Lana Del Rey, born Elizabeth “Lizzy” Grant, grew up in Lake Placid, New York. At the age of fourteen, she was sent to a boarding school due to her underage drinking. Although she has a tumultuous relationship with her family, she remains very close to her sister, Caroline “Chuck” Grant, and her father, Robert Grant. She attended Fordham University for college, where she majored in Philosophy and Metaphysics. Although she does not come from a musical background, she wrote her first song at age eleven and participated in the school choir. Around 2005, she started singing at open mic nights at clubs and releasing self-made EPs and singles online.
Although her songs (especially her early songs) portray a bold old Hollywood glamour with a somewhat rebellious edge, Del Rey’s appearance is described as a “friend from college who now lives in the suburbs.” She normally wears casual clothes, such as her go-to white t-shirt and blue jeans, and enjoys spending time in her local coffee shop or diner. Before she achieved the fame she has now, she would write, record, and produce her own songs and music videos. Pictured below, Del Rey is editing the music video for her song "Carmen" while in In-N-Out. Her preferred place to write and edit songs and videos would be in a coffee shop or restaurant, somewhere where she can be surrounded by people to give her “inspiration.” When it comes to songwriting and recording, Del Rey takes an extremely casual approach. Her creative process lacks structure, as she tends to write whenever she feels inspiration, which is usually when she is around other people. Her ideal songwriting process involves writing at night in a warm climate, and preferably when in love. When Del Rey records her songs, she does so in an open and relaxed setting, often leaving moments of conversation or laughing within her songs.
Her first single to garner major public attention was “Video Games,” posted to YouTube 12 years ago (currently at 340 million views). Her self-made video feels like a mirage, a combination of video clips that jump between retro pop culture moments to short snippets of herself. Although she sings about watching her lover playing video games, her voice sounds timeless. Of course, this video immediately sparked controversy. Comments flooded with differing opinions, from people questioning if she is an industry plant or if she had lip filler to people praising her voice, comparing her to a modern-day siren. Instead of focusing on her music, people speaking against her often criticized her appearance and her standing as an artist.
This trend continued as she continued to make music, which deeply affected her outlook on her life, the music industry, and her creative process. Around the time of the release of Ultraviolence, she spoke in an interview about Amy Winehouse, glamorizing an early death since she wanted to stop doing “everything.” When asked about enjoying the positive reactions to “Video Games” before they turned negative, Del Rey responded that all of it was bad. Del Rey tends to consider herself more of a writer than a songwriter, which is one of the reasons she claimed these criticisms were so damaging to her. Yet, these negative experiences with public reception and the music industry did not deter her songwriting. Instead, she channeled her recent experiences into her writing and continued to create songs that expressed her true emotions.
Although Del Rey’s struggle is apparent through her albums Born To Die, Ultraviolence, and Honeymoon, her resolve to persevere and do what she wants to do with her life is apparent in Lust for Life. In the closing song, “Get Free,” she sings, “I'm doing it for all of us who never got the chance / For, and for (shut up, shut up).” In this line, Del Rey states her resolve to continue singing for Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston, two of her self-proclaimed heroes who had early deaths and didn’t have the chance to be “free” during their lifetimes due to criticism from the music industry and public opinion. From then on, Del Rey keeps her promise to write for herself and do what is in her best interest in her life and music, as shown by the more hopeful and certain lyrics in her preceding albums, such as NFR and Blue Banisters. Instead of surrendering to the pressure to conform to the standards imposed on her by the music industry, she decided to pursue music in a way that inspired her to keep going.
In my focus book, Faith, Hope, and Carnage, by Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan, Nick Cave shares his experience with his addiction and how it has impacted his creative process. He states that heroin held him back from his creative potential in songwriting, and it was “the big daddy of deceiving ideas.” Even though O'Hagan commented that Cave was creative during this time of his life, he dismissed these claims and stated his creativity was stifled. When recounting these experiences, he said he found the conversation “tired and uninteresting” since it is not applicable to his current experience. In a similar sense, Del Rey spoke about her experience with her addiction, also limiting her perspective on life and her music. She stated her addiction helped her engage in her “dark side” and increased her want to have direction as well as her desire to be creative someday. During her addition, she felt she lacked both of these qualities. She began to worry while participating in her addiction, but she was able to find creative direction and self-validation in her career as a musician.
Very few artists expose themselves as barely in their music and to the public as Lana Del Rey. Her discography reflects her experience in the music industry and current outlook on life, which is deeply ingrained in the lyrics of her songs.
Thérèse Giannini
Sources:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lana-del-rey-did-you-know-that-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd/
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/12/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-album
https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/lana-del-rey-billboard-cover-story-2019-8527901/
https://www.nme.com/news/music/lana-del-rey-149-1264690
https://entertainment.inquirer.net/163131/lana-del-rey-i-was-very-wild
“Faith, Hope, and Carnage” by Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan, 2022
Image Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/lana-del-rey-lust-for-life-album-review-tracklist-features-the-weeknd-aap-rocky-a7852166.html
https://www.instagram.com/spaceshiptiger/p/CwlXrZbyDs-/?img_index=1
https://www.reddit.com/r/lanadelrey/comments/n5h1i6/10_years_ago_today_lana_uploaded_her_first/
Thats so interesting that she started so young I didn't know that about her. I also found it fascinating that she writes in coffee shops and fast food places, I would think a musician would prefer a more quiet and serene environment. I also think addictions connection to creativity is an interesting point. Because I feel like most of the time creatives utilize drugs or altered states to be more creative and access different parts of them like Lana Del Rey said.
ReplyDeleteI loved this!! I have been a fan of Lana for a while and often listen to her music. I never knew Get Free paid homage to Amy Winehouse/Whitney Houston. Just another lovely example of her lyrical depth.
ReplyDeleteI love Lana!! I had no idea that she garnered so much hatred at the beginning of her career but I definitely knew she has always not been for everyone. I love how even though Lana went to college for something completely different, she didnt allow her creativity to be stifled and she continued to put out EPs
ReplyDeleteLove Lana! The connection of her to your book was interesting, I didn't know she was sent to boarding school for underage drinking and how the addiction and substances played a role in her career. I also didn't know that she would edit in public places, I wish we could talk to her during this process to see how the environment she's in influences the editing/creative process, like in In-and-Out if there was a specific person who inspired her to make a different choice. It's interesting to see how she's navigated her career amidst the harsh public eye and opinions of her, it's nice to see her success continue!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I found most fascinating the bit about how Lana views her work as combining two related fields. In light of that, the controversy that seems to follow her career seems to be qualified. What that really says about her, I don't really know.
ReplyDeleteI found her creative process to be very interesting, as it always feels like so many people have a creative process that is extremely structured. Finding out that someone like Lana doesn't have that kind of rigidity in her process gives me a breath of fresh air, as well as a reminder that everyone has their own way of being creative.
ReplyDeleteI love when artists incorporate bits of talking or laughing in their music because it gives their songs more of a relaxed and casual feel. The fact that Lana does this in her music definitely is consistent with her overall image as a musician: she portrays herself as a normal person with normal clothes who is inspired in ordinary places in public. I think her casual approach to songwriting and life in general is very unique in this day and age, as many people in the music industry are very strict and structured with their work.
ReplyDeleteI think on of the most interesting aspects of Lana is her creative process. How you detail her process of enjoying being surrounded by noise and people, such as restaurants and coffee shops is vastly different from how most creatives choose to perfect their craft: preferring absolute silence or needing particular environments to focus and produce a certain result. However, Lana's preferred method is just so different and unique, and I think that is what is part of making her art so different from many others.
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