Lana Del Rey Cries Diamond Tears in "Young & Beautiful"

As outstanding as the Jay-Z produced soundtrack for The Great Gatsby is (and it is), the standout has to be Lana Del Rey’s haunting ode to decadent love “Young and Beautiful”. It takes a special talent to be able to evoke a completely different time period musical without even using any of that era’s contemporary musical styles. Then again, Lana herself is a walking embodiment of a time gone by, so I guess she just exudes nostalgia.

And the song itself just so beautiful compliments the themes of the film/story – superficial decadence that masks an underlying dispair and desperation. It really doesn’t need a music video to exhibit these ideas, but here we are. Ms. De Rey just released a clip for this defining track, and it keeps not only the bleak themes in tact but also the aesthetic of the time period. It’s rather simple, but the imagery is powerful – specifically of Lana herself, done up to the nines, looking as glamorous as ever, with sparkling, diamond-studded tears dripping from her eyes. Even her suffering is gorgeous.

Also, she smiles in this. Yay!

Check out “Young and Beautiful” below, and see The Great Gatsby in theatres now!

(Image via Lana Del Rey/YouTube)

- Katie Marzullo, YH Staff Editor

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