Unpopular Lana Opinions

[PrettyBaby 2,219]

I can't say I love it more than the original,

but I absolutely love the new Yayo. The piano,

the burlesque/jazzy vocals. The only thing missing

to make it perfect is the "lined with yellow lights on

a dark night (niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight)".

 

She sort of used that "moment" at the beginning of Yayo (2012), the way she sings "and the iiink bluuuuuuuuuuuue......."

[DUKE 2,530]

Hmm, it's been a while since i've read a post in which i am in complete disagreement with every single aspect and detail, as well as the way in which the opinion has been formed.

 

I think I haven't been very concrete with what I've been addressing with my post so I'd like to explain that now. I'm sorry if you receive multiple notifications but I prefer to explicitly respond to the paragraphs of your post.

 

It seems to me that you're projecting your thoughts and values on aesthetics onto her process, and assuming that she was attempting to approach her music videos in the same way you would have made them. How do you know her point was to a) take into account cinematographic considerations and quality in the same way that a director of photography on a film set would, and b) "convince the viewer that the overall odd scene is taking place in an ancient, somehow vintage-ish, setting"?

 

I do have, like everybody else, my very own association when I listen to a song. Especially with the early videos she edited to songs recorded for Lana Del Ray my vision is tremendously different to hers. That is why I literally cringe when I see her videos for "Brite Lites" or even "You Can be the Boss." The negative things I generalized about her self-made videos mainly apply to those. I should have distinctly mentioned this beforehand.

 

I've always taken her videos as a melding of old and new, past and present, and i think that point comes through pretty clearly when watching them. There is a considerable span of time and culture that is seen throughout all her videos. I don't see any evidence anywhere that she is trying to hide or distort time/era/place in the shots of herself. Also, did you forget, perhaps the most telling and obvious example, Video Games, which is replete with footage of skaters, paparazzi shots of young actress Paz de la Huerta, and, of course, contemporary video games?

 

I am really not doubting this. You are perfectly right with this, but I think it is "Kill Kill," "Video Games" and the first "Blue Jeans" video that reflect this truly original quality. And the oh-so romantic and nostalgic vibe she is always accused of, which I see as a sloppy interpretation of her work, by the way, is what is being expressed in those videos.

I'd like to emphasize the "Kill Kill" video in this context which I find absolutely stunning. "Video Games" is, as you said, "perhaps the most telling and obvious example."

 

I've said this a few times on here before and i'll say it again because it pertains exactly to this: Lana Del Rey is a quintessential postmodern artists. That whole "vintage" aesthetic that people love to reduce her to is stifling and, most importantly, not even accurate--there is no way that someone like her could have existed in any other time but the present. She's not just rehashing old tropes. I wouldn't be here right now if that's what she was about.

 

I cannot but simply applaud this part of your post! But I am still having a hard time to believe that her decisions in editing, or rather shooting footage herself, are of conscious nature. However, this is not what you were referring to. A few of her self-made videos really do make me cringe, I just find them extremely painful to look at. But now that I think about it, this is exactly where the genius lies in: she is challenging the aesthetic and perception. She challenges a cinematographic technique which, I have no shame to admit this, is pretty much hackneyed but still very compelling to me.

The fact that she pushes the envelope, pushes my buttons, proves that she is relevant as an artist. Thinking about it now in retrospective, I begin to appreciate the subjective awkwardness of "Brite Lites"...

 

Thank you for correcting me and giving me a new perspective. I am sorry that my post was composed in quite an absolute way and lacked thought and input I should have invested in it.

[voidofcelluloid 22]

She sort of used that "moment" at the beginning of Yayo (2012), the way she sings "and the iiink bluuuuuuuuuuuue......."

It's really not the same though.

[PrettyBaby 2,219]

It's really not the same though.

 

Nope.

[Monicker 3,035]

Thank you for correcting me and giving me a new perspective. I am sorry that my post was composed in quite an absolute way and lacked thought and input I should have invested in it.

 

Naw, i wouldn’t go that far and say that i corrected you. We’re just talking and exchanging ideas here. You stated your opinion, i disagreed with it and i explained why. Your opinion is no less valid or correct than mine or anyone else’s. And no need to apologize for your post, haa.

 

Continuing on this subject though, because i think there's a lot of good stuff to talk about here, something i love so much about Lana Del Rey is how much of a ‘90s/early 2000s kid she is. Nirvana, Britney Spears, Guns N' Roses, Biggie Smalls, but with that very crucial component of having one foot planted firmly in the past, and all the inspirations and obsessions that come along with that--Elvis, Americana, old Hollywood, etc. She’s a little too old to have grown up with the internet and YouTube, but she’s still very much a product of it. That is just so apparent in all her homemade videos. And part of that is the whole webcam aesthetic: kids sitting in their poorly-lit room in front of the computer, un-self-consciously hamming up the camera, knowing you’re alone in your room, that no one is looking, you’ve got your ridiculous wigs on and you’re dancing like a fool. There are no pretenses there about the “right” lighting and camera angles and even picture quality. Forget that, leave that to the people who already shot the footage that she’s stealing and splicing into her videos. And i even love the fact that rather than, say, scouring for old VHS videos at the library and thrift stores, she just gets the footage directly off of YouTube, including the atrocious quality and compression artifacts. It’s like she’s wearing it on her sleeve and reminding us that she’s of her generation and time. It’s great, i don’t think she’s trying to fool anyone or pretend as if she transcends her era or anything. And i think this is where a lot of the magic in her whole persona, artistry, and aesthetic comes in--that highly idiosyncratic conflation of influences, styles, and ethos that form something without precedent. She is neither here nor there, but at the same time, as i mentioned before, she’s totally right here in the present, sort of holding a mirror up to the past--albeit a highly romanticized one. She could not have materialized as the artist we have come to know as Lana Del Rey any other way or time but the here and now.

