lana del rey - ms. america (a supplement from the new inquiry)
TRANSCRIPT
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AYESHA A. SIDDIQI 1
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2 MS. AMERICA
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ayesha A. Siddiqi
PUBLISHER
Rachel Rosenfelt
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Imp Kerr
EXECUTIVE EDITORRob Horning
SENIOR EDITOR
Max Fox
MANAGING EDITOR
Joseph Barkeley
SUPPLEMENT EDITORS
Sarah Nicole Prickett
Malcolm Harris
Brian Droitcour
FREE SUPPLEMENT JULY 2014
brought to you by The New Inquiry
MS. AMERICA
By Ayesha A. Siddiqi
ONCE UPON A DREAM
By Johanna Fateman
WIFEY STATUS
By Gabby Bess
FULL-TIME DAUGHTERBy Hannah Black
RUN, BOY, RU N
By Nina Power
WOUND DOWN INSIDE
By Robin James
THE FAKE AS MORE
By Sarah Nicole Pri ckett
DIE 4 U
By Stacey May Fowles
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AYESHA A. SIDDIQI 3
FOR hose who came o age duing he wa on eo, o whomadolescence was announced by 9/11 and o whom ailed was, a massive
ecession, and a oal suveillance appaaus wee he paanoid gis o ou
adulhood, Lana Del Rey gives us a paioism we can ac ou. Hes isn a love
song o Ameica; is a how-o manual.
As in: how o avoid acing he counys ongoing cimes, agains is own
and is ohes, which ae only made moe sevee by is many declaaions o
goodness. How o cleave o a hisoy whose mos amous acos a bes esem-
ble bloaed pops. How o econcile he decades
spen ying o convince us a looming hea is ageing somehing moe
undamenal o us han he policies dispached om Washingonsome-
hing sho in Supe 8, no by a done. Somehing ha heaened iday nigh
ooball games and would enew he xenophobia o hose ha ponounced iMerica.Ta was he Ameica ha exised on V and in movies, one seem-
ingly only populaed by whie Chisians. Fo hose o us ha had neve been
included in such a vision he soy was a had sell.
Many aiss have spen caees ying o pove ha Ameica doesn
exis. O ha i i does, is only seam ising om a oing pie. I believe
Lynch. Bu I also believe Lana. Because all ha gloious Ameicana akes is
cues om somewhee, igh? Tee exis long seches o open oad flanked
by dese and mounain and su. Tee ex is g iddy poems abou he indi-
vidual , uniquely Ameican spii. Te syle and swagge o Mad Men has
jus as much o do wih he devoion o hisoical accuacy as i does o he
lighing depamen.
Bu o evel, even o a momen, in ha Ameica is o beay he one we
live in. Lana Del Rey offes an alenaive. She isn jus o hose who can ell
whehe is paioism o Sockholm syndome; shes o hose who don cae
abou he diffeence. Millenials and #Meicaan MV sudy eleased his
monh ound ha while young people possess a deep connecion o Ame-
ica hey ae hype-awae o is flaws. In ac, 8 in 10 young people ageed
ha some acions o he Ameican govenmen make i had o be poud. Te
wod merica, he gun o pide mos oen associaed wih ual Republicans,
is now a meme. #Meica uncions boh as a label o he jingoism many o us
now see as pevesewhile also comoably siuaing he opes and hei-
age makes we sill use. Is a delibeae exaggeaion, like Lana, capioning
boh he wos o ou seeoypes and he mos endeaing.
Ms. AmericaByAYESHA A. SIDDIQI
How Lana Del Rey aciliaes a posauhenic parioism
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4 MS. AMERICA
Lana Del Rey eacquains wih he dange and inigue ha pop cul-
ue once pomised ou bodes held. Bodes o class, ace, gende, ge-
ogaphyhei dama insead o hei unomanic acualiy. In Naion-
al Anhem she cass A$AP Rocky as Kennedyas i we don cuenly
have a black pesiden. She aces he acylic nails along he leaheyshouldes o old men as i she doesn aleady have a song called Lolia.
She aises he ams o he sky on he back o a moocycle speeding down
a souhwesen highway as i we haven aleady checked he weahe and
EA o ou desinaion. She sings in a chuch as i Foeve 21 hasn
aleady sold ank ops wih cosses on hem. And she signs he body
elecic as i Levis hasn aleady made an ad wih naaion om a Wal
Whiman po em.
Yes, is a classically whie naional ism, one as izzy and consu m-able as he Pepsi and Mounain Dew ha appea in Lanas songs (neve
he moe globalized Coca-Cola). An Ameican geneaion saved o an
unaugh image o home can be saed by a pop sa whose eeences ae
oo sale o oend sung in an aec oo la o isk moving us. We know
o ake i as a poduc, no a symbol. he cowboys o yeseyea chaged
wi h aming he onie ae now jus w hie men in has wi h guns. And
Lana will sing abou hem peending heye he mos ineesing men
in he wold.
She calls i Hollywood Sadcoe; she couldve called i anyhing a all.
Te poin is ha he ising sings and bluesy guias collec he deius o
a ailed vision o Ameica. No ailed hough ial, bu ailed as a vision. Be-
cause i won suvive inheiance.
Fo hose o us who gew up pos eveyhing she offes an easy paio-
ism ha can be won like a flag ha isn also a salue. Like an alien excavaing
all ha we once claimed made us Ameican, Lana akes he aiacs ha ae
oo whie, oo ahisoical o be aken seiously, and emoves he insisence
upon hem. Is an obuscaion ha isn aciliaed hough iony; i s acilia-
ed hough a ecen pas ha oeclosed on he pomise o Ameican symbols
and eemphasized he pimacy o images.
Lana Del Reys sho film ropicoeaues Mailyn Monoe, John Wayne,and Elvis. O moe accuaely, impesonaions o all he Mailyn, Wayne, and
Elvis impesonaos ha om succeeding geneaions memoy o he chaac-
es. Lana Del Rey hesel isn ye an icon; he magic is less saic. She cuaes
puaively mundane Ameicana as exoic. Te caeul pasiche ha eaned
he deision upon he debu is he vey eason why she esonaes oday. Te
auheniciy Lanas ealies ciics spen monhs ineogaing is a wholly
ielevan quesion o he young people who gaze appovingly a he flowe
cowns and gold chains.Lana Del Reys Ameica is cony and fla bu makes he neihe because
she isn couped by aih in he image she offes. Shes esilien in he non-
commial wiling and ohigh appopiaion o Ameicas mos oveex-
posed iconogaphy. Te pepeually mounul singe manages o sound eas-
suingly anonymous as she sings Spingseen was he king, don you hink?
Is an ac beyond iony, an aemp o einvigoae belie by celebaing cul-
ual exhausion hough affecive empiness.
