lola 6,637 Posted April 22, 2013 i think lana del rey, lizzy grant etc. are all personae. lizzy grant may be her real name but she was still creating an image for that name. i think that's why she changed her name, she wanted to start from scratch and created ~*~lana del rey~*~. it's like a work of art to her, creating an image. i'm sure she's spent tons of time in front of the mirror practising her pout and the other poses she does, shes not really that good at staying in character (here for example: ) though. i'm also sure she practises the answers she gives in interviews, the stuff about "making her life a work of art" and stuff like that. lots of people do it, kurt cobain practised the way he'd shrug his shoulders in interviews and he rehearsed answers he'd give in interviews. he cared a lot about people not thinking he cared. he'd complain about "smells like teen spirit" being played too much but would complain to his management when he thought it wasn't being played enough etc. etc. they just want(ed) to make sure that people see them the way they want them to see them. 16 Quote Caesar said he’d fall in love with me if I was older. I own all of Mexico and I got my own roller-coaster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trinity 1,224 Posted April 22, 2013 Duke, I love the way you write You can be expecting my insight soon. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lola 6,637 Posted April 22, 2013 You know, I often find myself a little helpless when thinking about if those supposed personas are that much of a creation after all. All the eccentric musicians and artists throughout history are said to be playing a role and we are kind of taught from early on that those people are completely different offstage or when there are no cameras around them. But there is a side of me that doubts this pretty narrow view on things. Just like us, they are human beings that bleed and breathe, have to eat and go to the toilet, and yes, they do stuff "regular people" do, too, but why would their fantasy be fantasy only? I mean, only because something exists in a person's head that doesn't mean it is is not real, does it? Before this may come off as such, I am really not trying to say you are wrong - God behold - but I think it's an interesting thought. I think especially in Lana's case it isn't as easy to say (I'm not directing this at you, lola) that her external artistic self in the way she presents herself is a sole creation. It all, at least according to my assumption, derives from her imagination and obsessions. She's not making a big secret out of her fascination with certain eras and its associated iconography. I guess it's all very subconscious. Lana Del Rey perhaps is a side of her, of whatever extend. But I think that no matter what she expresses visually and sonically (I had to go there) under various "pseudo"-nyms, it is deeply rooted with who she really is. I know that what I said above might sound totally ridiculous and laughable to some, but I think it is because very often we don't allow ourselves the luxury of fantasy in daily life, or "reality" if you will. I assume that this is why art is commonly seen as something subsidiary, like a pretty picture you take out once in a while to find pleasure in its beauty. And this is where an important part of Elizabeth's (it's kind of creepy and weird to be using that name like this) personality lies in, I think. She dedicates her life to that fantasy and imagination, something "regular people" can't afford. This might also explain why many feel drawn to her. i think the personae are definitely an exaggeration of a certain part of their personality. i doubt anyone could create a completely different persona and actually play that for a long time, they'd probably go insane, no one is that good of an actor. but she wasn't like lana del rey back in 2005 before she started making music. 1 Quote Caesar said he’d fall in love with me if I was older. I own all of Mexico and I got my own roller-coaster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,168 Posted April 22, 2013 i think the personae are definitely an exaggeration of a certain part of their personality. i doubt anyone could create a completely different persona and actually play that for a long time, they'd probably go insane, no one is that good of an actor. but she wasn't like lana del rey back in 2005 before she started making music. i think lana del rey, lizzy grant etc. are all personae. lizzy grant may be her real name but she was still creating an image for that name. i think that's why she changed her name, she wanted to start from scratch and created ~*~lana del rey~*~. it's like a work of art to her, creating an image. i'm sure she's spent tons of time in front of the mirror practising her pout and the other poses she does, shes not really that good at staying in character (here for example: ) though. i'm also sure she practises the answers she gives in interviews, the stuff about "making her life a work of art" and stuff like that. lots of people do it, kurt cobain practised the way he'd shrug his shoulders in interviews and he rehearsed answers he'd give in interviews. he cared a lot about people not thinking he cared. he'd complain about "smells like teen spirit" being played too much but would complain to his management when he thought it wasn't being played enough etc. etc. they just want(ed) to make sure that people see them the way they want them to see them. agree with that. Preach sister preach. I think Elizabeth gives us lots of hints to solve the equation. It's one of the things I found more interesting about Lana. She wants you to kind of find out and you to know that she created all that. She is her own creation. Unlike most artists, like Kurt that you mention it, she doesn't want you to assume she is not somewhat the character she is playing, that she is her own character and that is all creation in the end, the music, the visuals and herself too. Her character is also a funny one. Remember that story that she got a better voice because she fell as a child?? The