What has Lana done for you and how has she changed you?

[Platinum Greenwich 13,646]

Lana helped bring out a lot of my latent tendencies, like a genuine preference for older men, and casual misanthropy and/or hand-stapled-to-forehead dramatics when things don't go my way. Things that I didn't dare to embrace before she spoke about them so openly to me.

 

TMI, trigger warning and suchlike -- but without Sirens, I would probably have killed myself three years ago. It was invaluably comforting to know that someone had been through pain as mundane and earth-rending as my own was, at the time.

 

...

 

A love for strangers. A love for strangers becoming friends, lovers -- and dedication to love itself, its pursuit. I didn't learn what love is through Lana's music, but it was a catalyst for me to find out on my own.

We're similarly minded, but not really. It's nice to know that someone out there shares your life values, or the closest anyone'll get to their exactness, anyway.

 

It's interesting to think about. I think association is helped by the fact there's always a Lana song to describe your mood, somehow. I'll go from "Stoplight De-lite" to "Other Woman" and back in the span of thirty minutes.

[Party Party 3,531]

nothing. I used to get made fun of for liking her, and everybody still thinks I'm gay because I like her...

[missdelreyxo 3,783]

At the age of 12 i was just as lost and curious as i am today and one day after school i was watching the tv and her h and m commercial came on. At first I thought she was just a beautiful model lip syncing then I looked it up and saw the name "Lana Del Rey". And the first music video I watched was blue jeans. I instantly fell in love and since 2012 have been a hardcore fan. I found alot of myself within her, her preferences her life struggles.

[kitschesque 9,877]

My 15 year old ass back in 2012 was very insecure, afraid of commitment, afraid of my own desires and showing myself to other people in general - I used to feel like I can't fit in. Lana came into my life and changed the whole perspective for loneliness, attitude towards my own character and qualities and completely reshaped my relationship with myself.

 

Thanks to her I accepted everything I learned and just went with it. Some may say she was just a spark to the whole thing because we may not resemble that much, but I just know that's all thanks to her.

 

Not to mention me coming across inspiring people who also share the love for her also was the resolution. I met so many babes and fell for so many people who mean so much. Sometimes I wonder how have I been doing all my life with all the casuals around me  

 

Then there's the fact she introduced all of us to many forms of art, no doubt.

[Dominikx4 25,085]

Lana made me the happy person I am now tbh. Sounds cheesy, but that's how it is. UV really got me through a tough time.

Oh, and I just spend way too much money now for her music, merch, shows etc., so she's making me poor.

[sad girl 163]

Reading through all these responses is making me feel like I'm odd one out here in that I don't really connect to music?? Like I enjoy listening to beautiful songs, appreciate beautiful lyrics, but mostly for their aesthetic value or as inspiration for a story, I never connect them to my life and experiences...I guess I just don't relate to music like I do with film and television.

 

Anyway, I love Lana's aesthetic and her songs have inspired me to create things, but I can't say I relate to her music, or anyone's for that matter. I just appreciate her talent and originality.

[delley 209]

That is so nice to read how ONE person can connect MANY people. Wonderful stories. 
Wish u all the best. X 

[psycholifegaurd 292]

It is irrefutable that Lana is one of the most influential and groundbreaking artists in our Generation, as she constantly questions our culture and isn't afraid to disturb conformity by bringing originality and thought. For that reason, Lana brings many to change their notions and ways of thinking and living with her distinctive ideas. How has she changed you, helped you, or made you in a positive way? 

 

I'll go first:

 

Lana Del Rey's Lust for Life album made me question this short life that we live, and how we must appreciate everything, question systems and politics, and truly live. She taught me to really appreciate and fight to experience the best life; she taught me to Lust for Life. I wrote about this notion multiple times in college and scholarship essays, where I then bagged a Full-Ride to one of the top public universities. I seriously owe Lana so much, for if it wasn't for her, I would have a very undynamic mind, and I couldn't have pursued the career of my dreams as I wouldn't have gone to college. Because of Lana, she inspired me to really be the "master of our own fate, captain of our own soul" and to not give in to the systems that would make me undistinguishable. I wish Lana would know of how much she really changed so many lives for the best. 

[The Sun Also Rises 3,237]

BTD, Ultraviolence, and now DYKTTATUOB really helped me deal with being groomed and repeatedly r4ped as a child/pre-teen. BTD came out 1-2 years after that happened and strangely enough I think it made me realise within myself that what happened was wrong and it wasn't my fault. I hear a lot of myself in those lyrics. The people who get it, get it.

 

I grew with Lana throughout the years and maybe I'll return and write a longer comment about what she's done to me and what she means to me. But I think the best way I can put it for now is that Lana embodies the artist in us that "doesn't want to d1e but just wants the pain to be over" and expresses that vulnerability, grief, pain, desperation, and cruelty of life while not only reminding us that "life is beautiful" and "the sun also rises on those who fail the call," but also imbuing the world with so much magnificence and artistry that will last through generations and generations to come. 

[Veinsineon 71,770]

Lana introduced me to an entire world of songwriters and literature I never would have thought to explore, especially so young. Mostly the philosophical stuff. But after Lana taught me about music, SOPHIE taught me that it’s all whatever you make of it. Both have completely altered the way I see life / art.