Fo hose who spen hei een yeas yping in scae quoes, Lana
les us negoiae Ameican ideniy wih less cogniive dissonance by
seving paioic clich as kisch. When she uges, Be young be dope be
poud, like an Ameican, she may as well be an impessed ouis. Aec-
less wihou iony, ull o pop-symbolism ha euses o signiy, pehaps
an Ameican culue dained o all moal qualiies o ehical commi-
mens is woh holding ono. A inally palaable Ameicana: ull o no
moe senimen han an Insagam gid.
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JOHANNA FATEMAN 5
I know you, I walked wih you once upon a dreamI know you, ha look in your eyes is so amiliar a gleamAnd I know is rue ha visions are seldom all hey seemBu i I know you, I know wha youll doYoull love me a once, he way you did once upon a dream
MALEFICENTis o gown ups. Tas wha Ihough, waching he aile o i wih my kid las wine beoe a maine
sceening o Frozen. I was an unexpeced hill: Angelina Jolie, moe go-
geous and goh han eve, wih posheic cheek bones and leahe hons, is a
vengeul aiy who conons a coweing king in he fis en seconds. (Well,
well ...) Ten, Lana Del Reys vocal begins.
I know you, I walked wih you once upon a deam, she sings, a cappella
o a ew lines, in a slowed-way-down vesion o Pincess Auoa and Pince
Philips heme song om he 1959 animaed classic Sleeping Beauy. Del
Reys imbe insanly evokes he amosphee o he oeuve. Moe han a
hazy, Insagam-y deam wold, is a signaue dissociaive saebeing sad
bu eeling beauiul, obseving ones own desolaion hough he lens o a
ingling body high. Faiy ales ae se in a myhic ealm o eudalism and
candelabas, bu, o couse, heye wien and ewien o eflec conem-
poay anxieies and aspiaions. Who bee han Del Reywih he hing
o agic acheypes, wih he widespead casigaion as a aud and he ise
o sadom despie io bing Maleficens excavaion o emale evil, is
hemes o cuely, enchanmen and ansomaion, ino he pesen?
Duing he ailes monage o lush CGI acion, Maleficenfills a cadle
wih culs o acid-geen vapo, and a spinning wheels needle gleams om-
inously. As eeie and majesic ochesal insumenaion joins Del Reys
Once Upon a DreamByJOHANNA FAEMAN
Why Angelina Jolie apped Lana Del Rey o sing
Once Upon a Dream or Maleficen, Disneysfirs rape-revenge film
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6 ONCE UPON A DREAM
voice, g ian ee ceaues explode om he gound o a supenaual ba-
le beween he magical land o he Moos and he human wold i bodes.
Fo mos o his, my kidshe was sill ou hencluched my oeam and
saed a my ap expession insead o he sceen. So I didn bing he when
I wen, opening weekend, o seeMaleficen, Disneys fis ape-evenge film.Wien by Linda Woolveon (Beauy and he Beas, Te Lion King), i
was conceived as a pequel o, and evision o, Sleeping Beauy, in which he
glamoous villains cuse upon Pincess Auoa a he chisening would be pu
in conex. Te old Maleficens evil was capicious and congenial; he new
one would have a eal moive. Te bigges challenge was how o make a villain
ino a poagonis, Woolveon old Te Hollywood Reporer, How on eah
was I going o jusiy ha his woman would cuse a baby? Inspiaion suck
as she sudied he oiginal animaed chaace. Maleficen is supposed o be aaiy, bu whee ae he wings? Woolveon decided ha hey had been aken.
Te ac isel, he seveing o he poweul wings om he dugged
body, isn shown. Insead, we see Seana human, Maleficens childhood
love whos gown ino a weak and powe-hungy mancome up wih he
idea. He can bea o kill he, bu hes go o show poo o he deea o
become he kings successo. Cu o he waking: Maleficen sceams wih
anguish as she ises, and when she walks, she soops, wincing wih pain. We
wee vey conscious, he wie and I, ha i was a meapho o ape, Jolie
said o he scene ecenly, duing a BBC Womens Hour ineview egading
he appeaance a he Global Summi o End Sexual Violence in Conflic.
Tough he scene is coded as dae ape, wih is long walk in he woods and
us-building convesaion beoe he sleeping poion is inoduced, i also
esembles sexual violence in conflic, whee he ape, maiming, and humil-
iaion o civilians eoizes a populaion and poduces goesque ophies,
like he wings Sean keeps in a glass case when hes king.
In he wake o he assaul, he Moos daken and Maleficen mophs
om benevolen poeco o despoic misess, signaled by a change in he
cosumes colo schemesom mossy bowns o dominaix black. Speak-
ing o Vaniy Fair abou he abicaion o he chaaces hons, Jolie ex-
plained, Acually we wen online and ound hese gea leahe wokes andpeople who do hese moe, kind o, elegan eish clohes. Bu, o couse, he
kinks ge saighened ou. I don wan o give oo much away, so suffice o
say,Maleficenhoweve slyly campy, misandis, moving, and much bee
han adiional Disney ae i isconoms o a mandaoy naaive ac o
edempion hough love. And i is, ae all, a movie o kids. Te ailes
dead-inspiing vesion o Once Upon a Deam is saved o he films ced-
is, ae we know ha eveyhing uns ou okay.
Maleficen became Jolies highes gossing movie he same week haDel Reys Ulraviolenceook he No. 1 spo on he Billboard 200. Is he
sophomoe iumph o dispove he smoke-and-mios heoy ha Del
Reys Video Games buzz was pue hype and Born o Diemaked he o-
ficial exhausion o a one-ick pesona. In he new songs, he sadonic,
aggessive edge o he impessionisic lyics is shape, and hees some-
hing like ange in he elenless sexy posuing. Te pess emphasized
ha Jolie heselmegasa, businesswoman, Special Envoy o he UN
High Commissione o Reugees, mohe o six, and once-upon-a-ime
cueapped Del Rey o peom he aiy ale cove, and Id like o hink
is because she ges i, why he ci nemaic aua o loss and longing belongs
wih he oigin soy o Maleficen s evil . In he aile, Del Rey s voice
wha i sounds like, wha culual anx ieies i povokesses up he ho o
o Maleficens aumaic pas. And when he cedis oll, is a hauning
posscip o he Disney esoluion. Del Rey epesens he eal possibiliy
o an unhappy ending.
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GABBY BESS 7
I don know, said Rachel. I eels oo sububan mom.Ae finding i in he boom o a dawe, aking i ou o is black box,
and caeully polishing i, Rachel slid he ogoen wedding band down is
finge. She looked down, winkling he nose. He ohe ings wee bassy,
bohemian, colleced ove he yeas om flea makes and vinage shops. A
cheap, silve cescen suggesed living caelessly om moon o moon; he
shiny pincess-cu diamond bespoke he opposie: omaliy, obligaion, and
planning. She said he ing looked acky. I laughed, said somehing abou how
sububan mom/wie should be he summe lookas i a woking-class
amily lie was somehing o play dess-up in. I hough i was glamoous.
Bu whee did he glamou lie? Was i in he ac o maiage o in he
unnameable alchemical oces ha ansom a woman ino a wie?
On a coninuum, ackiness is he embaassing cousin o glamou.