sentence "I want to make my life a form of art" and now "my life is a form of art" besides being annoying are also a hint that she created a life for herself out of her own imagination. The bee lips are also a part of it. Sometimes when I give Lana tons of credit in the brains department I think that maybe, just maybe, the lips where a way to throw at society itself what they wanted and what they value. Appearence, beauty (or the concept of what beauty today is), superficial, images. The character Lana Del Rey was what people wanted or what most people find pretty. Since is the same singer the difference was the visual mostly. Other times I just think she got lucky and roll with it like most artists did and do. I think Lana is or at least tries to be a good person. I also think she lives as far away from reality as she possibly can and that was/is a conscious and rational choice of hers not a crazy act or thought. I think she is a good writer with a advertiser touch that makes her songs catchy. I think she has some family issues (with her parents) that are not really well resolved. She is a very warm person and her relationship with her parents is a mistery to me. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Limelight 4,707 Posted April 22, 2013 I just think you guys try too much ;/ She is just a person, she writes about what she wants and we don't need to over analyze everything she does. She changed her style several times, and what? It would be so boring if she continued to do only AKA stuff. I hope she continues to evolve. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lola 6,637 Posted April 22, 2013 I think she has some family issues (with her parents) that are not really well resolved. She is a very warm person and her relationship with her parents is a mistery to me. i'm sure them sending her to boarding school when she was only 14 hurt her deeply and affected their relationship 5 Quote Caesar said he’d fall in love with me if I was older. I own all of Mexico and I got my own roller-coaster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sitar 22,207 Posted April 22, 2013 I can't imagine her changing that much, but the exterior is certainly part of a character--she even admitted to it, with some reply on twitter that I can't find that says something like "at least I created it". The more exposure she gets, the more I think she's opening up. The Ride video personally gave me a lot of insight. Most of her actions so far seem to be driven by equal parts of mental vulnerability (depression, addiction), love, and ambition. 11 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Limelight 4,707 Posted April 22, 2013 I'm sorry but you don't seem to understood the purpose of this thread. Ok, but just to answer your question: She's Elizabeth, that is all 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,168 Posted April 22, 2013 i'm sure them sending her to boarding school when she was only 14 hurt her deeply and affected their relationship yeah for sure affected her. I think that someone who has a warm/affectious personality to be send away and somewhat isolated in a boarding school for so long must be very hard. Anyway I found her relantionship with her parents interesting and a mistery. She mentions them but there isnt any lets say warm in the mentions she makes. I can't imagine her changing that much, but the exterior is certainly part of a character--she even admitted to it, with some reply on twitter that I can't find that says something like "at least I created it". The more exposure she gets, the more I think she's opening up. The Ride video personally gave me a lot of insight. Most of her actions so far seem to be driven by equal parts of mental vulnerability (depression, addiction), love, and ambition. So true. I only have a couple of her early big mouth tweets wish I could see them all . They give a good insight don't they? I even think that was thread about Lana's early tweets...gonna check. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lola 6,637 Posted April 22, 2013 yeah for sure affected her. I think that someone who has a warm/affectious personality to be send away and somewhat isolated in a boarding school for so long must be very hard. Anyway I found her relantionship with her parents interesting and a mistery. She mentions them but there isnt any lets say warm in the mentions she makes. So true. I only have a couple of her early big mouth tweets wish I could see them all . They give a good insight don't they? I even think that was thread about Lana's early tweets...gonna check. i have screen shots of all of her tweets up until sometime late last year, do you want them? 1 Quote Caesar said he’d fall in love with me if I was older. I own all of Mexico and I got my own roller-coaster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IamThatGirlLily 533 Posted April 22, 2013 The mystery around who she really is, what she really did, what's part of a marketing coup or not are what make Lana Del Rey so exciting. Those are the reasons why people keep talking about her. These and her beauty. Her music sort of comes second, sadly. It puzzled me a lot back in sept 2011. I was wondering whether she was just a random beautiful girl with a voice who got picked by a record label à la Britney Spears/Rihanna. Or a really smart, talented girl who wanted to be recognized and who was ready to do a lot of things for success to happen. I have had my answer for a while now. I'm quiet good at reading and guessing people's intention by the way they speak or act in real life. I feel like I know who Lana Del Rey is but since I've never met her, I can be 100% wrong. To me she is a very sensible, genuinely nice person but she can also have a bitchy attitude. She's a stubborn, doesn't necessarily listen to people who want to give her advices. She's a homie girl who dreams and craves adventure. She's shy with strangers who know her and the one who want to know her ; but she isn't with the one who have no idea of who she is. She has ambition, she is smart, she knows how to deal with the media and she has a very clear vision of what she wants and what she wants people to see. She is a business woman. She's very controlling over her image. She's talented as well as a worried and happy person. She created LDR for the image. LDR is LG. Lizzy is cute and giggly while LDR displays Lizzy's inner cold sexy femme fatale. The image of a woman that she finds attractive and beautiful. What she wanted to be but couldn't be in real life. I don't see her pout 24/7 with her family but LDR can. 