 

Oh, and what you said about how she pushes your buttons...that, too, is why i’m here right now. She’s flawed and a lot of her choices are rather questionable. But that’s exciting. I don't want some perfect package that is always doing the right and artistically-sound thing. I want the hiccups, missteps, the warts and all. The Brite Lites video, a little embarrassing? Sure. And like you yourself said, awkward. But that’s a real person sitting in their home without any pretenses, and that sort of clumsy, incongruous pairing of music style and imagery is refreshingly baffling and inviting. At least i think so.

[Sitar 22,210]

Lana Del Rey changed my ~artistic perspective~ so much--whereas I would cringe at the tacky and trashy before, I have really weird appreciation for it now. Hell, I emulate it now more than I ever did. I smile at trailer parks and American flags. The same applies to her videos. Essentially, she is lip-syncing to her web-cam, like many 13-year-olds on YouTube. And yet I see these videos and get so mesmerized and drooly over her creative process and visual art and passion for creation. The cool thing is that I don't think you can even consider it a bias based on my love of her music--she just actually does homemade lip-syncing videos in an interesting way.

[ExoticFlower 892]

I love the picture on the blue jeans remixes vinyl, both the BDSM choke hold and the pro-bulimic with his fingers in her mouth. It's just so sensual, in a very submissive and "wrong" way

[Hundred Dollar Bill 21,804]

I really love Burning Desire. I don't think a lot of fans liked it, yeah? It's just really sexy and heavy. Call it a mess or whatever, but it's a hot mess, okay.

[TrailerParkDarling 5,691]

I love the picture on the blue jeans remixes vinyl, both the BDSM choke hold and the pro-bulimic with his fingers in her mouth. It's just so sensual, in a very submissive and "wrong" way

 

I think its like ~oral fixation~

[YUNGATA 14,955]

I have such an appreciation for the Brite Lights video and wow I hope I'm not alone in this. I am that awkward teen who dances and sings raps in her room. I pull those kitsch dance moves and seeing her doing that tells me she loves what she does, even if it wasn't necessarily intended for our eyes. There's something very innocent about that. She can't shake it like The Pussycat Dolls but isn't that great? This woman who we idolise and talk about on an internet forum for hours is so human.

[lola 6,640]

I have such an appreciation for the Brite Lights video and wow I hope I'm not alone in this. I am that awkward teen who dances and sings raps in her room. I pull those kitsch dance moves and seeing her doing that tells me she loves what she does, even if it wasn't necessarily intended for our eyes. There's something very innocent about that. She can't shake it like The Pussycat Dolls but isn't that great? This woman who we idolise and talk about on an internet forum for hours is so human.

 

I just watched the video and my god, she's adorable. Btw, I can totally see you watching the video in your room and doing her dance moves while you're naked.

[YUNGATA 14,955]

I just watched the video and my god, she's adorable. Btw, I can totally see you watching the video in your room and doing her dance moves while you're naked.

 

omg was the naked bit necessary? I'M ONLY NAKED WHEN IT'S HOT. I'm even wearing a dressing gown right now and it's 31.

[TrailerParkDarling 5,691]

I have such an appreciation for the Brite Lights video and wow I hope I'm not alone in this. I am that awkward teen who dances and sings raps in her room. I pull those kitsch dance moves and seeing her doing that tells me she loves what she does, even if it wasn't necessarily intended for our eyes. There's something very innocent about that. She can't shake it like The Pussycat Dolls but isn't that great? This woman who we idolise and talk about on an internet forum for hours is so human.

 

I agree 10000%. And I feel like once you see these videos, you have to do the moves when you hear the songs. It's lizzy-ography. Esp the 2 finger salute in gramma ~

[lola 6,640]

omg was the naked bit necessary? I'M ONLY NAKED WHEN IT'S HOT. I'm even wearing a dressing gown right now and it's 31.

 

It was absolutely necessary. Don't be ashamed, I did the Blue Velvet moves in my bathroom while I was naked (because of you).

[YUNGATA 14,955]

It's lizzy-ography. Esp the 2 finger salute in gramma ~

 

YES that is ~*~iconic~*~ gonna be mimicking that in the shower at some point today. wait this isn't helping my nudity case.

 

 

 

It was absolutely necessary. Don't be ashamed, I did the Blue Velvet moves in my bathroom while I was naked (because of you).

 

this is why we have a lovechild together.

[Pin Up Paradise 463]

Unpopular Opinion:

 

Sometimes the opening lines of Born To Die, her monotonic voice depresses the fuck out of me.

[YUNGATA 14,955]

Unpopular Opinion:

 

Sometimes the opening lines of Born To Die, her monotonic voice depresses the fuck out of me.

 

well it's not really a super happy song~

[Pin Up Paradise 463]

well it's not really a super happy song~

 

yeah but her voice is especially droning in that song, but i still love it.

[Viva 3,169]

i think she always looks good, but you can see that years ago, in her early days performing as lizzy grant, she wasn't as thin as she is now, even though she states in current interviews that every day she has spaghetti and cake for dinner. but do you guys remember that interview from 2010? check around 1:27, where she says that she drinks a lot of coffee and usually just does her lemonade-maple syrup diet. um...not super healthy :/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA_h3ayM3Ow

Everything about this interview makes me think Lana is making fun of the interview itself. Almost playing a stereotyped character . The diet comment included as a joke also.

[Viva 3,169]

sometimes those animals and harmonies in the BTD album annoy me. I also think AKA is a better album in every aspect compared to BTD