Tees an ove-he-opness o he image o Lana Del Rey in monogam
Chanel suds, a hick gold ope chain, and a hee-finge ing ha says
in gold scip ha somehow neve opples ino oo much. Tis is wha I was
ascinaed wih. Rachel, placing an ovely shined ing nex o he caeully
disheveled collecion, was he opposie o effoless. In one ac, he aesheic
was conused and ansomed. She became he wiey and all ha i signaled;
paying homage o all he possible women she could be a once. Glamou was,
pehaps, jus a meiculously paciced skill, o eeeing on he edge o poo
ase bu always gaceully landing on beauy.
Simila o a Real Housewieo a Baskeball Wie, o claim wiey saus,
you need no be a wie by ing o by ceemony. Devoion, i seems, is he key
elemen. On Novembe 26, 2013long beoe Kanye Wes hied a 90-piece
ochesa o play Lana Del Reys Young and Beauiul duing his poposal
o commissioned he o peom a he pe-wedding pay a VesaillesKim
Kadashian demued in he shadows while K anye sa down o a adio ine-
view. In he video ooage, Kim is weaing a black long-sleeve uleneck, cam-
ouflaging agains he sudio walls. Save o he newly dyed caamel-blonde
Wifey StatusByGABBY BESS
Being a bad bich on he side mighno appeal o ools like you
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8 WIFEY STATUS
hai alling ove he shouldes and aming he ace, she is baely seen. Pe-
sumably beoe he camea sas olling, he adio hos asks Kim why she is
siing in on he ineview. On camea she answes, I jus came o suppo
him, as she gesues o Kanye and smiles.
Radio Hos: Oh, youe on wiey duy?Kim: Im jus wiey o he day.Kanye: Oh youe wiey o he lie now!
Cica Video Games, Lana used ems like he gangse Nancy Sinaa
and like Lolia go los in he hood o descibe hesel and he syle. She was
innocen ye hadened and, in his way, she appopiaes hip-hops ope o he
wiey. Shes he myhic ceaue who is hal good gil and hal bad bich. Unde
he umbl ag #wieysaus, unglamoous aco uesdays and pasa salads aehe images ha ae collaged nex o Lana Del Rey in a u coa. Tee is only
one image o he amongs pedesian selfies and uploads om pon blogs ha
pos women bending ove in hongs playing house. One such image beas he
ollowing ags: #cooking, #housewie, #wie, #booy. A fis glance, Lana seems
ou o place hee, and he disconnec beween he aspiaion and he ealiy o
he wiey is siking. Bu in he nea endless scolling, hey old ogehe, lend-
ing hei conex o each ohe. o quoe a quoe in he ag, he wiey ges hu
because o he hings you do bu sill ogives you misakes, can bing hesel
o hae you, even hough eveyone says she should, has only good hings o say
abou you, cied because o you counless imes bu smiles even when youve
done nohing o he. I he wiey is no Lana, she is a leas a Lana song. She is
he sum o Kanyes illogical equaion: one good gil is woh a housand biches.
Bu o aemp he illogical, as Lana does, seves o eveal ou own bodi-
ly consains, pushing up agains ideals and ex posing expecaions. Lana Del
Reylike he widely ciculaed picue o Kim Kadashian pushing baby
Nohs solle wih silve-immed eyes, a ull-volume blowou, and ull-
volume cleavageis a Yeezuslyic pesonified.
Fo Lana Del Rey, love and obsession is he ulimae expession. Since
eleasing Video Games in 2011, wholesale devoion has been he sock in
ade:Is you, is you, is all or you. Gowing up I was always pone o obses-sion, paly because o he way I am, bu paly because I el lonely o such a
long ime, she old heNaional in 2012. So when I ound someone o some-
hing ha I liked, I el hopelessly dawn o i. In he appings o anohe, she
ound he eedom. She ound a way o suvive. On he cove o Ulraviolence,
she sands in on o an old ca on a ee-lined see, he image black, whie,
and moody as i snipped om a Douglas Sik film. I eminds us o wo hings:
ha violence is insepaable om domesiciy, and ha domesiciy is glam-
oous. Te lyic ge a lile bi sububan and go cazy has a much diffeenmeaning o a wiey han o a een, and Lanas nea seely look doesn le us
oge ha, eihe.
Ten again, is only a lile bi. Fo he wild, diecionless, and adaman-
ly eeas Lana poclaimed hesel in Ridea nice maied lie can be
somehing o aspie o, an ide fixe. Jus as somehing ou o you each is all
you wan o go ae. While eminism has been fighing agains he confines
o he mohe and he wie, Lana evels in i. Tough wiedom she finds he
own esisance and mechanisms o suvival unde paiachy. She passes as
he devoed wie figue, doing anyhing o love, bu in he same beah she
les us know wha shes eally ae: money, powe, and gloy. And shell ake i
om you. Is a sleigh o hand ick, a seducion has acually a powe gab.
In Lana Del Reys hee-inged hands, eeences o symbols o sububia
and Ameicana become wisul and lus-wohy. Lana Del Reys guns, bibles,
Ameican flags, Chevy Malibus, and domesic lie ae lied om he conex
o he mos obvious couny song and given a ich exue ha dips opulence.
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GABBY BESS 9
Tis is he luxuy o leaving, o only playinghouse. Lana Del Reys glamou
lies in he abiliy o look ono he sububan, become a empoay naive o i,
and hen dive away, off o he nex sunse.
Lanas mlange o banaliy, glamou, and eveence o low-class aes-
heics chaaceizes he siving gil ha, above all, pioiizes he pesen
ove he uue. Tose who suvive in his way ae muable. Peviously, Lana
Del Rey has been Elizabeh Woolidge Gan, Lizzy Gan, May Jaile
bu like he boy iends and suga daddies a long he way, shes le all hosegils behind in avo o an incanaion ha has allowed he o fill ou he
shape o sadom. In an ineview wih Vogue U.K. she explains, I waned
a name I could shape he music owad. I was going o Miami quie a lo a
he ime, speaking a lo o Spanish wih my iends om CubaLana Del
Rey eminded us o he glamou o he seaside. I sounded gogeous com-
ing off he ip o he ongue. Fom he pespecive o sel-aleaion by any
means, I can undesand why a sububan lie can be omanicized and al-
mos necessay. Any chance o leave behind a ome ideniy is a chance o
be akenw hehe i s in he om o a new sage name o a new suname.
Boh could lead o a bee lie.
Weve winessed his beoe. When Vickie Lynn Hogan maied he fis
husband Donald R. Ha, she undewen he fis ansomaion o becomeNikki Ha. By he ime she made he fisPlayboycove appeaance in 1992
she was Anna Nicole Smih. Like Vickie Lynn Hogan, and hei oemohe
Noma Jeane Bake, Lana was bon wih ansomaion in he veins. Tei
men, money, and sel-made saus ae buil on lowe-class beginnings. Lanas
sel-imposed exile o living in New Jesey aile paks, alling in wih bike
gangs and culs, puposeully add o he myhology. Tese oigin soies
Mailyns ose cae childhood and Anna Nicoles sip-club genesisold
ino he idea o wha signifies an aspiaional lie.On umbl, an image se lays ou a scene om he Anna Nicole Show:
Woman: I hink youe gea! Bu I hink youe being exploied.Anna: Oh, yeah. Well, I don mind As long as I ge paid o i.