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,168 Posted April 22, 2013 i have screen shots of all of her tweets up until sometime late last year, do you want them? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Heart 1,929 Posted April 23, 2013 Elizabeth is the warm 14 year old girl who was shipped away to boarding school where she coped with this with her first love (alcohol) and created May Jailer to possibly cope or overcome her addiction, eventually she becomes Lizzy, a sweet girl who lives in a trailer park (who might've been a go go dancing drug addict). Lizzy then evovles into Lana, a sultry woman who seeks freedom, fame and a independence. Lana seems to be lost within herself and NEEDS a home that she hasn't had (since she was shipped away to boarding school at 14). I understand what Elizabeth means when she says she has lived a full life, the last 13 years of her life have been tough and she has grown possibly a lot more than most people would in their entire life. 8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COLACNT 5,177 Posted April 23, 2013 she talks about being the 'bad girl that knows better', having a chameleon soul, no fixed personality, etc and i think its all true. i remember reading an article about her where the interviewer describes her as being 'coltishly innocent' with a 'vampish sense of knowingness'. i think that's a pretty accurate description of her lyrics, her imagery, and her personality. its probably also why people are so quick to assume that she's inauthentic, or putting on some sort of an act -- she seems to be a bit of a walking contradiction. personally, i think lizzy grant was more 'coltish and innocent' while lana del rey is more 'vampish and knowing'. elizabeth (herself) is probably a combination of those things and more. i think her beauty and her broadly overactive mind have come to shape her the most. she seems highly sensitive and intuitive to people's energies, her surroundings, and her own thoughts. since she tends to remain quiet (or ~ contemplative), perhaps even stoic or detached, people have thus come to perceive her as being stuck up, arrogant, possibly even vapid, if not worse. maybe these reactions have pushed her into her own shell, or left her quite cynical? i think a large part of her insecurities come down to the misperceptions (and passive aggressions) that have probably followed her throughout life. the anxiety of first impressions must be monumental for her. ultimately, i think she loves being beautiful, but its probably an often bittersweet kind of thing. i think she's been able to see the darker depths of human nature as a result. i think she feels a bit defensive about her looks; part of her may even resent what it does to those around her. but paradoxically, i think she needs to feel beautiful. i think she's a sweet person. i think she cares deeply about others' happiness, despite potentially being a bit aloof? i mean, i remember reading david kahne write that she was always riding the subway late at night by herself. so her being ~weird~ and aloof may be due to a self reflective nature. i also think she's a bit of a narcissist (which unfortunately, seems to be correlated with introversion). this comes back to her dual personality: she often seems insecure, awkward, and nervous. yet she knows that she's beautiful. she knows that she's smart, and she knows that she's talented. i guess it might be hard to attain a sense of self-security when you've got no fixed personality. but she seems happier and more confident now? i think she's come to feel validation (for her talents, and artistic intuitions) -- and its completely warranted. i think she's happy because people are starting to see how great she is, and now she can work on any kind of project that pops up in her mind without worrying about how it'll be received. i mean, after pussy cola, she can kind of do whatever the fuck she wants right? i dunno what else to say at the moment. a lot of what i feel that i know about her may just be random, abstract comprehensions mixed with vague projections. i guess she seems rather complicated. or simple, maybe? i dunno. but despite everything, i like to think she's as real as they come in this particular industry. also, if any of you are into jungian typology, i'm fairly certain that she's an INFP 21 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mileena 2,691 Posted April 23, 2013 to me, lizzy is somebody who has had a lot of difficulties in her life and as somebody else said, because she went to boarding school at a young age, she is still probably always seeking a home and security. lizzy knows what it's like to not have security, and to lose people in her life and she knows that nothing lasts forever. i think she's a vulnerable, but a very sweet lady who wouldn't want people to suffer the same way she has. i think she goes through phases and different looks because she has always been lacking something in her life and because of the way she dealt with alcohol dependance, she probably creates stage personas to make up for that loss. i totally get it, it's nice to reinvent yourself sometimes and try something new, it helps to deal with all the problems you have. i love the fact that she's so mysterious and not always in the news, that really pleases me. she comes across as a very genuine and kindhearted person. lizzy is such an inspiration to me and i really hope i can see her next month. i've gone off tangent, but she's been through so much, is it any wonder she is always searching? 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites