blueskiesanddragonflies 4 Posted April 19 I deeply admire Lana's music; the recent thematic shift in her oeuvre—the direction she took with COTCC and Blue Banisters—prompted me to write my first blog post two years ago titled, "Torn Between Two Americas." It discusses the absence of the truck as a symbol in Lana's recent album covers and posits a reason for this shift, analysing the concept of the American road trip as a metaphor, as well as how the female experience is explored in Blue Banisters. I find that Lana is often misunderstood among critics; my article addresses misconceptions and elucidates the philosophical and psychological contexts within which Lana operates. Two years have passed since the article, and I sense a growing acknowledgment of Lana Del Rey's contributions and the value of her work, which is nice. It's particularly gratifying to see that she is starting to get the respect she deserves beyond her fanbase and the indie music world. It is worth a read for fans who wish to seek out the underlying philosophies behind her work to date and how they extend to her recent, more folk/country-oriented music. Here is an excerpt from the article: "Lana Del Rey’s exploration of chaos and order via the road trip as a metaphor for the course of life and human nature is undoubtedly evocative and possesses literary depth for mere music, but in recent years the exploration itself has noticeably shifted. Notice the absence of the truck in the album cover for ‘NFR!’ which instead depicts Lana on a boat against turbulent seas, clinging to ‘her man’ to stay afloat (typical of our melodramatic queen). The pivotal transition from truck to boat to the gathering at the country club and finally, home with her dogs, Tex and Mex, is not to be glossed over. It is intentional. If the recurring symbol of the truck was utilised throughout her discography, its gradual erasure must indicate a pivotal shift in the artist’s view of life and/or life circumstances. This article explores what prompted this shift. It is only after listening to her most recent work, ‘Blue Banisters', that the 'veering off the road' began to make sense to me. I couldn’t see why, or rather, I didn’t think much of the transition during the release of ‘NFR!’ or ‘Chemtrails’ but ‘Blue Banisters’ completed my understanding." You can read the full article here: https://blueskiesanddragonflies892636764.wordpress.com/2022/02/25/torn-between-two-americas/ 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