I was as much as Vickie Lynn could ask o. She used evey ounce
o eminine cham o ake wha she could om men, becoming he seduc-
ess, he wiey, and hen he widow. Now shes an icon o be veneaed and
eblogged by een gils o whom he deails o Anna Nicoles lie ae hazy.
In picues, Anna Nicole Smih lives ozen in he black-and-whie imageso he Guess-campaign youh. Even he momens ae he sa aded and
she hesel became unhinged ae sill celebaed wih housands o noes on
umbl, capioned wih She is my heo. Tough he imspa ads, weigh
gain, and subsequen nevous beakdown, she hung on o an undeniable
allue. ime and disance wash ou and ove all hings, unil hey ae pale
enough o eblog. As Lana Del Rey sings in Old Money, My mohers
glamour lives on and on.
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ONCE UPON A DREAM
LANADel Rey uses he imagey o Ameican naionalism oconsuc he kind o iconic gilhood ha whie Ameica goes cazy o. Bu
he elaion o his hisoy eels complicaed. She aims o be classic, an aes-
heic howback o a bygone ime when music was music and men wee men
and so on. Bu somehing is wong wih he picue. Osensibly, she gives
whie Ameica wha i wansan image o isel as lehal bu beauiul, guily
bu ogiven, an image o violence as indisinguishable om omance. I asaigh whie man hisyou, i means he wans o kiss youge i? Te al-
bums sell, bu is no enough; ciics beae he o no being convincing. Bu
maybe is no Del Reys aul ha his gloomwashing o whieness (Okay,
we suck, bu look how much we hae ouselves!) doesn wok. Maybe he
maeial can no longe be made convincing.
Del Reys whieness is unsable because i seems somehow ainly dis-
ubed by he knowledge o is omaion. Why else he deah wish? Why
Full-ime DaughterByHANNAH BLACK
Lana Del Reys Americana shows is demand or a
eminine desire ha knows how o long or deah
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HANNAH BLACK 11
else do he lips ciculae independenly o he ace? He lips ae so plump
and pleasingly symmeical ha when she fis became amous a lo o people
hough hey wee ake. Te mouh became a phenomenon in is own igh,
signiying some kind o excess ha couldn be assimilaed. Tee was an ex-
pos o he alleged lip-enhancemen sugey and a umbl whee someone
Phooshopped he mouh ono images o celebiies. Wih a couple o excep-
ions, mos o he amous aces enhanced wih Lana lips on his blog belong
o whie people. Evidenly he joke doesn wok so well when he lips ae
ansposed ono black peoples aces. When hick lips belong o black people,
hey ae pa o he appaaus o acial and acis idenificaion. Bu on a whie
gil, big lips ae sexy and suspicious. Tey mus be akemeaning hey look ake
migh be inechangeable wih hey beter be ake. In he conex o Ameicanwhienesss paanoid elaion o wha i peceives as he blood ain o black-
ness (which is also he ain o whie guil), alse ull lips migh be deeply
peeable o a eal ull mouh, even i hey ae supeficially deided.
Del Rey has said she waned he new album Ulraviolenceo have beau-
iul jazz undeones. Te smokiness o he voice is vaguely jazzy in a whie
way, a neueed and bleached jazzhe voice o a whie gil daping hesel
in an accepable, decoaive blackness. Is no he inense, yeaning asp o
Holliday o Fizgeald o Simone. Whee blackness is deployed as an un-deone, an undeneah, he suace is wipe-clean and whie. Tis sucue
deflecs he unbeaable hisoy o Ameican capialism, uning i ino mee
exue. In Dak Paadise (2012), Del Rey lives on he dak side o he
Ameican deam, bu is okay because she can be you china doll. Fom
he ouside, whie womanhood looks like a place scubbed clean o hisoy
whee he violence o whie men can be mainained, a leas symbolically, as
enjoymen. Tis is absoluely no mean o ciicize o commen on acually
exising whie women, o even he acually exising Lana Del Rey, bu onlyo egise wha is negaed o held a bay in he image o whie womanhood,
om he pespecive o blackness.
In he video o Ride (2012), she is on he oad wih some bikes,
all big whie guys. She wils on he back o a bike, deached and dead-eyed,
in a novely -shi. In he opening monologue, she ell us, I believe in he
couny Ameica used o be. (o quoe Hennessy Youngman: W hich good
old days do you mean? Te good old days when people owned slaves? O
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12 FULL-TIME DAUGHTER
maybe i was he good old days whee ns wee ee, bu hey couldn voe?)
He embling ininess is a complimen o he mens bigness. You can be my
ull-ime daddy, she coons. W hie heeosexualiy is like a phoogaphic pe-
specive ick in which he man sands vey close o he camea and he wom-
an sands a enough away ha a adically diminished vesion o he seems osand on his palm.
As eve, she is awkwad and weidly unconvincing on camea. He awk-
wadness is so inense ha i ovewhelms he beauy, even hough beauy
usually eads as compeence. In a sex scene, she leans on a pinball machine,
doll-like and deached, as a guy ucks he om behind. Is had o ell i is
mean o be consensual o no. She eminds me o he gawky eenages in
pon, he ones adveised as amaeus, whose eoic chage is exacly in hei
incompeence. Tey oo ae ovewhelmingly whie, whehe pey o ugly, ao hin. Daddies can be dangeously aoused by signs o sexualiy, signs ha
ae almos inechangeable wih hose consideed maks o blacknessa ull
mouh, emphaic hips, a sexual appeiebu hey ae basically sae i you ae
able o eassue hem ha you ae a china doll, a whie ull-ime daughe.
Ulraviolence, building on he spii o Ride, exends ou om his am-
aeu affec, a whole albums woh o he anasy o he violence o desie: I
can hea siens, siens / He hi me and i el like a kiss / I can hea violins,
violins / Give me all o ha ulaviolence. Tis deeply ambivalen image omasculine desiean eenal had-on o he spoless mindequies a emi-
nine desie ha knows how o long o deah, and heeoe how o eally love
whie masculiniy. Tee may well be suicidal emmes in non-whie culue,
bu he pop-culue Beauiul Gil W ho Longs Fo Deah is paadigmaically
whie. She could ake he pick o he spoils o whie paiachy, bu insead
she wans o lie down and die. In his alone, pehaps, she is vey sympaheic.
She wans o die, bu unil hen, she guads he man jealously. Who
om? In he song Black Beauy, he poagonis o he song is angy wih
he blue-eyed boyiend o ucking aound wih Spanish women who will
lead him o uin, insead o him leading he o uin, which is also wha she
is offeing him: uin. Bu he uin is whie. Deploying he aesheic o whie
Ameica ends, necessaily, a bes, owad suicidal sel-loahing. o achieveanyhing o noe wih his epulsive maeial, you have o ake he only ea-
sonable couse and wish yousel dead.