[Venice Biotch 2,139]

Lana practically shaped me. She shapd my personalty and who i am right now because i started to listening to her young. Introduced me to the world of music, she was the first artist that ive started to listen to religiously.

Also helped me to get through every harder moment in my life 

All i want to say to her is a big THANK YOU

[jimmyjimmycocoapuff 3,307]

Lana's lyricism has made me appreciate life more, pay attention to the small details, and learn to live in the moment. She helps me get through everything.

Her being the soundtrack to my life makes every moment better and worthwhile. She also made me discover LB which is the cherry on top. I don't know what I'd do without her 

[DemonMic2003 4,491]

Lana tought that I’m young wild free and that no man can handle me.

[Make me your Dream Life 83,563]

I’ve always kinda felt strange being gay, and just doing my own thing, or doing the opposite of the norm for myself. So, she really painted this guide of how doing whatever the fuck you want is valid. Just don’t hurt anyone. 
 

It’s alright to be with your own thoughts and alright to feel, to be soft. 
 

Good things don’t fear time, it actually grows with it. With how she’s always seemingly forgotten and snubbed, but still manages to win by being her own self. Slow and steady
 

Honor your life, it’s ok to care. Just take no bullshit. The love you give will always come back to you, it’s not a waste. 
 

She’s also really helped me understand and be ok with being sensual. 

[ShadesOfFool 19,130]

That I don’t have to pretend to be happy if I’m not. It’s ok to be sad and it doesn’t make me a bad person. 
 

also, how to express yourself as well-rounded person. She can have the most upbeat happy music and the most miserable depressing songs and the stuff about love and heartbreak and sex and money and whatever tf else. You don’t just have to be one thing. A lot of musicians don’t stick out cause they’re very one-note and predictable, but you literally never know what Lana is gonna do next. 

[honeyslow 4,175]

I think her music changed me into a person who can see the beauty in whatever circumstance I'm in no matter if it's actually not so nice at all, on the one hand I'm grateful for this since it means I'm generally very appreciative of life independent of whatever I'm going through, on the other hand I do think it makes me a bit complacent sometimes and I don't take certain actions I should because I manage to also see the "good" in objectively "bad" situations or emotions

 

her commitment to her art also inspired me to take my own creativity (writing) more seriously

[plastiscguy 58,844]

I've struggled with depression my entire life, and recently I've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I always felt weird, like I didn't belong, and I would punish myself for feeling that way. I hated feeling sad because people would always tell me I had no reason to. 

 

But then, I met Lana and her music literally changed my life. Like she described herself in WW, she's awkward but sweet, and so am I... 

And then in Beautiful, when she said "sadness can turn into happiness, I can turn blue into something beautiful" I felt that! Because whenever I feel sad, or nostalgic, it's when I feel like myself the most. I feel inspired by sadness. 

 

Some might say I romanticize it, but I disagree. I think, thanks to Lana, I learned how to exploit certain things I can't control for my own benefit, and now I don't feel alone, nor so misunderstood

[LemonadeTea 479]

I genuinely would be a different person without Lana. I started listening to her when I was 16, she impacted so much of how I see life and how I see beauty and art in the world. Her music has been the soundtrack for so many car rides, day dreams, wishes, experiences and whatever in my life. She wrote the script for how I wanted to look and how I wanted to be and what relationships I wanted. 
 

Im also about 10 years younger than lana, so its been neat kinda growing up along side her in a way, and looking internally at how the music she wrote when she was my age affects me now. As I get older, I feel closer to her music. Especially with ocean blvd, I have a deeply tumultuous and difficult relationship with my mother so hearing that subject repetitively come up in her songs but especially in that album was really healing for me. She’s helped me put a lot of my feelings in to away that feels tangible to describe them. 
 

[love divine 4,685]

as stupid as it sounds, lana's old "trailer park party girl" aesthetic made me come to love life without fancy things. i never had a lot of money growing up, just enough to be comfortable and fed (which is retrospect is more than enough.) as a child i always longed for the life of my friends who went on annual summer vacations and had the newest phones. when i was discovering lana i quickly fell in love with her portrayal of her, for lack of a better term, less luxurious lifestyle and how she turned it into something to be proud of. 

ride also helped change my perspective. as long as i can find my "home" and have the open road, life will always be okay. 

[twinkletoes7 5,837]

listening to lana when i was so young definitely shaped me a lot as a person to love art and live freely

 

the main attachment i have to lana is that i was in a pretty bad relationship during my teens and ultraviolence specifically really comforted me both during and afterwards, and helped me actually understand and then begin to vocalise my emotions surrounding it and him, which was at the time the only songs i really had heard in that vein except for like amy winehouse. i think ultraviolence is a really important album for that reason because i went through about 5 stages of thinking i understood the album before i feel like i really did (at least for me as everyone is different) and i don’t think that awareness is really spread to young girls like it should be in a truly honest way

 

i also was so impacted by violets bent backwards over the grass. i find that i relate to her thought streams so much and everything she says is so validating and so beautiful. she has always given me such a strong comfort in life being beautiful in all stages and i think that is my main takeback from her