didn't really know that unreleased music was a "thing." So I took to google, and it was then that I discovered the plethora of unreleased songs in an LDR megapost. I couldn't believe it. It was like finding buried treasure. I also discovered her whole past as Lizzy Grant, which made things even more intriguing. It was in that moment I sort of converted from fan to full on stan. Lana was all I listened to for months - absolutely nothing else. All my other artists I loved took a backseat. I was constantly watching interviews, live performances, reading up on her - I was so mesmerised. I can't quite explain the feeling I had then, and still have, of just this extreme amount of interest and fascination with someone. Upon getting to know more of her story through the interviews I was watching & reading and through the lyrics of her hundreds of songs, I related to her so much. I felt so understood, like I finally found this sort of soundtrack to my entire life. & 8 years later, I'm still riding that stan train hard.

 

I never would have thought that simply asking my friend about her makeup one day would lead to all of this - owning a whole fansite, my insane magazine/dress/merch collection, traveling the world for 15 shows, meeting amazing friends through her & even being able to meet Lana herself and thank her for all that she's done for me - it's just unreal. I always wonder what would have happened if I never discovered Lana that day back in January of 2012. I'm sure I would have stumbled upon her somehow, but would I have ever dove deeper into her music and became such the huge fan that I am today that's led me to have so many wonderful and important life experiences? It's always surprising to me when I reflect back on the smallest of gestures that have changed my entire world. This was definitely one of them. & one of the biggest ones at that.

 

x

 

 

I'm curious, do you remember what your friends makeup actually was?

 

And omg same, I was so fricking confused when I saw she was a pretty much just a white girl for some reason acting and singing like she was from a different ethnic background. Something about her singing in Blue Jeans made me think she was trying to sing with an accent    

[sweetie 6,628]

Made me think of this music video

 

Yup, that's not the song but the video had a very similar vibe! 

[Ultra Violet 19,026]

I think I've posted my discovery story on here a few times but I jump at the chance to remember it all again 

 

So this was back when I was 15, a little goth girl obsessed with my music and front-women idols as any goth girl should be. I was subscribed to someone on Youtube because they posted videos of Evanescence songs with lyrics and I kept seeing that this channel was favouriting and liking all these videos by someone called Lana Del Rey (back when you could see what all your subscription accounts were 'liking' and favouriting). I could see by the thumbnail of the videos that this Lana Del Rey singer was a white woman (these were the pictures I remember seeing) and I was like "Urgh, why is this person liking videos of some princess pop singer trying to be gansta?"

 

 

 

 

 

I think after a few days I was like "Fiiine, I'll check it out". Clicked on the Summertime Sadness video that this channel favourited, and I was..... SHOOK. I had no idea that music that sounded 'pop'-like could also sound so sad and goth-like. I was so obsessed with the orchestral/marching drums in Summertime Sadness. I thought it was a musical genius moment for sure. I checked out Born to Die next and was still amazed by her gorgeous low vocals. I really connected with her way of singing because I was alto in the school choir, and the only other alto female singer I really knew was Shirley Manson from Garbage. What blew me away the most was Lana's vocals in Carmen. How low they went and how girlish and high they could go in the chorus and bridge. So it was those three- BTD, SS and Carmen, that I listened to on repeat for a week or so before I found Blue Jeans and Video Games, quickly followed by the rest on BTD.

It took me a while to warm up to Off to the Races (i know right...) and National Anthem because I didn't like her rapping vocals. I was still very very picky with my music taste at this age and did not take well to new things. I was very judgemental about drinking and smoking and drugs so I tried to keep a distance from those themes in her music. I was still a new listener (of a couple of months) when Paradise was released. I absolutely fell in love with Ride, and it's music video. I did not like Cola or Body Electric at this point. It wasn't until Autumn 2013 when I went on a family road trip and listened to her whole discography over and over that I started liking OTTR, NA, Cola and Body Electric, so, I'd finally warmed up to every song she had released.

Once I began looking into her interviews, something stuck with me more than anything. In one interview, Lana was asked "and what would you say to any haters out there?" she said "I don't think I would say anything at all." that really HIT me and I realised she wasn't trying to provoke people, she was just trying to live her life how she wanted and make her authentic music without worrying about backlash. I think all of my judgement of her disappeared in that moment and I was able to fully enjoy her music and aesthetic without worrying what that would make me.

 

I'm not lying when I say getting into Lana's music kick-started me shifting out of my elitist goth style (though I'm back there now, I'm not stuck up about it anymore lol) and into more alternative pop music. I might have gone super typical Tumblr girl because of Lana, but I don't regret it. I found a lot of amazing music that way. If it wasn't for Lana I would not have found other singers like Grimes, Banks, Marina and Sky, because I would not have been open enough to give them a try, or been in the right place where people I followed were promoting this music. 

[Terrence Loves Me 72,876]

It was during such a sad time in my life. It was November 2015, i was 17 years old and i just quit college and i had no idea what to do with my life. The weather was cold, my family were dissapointed in me, my friends gave me the side eye and i just felt so miserable. During this period i started using spotify to expand my musical taste. I started listening to a lot of new albums, and one day i stumbled apon a singer called The Weeknd. I thought his album cover was really creepy and he kind of quenched my thirst for wanting darker music, it was something i'd always been really into but i just didnt know many singers that were a little more depressing, bare in mind i was still young.

So anyway, i came across Prisoner featuring Lana Del Rey and her verse gave me so many goosebumps. I knew who she was briefly and that she sung video games and born to die(those songs came out when i was a lot younger so i naturally brushed them off but i still respected her a lot), but i'd never really gave her music a chance. So anyway i decided to look on her page and thats when i found Honeymoon. I listened, thought honeymoon was boring and repeptitive, MTWBT sounded okay but i was dissapointed so i thought "fuck that"

 

Anyway funnily enough about 4 or 5 days later i had the MTWBT chorus stuck in my head and it was the "sent to destory" part that kept repeating in my brain, and i finally thought okay ill give this bitch one more go and try to listen to more songs, and the rest is history. I eventually fell madly in love with the album. Then i moved on to BTD and Paradise, and then UV. I ordered all of her CDs for christmas and i forced myself to not listen to a single one of her songs again until i receieved the CDs on christmas. It was probably one of the most exciting Christmasses and pre christmasses ive ever had. And it was so rewarding discovering all her music. It definitely took the edge off my miserable days, so i thank her so much for that and still do.

 

Always and forever miss del rey xo

[lizyyygrant 516]

Oh my god, I remember being like 10 or smth, and these ads of this random ass white woman looking sad kept coming up when I watching YouTube.....and that’s how I discovered lana del rey

[lmdr 10,902]

saw her as the MTV Push artist of maybe August 2011 and then I looked her up and well... here we are!

[BuyMeBlueDiamonds 97]

I am   Lana del ray. : 0   

[Sugar Venom 9,658]

Me.

I am   Lana del ray. : 0

 

The Elusive Chanteuse

[LanaRayDelMar 2,743]

I discovered Miss L. del Rey during early May 2013. I just remember randomly scrolling through the iTunes chart and coming across Young & Beautiful. It was charting as a single at the time, I think it was like at #23 or something. I also thought her name was really weird but pretty, and it would be totally otherworldly to listen to someone like her because she was 'alternative' music. I'd play the song over and over again and I wanted to see what else she had out there. So I searched her on YouTube and I believe Queen of Disaster had just leaked, and I fell in love. I remember I was so disappointed later on finding out she didn't have any released songs like QOD lol. Sorry it's not that interesting like everyone else's stories 

[Dark Angel 203,375]

I heard the bridge of Lolita in a YT video, and I was very intrigued by it's intense sound, so I looked up the lyrics and found the song, I already knew who Lana was but I wasn't a fan, I was pretty young at the time as well, I think I was 13. I was very captivated by how chaotic the song was, and her light and airy voice. I think after that I slowly started to discover more songs, I don't really remember how it started that much, I remember at one point I was really into Dark Paradise and Radio. I believe my first unreleased songs were Queen Of Disaster and Paris, I didn't care for Serial Killer at first so I wouldn't consider that my first unreleased song. Over time I slowly discovered more songs and my love for Lana continued to grow. I had a YT playlist that I would constantly update whenever I would find a new song or demo and I remember I listened to Ruby A LOT because I was so intrigued by it. Eventually I started using iTunes instead of Spotify because I wanted to have all the Lana songs I liked in one playlist rather than just her released songs. And I started to go through all of her unreleased songs to find ones I liked, which I will admit, it took awhile for me to warm up to some songs, but now I think I know what I like and what I don't. I feel like currently, I'm a huge fan and I'm so grateful to have discovered her music. I've never felt so connected to an artist and I think I'll have a special place in my heart for her, forever.