Unlike Ciaa, whose own song Ride is an open celebaion o he own
sexual skill, when Lana jus ides she coyly flips he inepeaive wok ono
us. O couse he Ride woks only because he ouble shes elling us shes
ying no o ge ino sounds like sex. Bu as a dedicaed whie gil, Lana can
only aive a his hough a oued and euphemisic ale o diving hough
he nigh o how hesel a Daddy, who migh send he home. She is ozenin he long whie nigh o sex as ambivalence. A momens he gil in he song
uns I jus ide ino he bieswee simulaneous spell o sex and escape
ha pop excels in. She is ying o cleanse hesel in sex om he spell o sex.
Bu Ride is ull o ahes, and she can dive anywhee ha isn daddy.
Wheeve i goes, whieness abolishes ancesos. Is easy o undesand
his eusal o be hauned by he dead shipped as commodiies, saved, in-
eced, woked o deah, and so on. In he absence o is dead, whie paia-
chy has o do exa wokhe phallic ahe becomes an eoic miage, andLana Del Rey ies o love i. In Old Money on Ulraviolence, she celebaes
he paenal line whee he money came om: My ahes love was always
song, she sings. Bu she can help adding, Ye sill inside I el alone, o
easons unknown o me. Maybe she doesn know he eason, bu he wok
seems oubled by an inkling o i. How convenien ha he whie ahes,
unable o bea he agic sucue o desie ha Del Rey consucs in hei
image, accuse he o aking i.
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NINA POWER 13
WE WAN I IN CAS H, REROACIVE AND IMMEDIA-ELY, AND WE WAN ALL OF I. his demand, made in a lye by
he New Yok Wages o Housewok Campaign, inds a cuious echo in
Lana Del Reys ecen Money, Powe, Gloy, despie he poesaionha she inds eminism boing. Hee she oo demands money, powe,
gloy, sweaing ha shell alenaely ake you and hem o all ha
hey go. You moheuckes have eveyhing, and you did nohing o
ge i bu seal om he people who did all he wok bu go nohing in
eun. his ack, osensibly abou a hypociical eligious igue, could
jus as easily be ead as a eminis o epaa ions evenge an hem.
ypically, evenge anhemslike love songsae oo limied. Why
Run, Boy, RunByNINA POWER
Money, Power, Glory says I can uck (wih)you, bu I will also desroy he whole worldha makes you possible
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14 TITLE
punish one cheaing basad when you can evisceae he whole lo a once?
Why demand one peson love you when you could desoy he couple om
as such and neve have o woy abou i again? Having aleady wokedhe way hough he ecogniion and ciique o emoional labo in Video
Games, whee Del Rey poesses he ceepies possible vesion o devoion
in ode o pass hough i o somehing much weide: Is you, is you, is
all o you / Evey hing I do / I ell you all he ime. I ell you all he ime be-
cause emoional labo is is epeiion. Whee Bineys I was bon o make
you happy capues an olde exisenial image o love as desiny (albei no
less ceepily han Del Rey), Video Games makes i clea ha love is a e-
peaed peomance, one ha is oen miseable.When emoional labo eaches is beaking poin , no in iony o ove-
peomance bu in a ealizaion o is evoluionay poenial, eveyhing
love epesens hypoheically becomes a eal demand. I is he ansiion
om playing video games o demanding ha he enie sucue ha sep-
aaes viualiy om ealiy be dismanled. Money, Powe, Gloy is he
ecogniion ha he maeial inequaliies o he wold play ou in such a way
ha hei dismanling mus in he fis place be hei ecapueand ha
will include dope and diamonds, inebiaion, and exploiaion. Cona
Aude Lodes agumen ha Te mases ools will neve dismanle he
mases houseo, indeed, he singe Lodes claim ha ha kind o luxeisn o usDel Rey undesands ha he mases house and he mases
ools ae all hee is, and i hey enjoy i so ucking much, despie doing noh-
ing o ge i, hen a ansiional demand o as much excessive pleasue as
possible is only ai in is unainess.
Alenaing beween demanding eveyhing om you and eveyhing
om hem, Del Rey goes o boh agens and sucues, and he anasy o
expopiaing he expopiaos becomes less o a deam han a eal, living
hea: Alleluia, I wanna ake you o all ha you go / Alleluia, Im gonnaake hem o all ha hey go. Te slide beween you and hey sees he
as boh pesonal and sysemic: I can uck (wih) you, bu I will also desoy
he whole wold ha makes you possible.
Heaven is no longe a place on eah wih you, as i becomes clea ha
he maeial wold is all hee is. Eveyhing ha you have ill-goen is going
o be aken om youa gunpoin i necessayas he ull woking ou o
Del Reys Ameican anasy pojec suely implies.
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ROBIN JAMES 15
ULTRAVIOLENCE alks abou someugly eelings, bu is music is eally peyone o he acks is iled Pe-
y When You Cy, ae all. Alexis Peidis, wiing in he Guardian, de-
scibes he album as a beauiul, gauzy shimme o emolo guias and
eveb-denched dums, wih a lo o aenion clealy paid o suble deails.
Is music is so calm and peaceul ha many eviewes find i boring: Peidis
Wound Down InsideByROBIN JAMES
Ulaviolences suffocaed soars fusrae criicsatemps o eel good abou Lana eeling bad
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16 WOUND DOWN INSIDE
calls i elenless and monoonous, and Laua Snapes uses moe euphemis-
ic emssaely and languido descibe he albums lack o musical
ension, inensificaion, o vaiaion. Nealy evey eview I ead emaked
on he albums unwaveing (Snapes) pace: 11 songs, all a abou he same
said empo, wih lile in he way o peak, beak, o dop. Del Rey may alk
abou ucking he way o he op (on Fucked My Way Up o he op), bu
he music sue doesn seem o climax o climb.
Te albums climaxes aen absen, jus muedina-ed ahe han
ula-ed. Fo example, Cuel Wold conains wo exemely dilued soas.
Populaized by EDM-influenced pop, he soa is a composiional echnique
o geneaing sonic ension and enegy. Mos EDM soas build hyhmic
inensiy up o he limis o human heaing by epeaing a pecussion sound
a inceasingly as inevals ha evenually pass he poin a which we can
disinguish individual beas. Te buildup is usually ollowed by a measue o
eihe silence o some so o sceam o sien, which culminaes in a flouish
o hi on he downbea o he nex measue. Maxing i ou beyond he
poin o diminishing euns (ino he ula- sonic, you migh say), soas
cash a song so ha is phoenix-like ise sounds all he moe specacula.
Cuel Wold suffocaes is soas. Te fis pa o he soa begins a
he pe-chous when a dum comes in on he ofeas (Go you Bible).
