In Defense of Lana Del Rey

These type of posts are probably going to become a regular thing if I keep posting on here, which I probably won't because I can't stick to anything. I only really plan on posting about "issues" that aren't that big because commenting on serious issues is super draining and emotionally exhausting. So, sometimes I like to pick an internet discourse topic to develop a strong opinion on. I don't know why, it's kind of cathartic I guess.

Anyways my point is I know there's no point in me writing an entire essay defending Lana Del Rey's music, but I keep unintentionally scripting these think pieces in my head so I figured I'd write this one down since it's on my mind.

Alright, now the disclaimer. I feel stupid for putting all this preface on my stupid blog post that nobody is going to see but I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, as people often do on the internet. I do not support Lana Del Rey as a person or condone her problematic actions. However, I do think she makes bangers and her music is often misinterpreted.

The issue I have is when people say that Lana Del Rey's music is glorifying the type of lifestyle she portrays in her songs and music videos. I think anyone who believes this totally missed the point of her music. In her songs she describes the lifestyles of sex workers, addicts, sexual assault victims, and domestic abuse victims. But just because she discusses that type of life doesn't mean she's glorifying it; her songs are supposed to be sad.

She doesn't sing, "Oh yeah I love being the girlfriend of an older man who's addicted to gambling." Instead she describes the struggles that come with that lifestyle. This is especially evident in her unreleased, older, or less popular songs. It seems in the fully produced and newer songs, the parts that describe these things are cut out.

In one unreleased song called "Put Me In a Movie", she sings "come on, you know you like little girls." But she isn't encouraging pedophilic behavior. The tone is mocking, she's jeering at this predatory man. Come on, admit it, you know you like little girls, you fucking perv.

In the demo version of "Diet Mountain Dew", they cut two verses. "Hit me my darling tonight, I don't why but I like it. Gotta get back to the light, give it up give it up, live it up live it up." I could be wrong but this line seems sad as well. She says "I don't know why but I like it"; this is a the voice of a woman who has been shown abuse all her life to the point where she sees it as love. 

In the other verse they cut, she sings "Hurt me and tell me 'you're mine', I don't know why but I like it. Scary, my god you're divine, give me them give me them dope and diamonds." Again, "I don't know why but I like it". It reads as very Stockholm Syndrome-esque.

In the song "Smarty", she sings; "Baby if you loved me you would call me your bunny, tell me that I'm just a baby honey, beat me and tell me that no one will love me better than you do". Again, this song isn't encouraging the domestic abuse, it's a sad song. She yearns for the abuse because it's all she knows. If you loved me, you would beat me, she says.

If you watch the music video for the song "Off To The Races", you won't see her glorifying the lifestyle here either. In the video the actors she uses for the older men surrounding her aren't silver foxes or dilf daddies, they're just average older dudes. She isn't luring you into this fantasy of being with a sugar daddy, she's showing you the gritty reality. The music video is depressing, you feel bad for the woman she's singing about when you watch it.

In her song "Carmen" she says; "Carmen, Carmen, doesn't have a problem lying to herself 'cause her liquor's top shelf". 'Carmen' is self aware, she's lying to herself. She even warns against becoming like Carmen, who is a "streetwalk at night, and a star by day". Lana sings about Camen; "she says 'you don't wanna be like me, looking for fun getting high for free, I'm dying'". She is actively warning against this drug fueled, Hollywood starlet lifestyle that Carmen is living.

That concludes my defense of Lana Del Rey. I think it just irritates me when people say she's glorifying this particular lifestyle because it's so clear she isn't, and some of her songs are comforting to me because they're relatable. They're about abuse victims. She's problematic and probably shouldn't be supported, but don't say something that just isn't true. Again, her songs are supposed to be sad.

There was no point in me writing all of this down but I was high as I wrote this and when I'm high I get all intellectual and start thinking I'm a genius. Anyway let me know if you actually read this and cared, that would be cool. I won't hold a grudge if you didn't though.