Adding hyhmic onamens in he dum pa ill hees a clealy audible
dum hi on each bea, he inensiy o hyhmic evens builds ove he
pe-chous, peaking a he end and spilling ove ino he chous pope wih
an eve-so-genle and eseved pai o sixeenh noes on he pickup and
downbea o each o he las wo beas in he phase (and an exa eighh noe
on he and o ou). Te chous coninues o build, peaking on he lineyoue ucking cazy. Pulsaing guia eveb emphasizes his cazy, mak-
ing i he mos musically unsable pa o he song. Tis eveb echoes EDM
pops use o eble synhs o build hyhmic and imbal inensiy. Usually
hese synh lines build up ove a measue o wo o give added oompho a
downbea. Tis guia eveb, howeve, comes in on a downbea and unolds
ove he es o he measue, spinning ou ahe han building up.
Undecuing he sonic impac o a downbea is no a new hing. In 19h
cenuy Euopean classical music, composes soened a songs hamonicesoluion by placing he cadence on an off-bea ahe han a downbea. Tis
echnique was called, inamously, a eminine endingeminine because
is a weake cadence han a convenional, on-he-downbea one. Migh Del
Rey be eminizing he soa by deceleaing i, pulling i back ahe han
pushing i hade?
Maybe. Tough Ulaviolence sounds like jus anohe eny in he
ecen-ish spae o fla, aniclimacic pop songs, i doesn shae hei sonic
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ROBIN JAMES 17
pos-maximalism. Tis pos-maximalism pushes bosep- and EDM-syle
sonic maximalism even hade, so ha maximalism isel shis egises, sub-
limaing ino somehing else. Alex Niven agues ha his sublimaion isn
limied o he sonic:
I hink ha wha we ae seeing now is somehing like he sublimaion o heSoa. Piling layes o aificial sonic squall on op o a ack began as a way oachieving commecial hypebole, a classic case o seoid-injecion o allow achous-hook o soa above is aiwave ivals. O couse, indusy pop is sillmoivaed by his insinc, bu now Te Soa also seems o be giving expessiono more genuinely populis senimens. [emphasis mine]
Te soa, a sonic meapho o an individual ising above compeios,
is sublimaed ino populism. O, he soas impliciIis ansomed ino we.
In his sho passage, Niven implies ha his shi in pespecive omIo weis he effec o pushing aleady maxed-ou soas even uhe ino he ed.
Tashe sublimaion: sound becomes pespecive.
Miley Cyuss We Can Sop is a gea illusaion o his sublima-
ion. Is main soa begins when he pecussion dops ou and Miley noodles
aound on some yea-eh-ay-aehs. Insead o damaically soaing up o o
pausing in anicipaion o he downbea o he chous, Mileys vocals de-
creasein hyhmic inensiy as he song genly swells ino he aaaaaand o
he chouss fis line. Tis soa is moe molehill han mounain. Even houghevey individual in he song is paying ou o bounds, om he maco-scale
pespecive o he we,no individual case seems o be paiculaly ansges-
sive. Tas why he fis lineIs ou pay we can do wha we wanna (no
dama) isn conadicoy, and a song abou wild gaga paying is eally
low-key (like Ke$ha on Benadyl). Te mued soa is he effec o he shi
in naaive pespecive omIo we.
Tough Ulraviolence shaes We Can Sops elaxed, aniclimacic
music and is dedicaion o individual excess, Del Rey sill speaks as an I,no
a we.Eveyhing is decidedly close up and singula: wha I wan, wha you
did (o me). He songs don ea he excesses as somehing ohe people
can o wan o ideniy wihheye no he had-paying un o Miley
o Ke$ha, o Gagas supposedly aisic and acivis bounday-pushing, o
evidence o ou maued pespecive, as in Lode. Rahe, Del Reys songs
depic he excesses as singula and individuaing. As Mak Richadson says
in Pichok, shes an uely disincive figue in popula musicno pa
o a scene, wih no seious imiaosand befiing someone compleely off
on he own, shes lonely. Rahe han sublimaing he soa (o is coelae,
gaga eminism), Del Rey inenalizes i, using is enegy o subjec hesel
o he sices o scuiny. Fom his pespecive, o example, Booklyn
Baby is a meciless sel-paody. Te musics flaness expesses Del Reys si-phoning o pops enegy o he own sel-vivisecion. Ulraviolenceundecus
isel boh musically and naaively.
Pehaps we eel like Del Rey is a bad gil because she pervershe soa
insead o sublimaing i. Peidiss eview suggess as much:
Bu shes definiely o blame o is big ailing, which isn so much ha is viewo he wold is weid and unpleasanpleny o ock and pop music can claimha disincionbu ha is elenless and monoonous, oo: you don have
o be a adical eminis o eel weaied ae a ull hou in he company o Ulra-violencescollecion o alenaely eeble and aw ul women. Te ... poblem wihUlraviolenceemains he same: Lana Del Rey keeps epeaing hesel.
Fo Peidis, whas objecionable abou he album isn, say, is gloifica-
ion o domesic violence, bu is ailue o make somehing new and exciing
ou o all ha pain and damage. Del Rey make ciics uncomoable because
he musicdoesn sublimae hei chaaces pesonal damage ino somehing
hese ciics can eel good abou, eihe aesheically o poliically.
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ULTRAVIOLENCES INFRAMUSICALITY
IN2011, Lana Del Rey showed up o he chillwave pay wih flowesin he hai and a video shed made hesel. She was awkwad, a piy guesugging a he hem o he hand-me-down dess. She didn know how o
do eyeline. Te videoo Video Gameslooked somehing like a cam-
code monage played a an ealy uneal, and somehing like a collecion o
messages le on Skype o a long-disan love, and hen like somehing less
alogehe, a naive and hal-soned disacion om ull-ime basemen lie.
Singe and video boh wee accused o he ulimae high school dons: be-
ing ake and ying (he new selling ou). In esponse, Lana shugged
and said ha eally, she shouldve ied hade. Had I known so many peo-
ple wee going o wach [i], she old Te Daily Sarin 2012, Id have pusome moe effo ino i. I would have go my hai and makeup done and
ied no o be so pouy, seeing as eveyone alks abou my ace all he ime.
Ta yea in ashion, he yen o pasels eached a zenih, and ew sas
wen pale han Lana. I emembe ying he end, so oId bleached
my hai o deah in 2010, hen inused i wih lavende, osebu when i
came o clohes ha mached, I el idiculous. I balked a wha I hen called
he bad gil goneLula look, which a hazily pasiched Del Rey embodied
Te Fake as MoreBySArH NICOLE PRICKEt
Lanas look is no omake i look easy
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SARAH NICOLE PRICKETT 19
in and aound he Video Games ame. I didn cae i he lips wee ake; I
caed ha he cigaee beween hem wen unsmoked. (As a ailed evangel-
ical Chisian, I have neve undesood why anyone would preendo have
sin.) He songs I liked, bu he oufis boed me: siff, pim, and so oen
pasel, a hue synonymous wih sweeness and aificialiy. Pasels, and he
Pleasanville syles hey come in, also connoe (o me) an anodyne, ladylike
eminism ha pizes smaness and sel-igheousness a he expense o no
only sex appeal bu hose who use i o win, as i bains ae any less a hing
o luck and culivaion han bodies, o as i he aveage inellec is any less
aificial han (allegedly) Lanas lips o Lanas nose.
I find i unny-sad-ue ha in ying o look sma, she basically jus
dessed non-sluy: Google-image Lana Del Rey 2011 and Lana Del
Rey 2012, and youll ge gowns o he floo, shis buoned all he wayup, uzzy sweaes, and cinch-waised ocks. She dyed he Lizzy Ganea,
Biney-blonde hai a especable, honeyed shade o bown. She loweed he
voice, because people didn ake [he] seiously wih a high one, bu hen
hey didn us he emininiy wih a low one. So she sang Blue Velve
bu woe sawbey pink and min geen, peach and lemon and viole. And
whieneve whie l ike a bide, bu whie like he gil who weas whie o
someone elses wedding.
Why was Lana neve bel ievable as a Kennedy, whe he she was pl ay-ing Jackie o dessing like Caolyn Bessee? Because she was in on he
joke. A 14, she was sen o Ken Sc hool, he 19h mos ex pensive p ivae
high school in Ameica; amous gaduaes include composes, acos,
opea singes, Meyl Seeps daughe, and a yaching cinemaogaphe
and lecue. When she le o go sing abou i (see: he painully pe-
ame Boading School, 2009) she knew exacly wha she was unning
away om; when she sang abou doing cack and dinking Pepsi, she
was announci ng hesel as he aniDie Cokehead. he kind o gil she
gew up agains is classy, symmeical, well o (no ich), and hin;
he beauy labo is 90 pecen hidden, an alembic o genes and expense.
She ges $900 blonde highlighs, $140 blowous, and $18 juices, goes in
o daily pesonalized wokous and wice-weekly acials, and spends an
hou a day aking viamins, only o smile apologeically and say, I swea,
is jus lip gloss and ouche cla. Meanwhile, Lana came ou looking
like she spen moe ime on he ace han in bed.
Accodingly, Born o Die(2012) ook a Blue Velve-ie diecion. Bu
o he albums Pepsi-coloed cove shoo, and o mos o ha yeas con-
ces, accepances, and appeaances, Lana pu on a Sunday look she couldn
alogehe pull off. Pale pep evivalism made aylo Swi look like a debu-
ane, and Lana Del Rey like a unaway in shoplied ends. Boh aylo andLana ae ome omboys wih loaded dads and blue-colla oigin soies.
Bu Lana, dessed like a sweehea, was nobodys.
No unil he video o Ride, wih is naive Ame-acana and man-
ic declaaion o independence, did my impession make sense o he
es. Lanas whieness had neve been innocen, o wasn now; he look
was suddenly so conscious , so caicauing o is in luences ha I could
have swon she was appopiaing whieness. he desses had neve been
daddys gil, bu daddys lile gil. I was wong abou he cigaees,oo. Faders cove soy has he chain-smoking Paliamens, a band no-
body buys o look cool, and he speaking voice is is-hand poo . Sob e
o a decade, she sill sings abou whiskey and whie lines. She has neve
been spoed nea a gym. No has she eve open ed up ab ou h e weigh,
in egad o which shes one o he less boheed pop sas alive. As seen
in ropico, Lanas bo dy is ip e, embling , and dei anly unmai nained, a
body as a ou o ime as he voice.
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20 THE FAKE AS MORE
Because she seems no o ake cae o hesel (ha unaies o mod-
en mandaes), Lanas beauy is boh laboious and ad hoc. Is ake nails,
alse eyelashes, and lashings o powde and kohl. He hai, which has al-
ways looked dyed om a box, is now he nighshade hue o Secre nylons.
Jus as he eply o y ing oo had on Video Games was o y a lo
hadehe colos moe and moe sauaed ove he couse o Born o
Dieso oo, now ha shes amous enough o ge he makeup done o
a bodega ip, does she euse he kind o Beyonc-level mask ha looks
(bu isn) effoless, o even good, up close (see: he Fadercove shoo, in
which he cameas ge hi-de and he makeup says lo-de ). Te message is
clea: Say you disance. O maybe: I can bea my skin, bu also: Who he
uck ae you o hink youe eniled o he eal me? She looks supaeal.
She looksexhausing.I wish I was dead aleady, she says, bu I wish I was dead was aleady
sung on Dak Paadise, and we (he media) didn eak ou wo yeas ago.
We eihe did no hea o did no ake seiously he lyic. Failed o believe
she had wien i, assumed she hesel did no believe i, we ae ained o
hink o he pop sas pesona as saely emoved om he peson, he same
way we ecas as anasy wha wee aaid o say we eal ly, eally wan. I
oo hink his o mos pesonas, bu no o Lanas. I hink, Wha i Lana did
uck he way o he op? Wha i she was hi? Wha i she liked i? Wha ihe pussy ases exacly like cola? And i all she wans is dope and diamonds,
so wha? Wha i he mos adicaluck i, eminishing you can do is
believe eveyhing a gil says abou he lie, whehe o no you like i?
wo yeas ago, he pevailing (male) esablishmen didn like i one
bi. Reviews had Lana looking no all ha dak, only noi: a vamp, a amp,
he new Blue Angel, accused o luing lonesome cowds o indie boys om
hei shiy lo-fi pinciples. Te New York imess Jon Caamanica called
he a pose, a meme, and a has-been, suggesing she could only y again by
wash[ing] off ha ace pain and muss[ing] up ha hai. In ohe wods,
Lana Del Rey should do a bee job o passingo being a naual woman.
Insead, Lana has eplaced Anna Nicole Smih as he eigning aux
queen, a ome blue-jean baby whose ejecion o upwadly mobile
eminism and/o high-class emininiy in avo o aalisic glamou and
emale-o-emale dag makes he a gende desee o some, bu a godsend
o mos, because a leas she neve makes i look easy. And wha a elie.
When saigh gils and women ae mean o choose beween chic, sudied
effolessness (ceaive uppe class/Manhaan) and weely aesheicized
ailue (ceaive undeclass/Booklyn), Lanas uh is way, way in beween:
Being a man-loving woman is no an ideniy; is a job. Is a glamoous job,
bu he hous ae long and hees oen no uue and i sucks, i scas, and ihadens, and is had. (Hee I admi ha is emping o ead man unlie-
ally, as somehing big and impossible o ge ou omdugs, ame, money,
a whole damn couny. In melodamaic pop songs, almos any elaion is
easie ead as a elaionship.)
Agains he glisening unlisenable void o Ulraviolence, is clam-
o and gliz and classless, naked aspiaion (shaed also by he bes songs
on Born o Die), Lanas old pasels seem cold in a newish ligh. Eveyhing
Ambien blue, Paxil pink, Oxycodone min . Celexa peach, Klonopin yel low,Wellbuin v iolehe v iole pil ls she sings o in a bonus ack, maybe
bu shes off i all now. Gone ae he pescipive his. Gone he flowes. Ev-
eyhing ades o buise, unil: he cove o Ulraviolenceis he in black and
whie wih a whie ca and a whie simple V-neck ove a whie, v isible ba,
as i o say, Is his eal enough o you? Is sange. No one has eve looked
less comoable in a -shi. Fo a week I couldn figue i ou, and hen I
hough: She looks like a paien escaping.
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ROBIN JAMES 21
Daling, you can le eveyhing seem so dak blue.Oh, wha can I do?
Black Beauy, Lana Del Rey
THEsumme I was 16 and cipplingly awkwad, my ahes job
moved ou amily om oono o he Souhen U.S. Ae spending my
whole young l ie in Canada, I sa ed my fis day o 10h gade a Geoge
Walon High School in Eas Cobb Couny, G eogia, and he ensuing cul-
ue shock was abou as haowing as you can imagine o an aleady un-
easy eenage gil.
Te high school o nealy 2,700 sudens was pimaily whie and Bap-
is, complee wih daily paye aound he flagpole, pancake beakass o
Jesus, and a Friday Nigh Lighssyle ooball obsession. On game days, ullysuied ooball playes bough oses o hei assigned cheeleades, while
he gils, clad in hei eshly pessed ed-whie-and-blue unioms, povid-
ed playes wih baked goods and beakas sandwiches om Chik-fil-A. Te
own was amed o a 56-oo-all seel-sided chicken saue, and o being an
ealy adope o sickes o is science ex-
books. In one memoable ound o bullying , a ew ohe sudens decided I
was a weido and a eak and hew ood a me in he caeeia while gleeully
chaning insuls.
Te only way o suffe hough 18 monhs in he slo-mo spo-mov-
ie monage o Souhen een culue was o eishize Ameicanapoess
in Maiea Squae and peach pies cooling on windowsills, buey Waffle
House gis and chain-smoked Malboo Reds wih boomless dine co-
ee, and he appealing aade o Souhen hospialiy. I was a bigh-side
appoach o dakness, a juvenile ascinaion wih he gea Ameican oad
ip, wih dug-ueled binges o he sake o poey and a, wih Hollywood
Die 4 UBySACEY MAY FOWLES
Lana Del Reys sound is nosalgia or an old lie
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22 DIE 4 U
glamou and evoluion and he blinking lighs o Vegasa alse onie
menaliy ha made Ameica seem majesic ahe han menacing. Delud-
ing mysel ino suvival, I ound somehing o love whee hee was nohing.
And decades lae, Ive ound ha Lana Del Rey ha sounds exacly like ha
gloious peense. He songs, ae in essence, nosalgia o an old lie.
Te culue makes a dicum o auheniciy and a nea yanny o he
genuine, so ha anyone who capializes on unuhs is sinning agains he
viue o anspaency. We so oen desoy people who ae uly hemselves
in all hei bokenness, ye loahe hose, like Lana, who can ell a whole lie
(o a leas make many music ciics hink shes ake). Bu aifice is no
only amo, and peomance is no he same as aking i. Is a salve agains
day-o-day cuely o ewie ealiy, o build pey, ficional wolds o live
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STACY MAE FOWLES 23
inside o a ime, because he alenaive is o wihe in agony wihou hem.
Lana Del Reys music is a iny habo o saey, no unlike he Amei-
cana o my een imaginaion. She is haed no because shes aking i, bu be-
cause shes aking i in an unsancioned way, and even wose, is unepenan
abou i. My pussy ase like Pepsi-Cola, my eyes ae wide like chey pies.
I gos a ase o men whoe olde, she coons in semi-idiculousness. Ive
go eahes in my hai. I ge down o bea poey, and my jazz collecions
ae, she bags wihou he necessay iony. Shes playully wesling wih
bikes in he dese, saely submiing o he old man, gloi ying hings ha
neve wee and will neve be. In essence, shes a gown woman living inside
ha imeless eenage daydeam o wha i means o be an adulyeaning
o agency bu sill waning o be someones baby, oo eified o gow up
bu haing he powelessness o youh.While he media haps abou he lies his sel-syled daddys gil is spin-
ning, hose who enjoy he find he all ales a balm. Some say shes boed
o boing (wih Lana Del Nyquil being my avoie nickname hus a,)
bu hes is a comoing anasy in is epeiive omanic edium, an all-
consuming, unsusainable love on an endless loop. Del Reys Ulraviolence
is bual, sexy, and submissive., bu shes managed o make hesel he sub-
jec o he naaive no he objec, even i he subjec is a passive one. Tis
is no he (male) anasy o Aguileas Diy-gil chaps, o Speas being aSlave 4 U wih a pyhon hanging om he all-Ameican neck. Is also no
he hype-caicaue o ove syled pop-culue pleahe BDSM, hough is
jus as peomaive.
Tis is no o say ha Lana Del Rey doesn suffe, bu ha when she
does is quick. Ten she culs he hai, smokes a Paliamen, and ges a lile
bi o boubon in he. (I ge a lile boubon in me, and I eihe need o have a
cy o go o bed. Lisening o Lana Del Rey is like doing boh.) When, in an
Ulraviolencelyic, she ells us ha his Bonnie on he side makes he a sad,
sad gil, we don eally believe i. He hea seems unbeakable, and hee is
no bee ake daydeam han he invincible hea.
In anohe lyic, Del Rey eally misses you bu is ulimaely glad youe
gonehe sadness nohing moe han a pey song ha can be skipped on
he album. She is like a chameleon ha go suck on one comoable col-
o and decided o say hee while she made hesel a maini. Someimes
she ges so lazy, lounging he linens, ha she does nohing moe han make
Didion-syle liss o comba lies ugliness: blue hydangea, cold cash divine,
cashmee, cologne and whie sunshine, ed acing cas, Sunse and Vine
As I gow oldeage being he hing ha he Del Rey pesona eas he
moshe uue has become inceasingly dicaed by diminishing choices,
and has inceased he value o my (and Lanas) long-ading anasies o hewide-open oad. Al l he hype-omanic die o you senimens o Ulra-
violenceae as impossible o susain as hey ae beauiul, li ke love noes, old-
ed and soed in shoeboxes in an adul bedoom close. He ealm is he u-
hes hing om aking he kids o socce pacice, mogage paymens, and
desk jobs, jus like i was he uhes hing om he hoos o high school.
We know is impossible o love someone il he end o ime, o o
jus ide, bu Del Reys gleeully aificial landscape soens he edges o
hose bual uhs, and belies he agumen ha she should sop all his ak-ing. Tee is a ogoen pa o me ha would like o believe halike in
Ulraviolences Old Moneyi you send o me, you know Ill come, and i
you call o me, you know I ll un. Bu I know I can un. Tee ae espon-
sibiliies and bills o pay and eands o coss off a edious lis, and o hose
apped in whaeve cage heyve ound hemselves in, anasy is necessiy.
Song by song, Lanas elling us he pey lies in he lile ed pay dess, and
we can enjoy he longing o believe hem, even i we can.
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