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Shades of Lana Del Rey
Written by Darlene Melendez. Published: July 26 2014
LIVE FAST. DIE YOUNG.
BE WILD. HAVE FUN.
These are the words
uttered by the solemn, whimsical beauty that we all have come to
know as Lana Del Rey.
Her sound is a
blood-red lipstick stain on a discarded cocktail napkin and it
drips with nostalgia for a time and place that we've come to know
only through black and white cinema and our grandparents' old
record collection. Although these items are not necessarily from
our own time, the memories and references they hold are strong
enough to transport us into the past.
The former Elizabeth
Woolridge Grant has become a human portal into the time of classic
Hollywood glamour, allowing us access to the days of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley,
and Jackie O without having to actually lived in
that era.
She now serves as a
relic to this bygone society as the widely known Lana Del Rey, but
the road to success has been far from easy for her. It comes as no
surprise to devoted fans that Del Rey's music career is not a
recent endeavor. She signed her first record contract 5 Points
Records as Elizabeth Grant and later started recording under the
name Lizzy Grant.
If you're curious to
hear Lizzy Grant's sound, check out two of my personal favourites,
"Raise Me Up" and "Pawn Shop Blues", below:
In 2010, she gave birth to her muse. "I wanted
a name I could shape the music towards. I was going to Miami quite
a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from
Cuba - Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It
sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue," she shared with Vogue UK in 2011.
Del Rey's activities as of late involve
befriending James Franco (whom she once revealed
as her celebrity crush), working with Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) on his forthcoming album,
gracing the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, and hinting
at a possible Ultraviolence tour in
2015.
Lana Del Rey is unapologetically herself, and
part of that is taking all of her life experiences and owning them
as part of the journey.
Just like other artists, Del Rey uses her
music as an outlet to discover herself, her journey, and who she
truly is. Elizabeth Grant is rewriting her past as Lana Del Rey.
She serves as a voice for the untold stories of sadness and
heartbreak -- which are far from glamorous and aren't often
addressed in the music industry today. What makes the urban
princess so unique is her gift to speak to an entire misguided
generation of people who are constantly on the search to discover
their own identities, which often leaves them conflicted with
accepting their own life experiences and molding that into who they
are today.
Lana Del Rey now has another record under her
belt, Ultraviolence, which debuted at #1 in twelve
countries, despite her prior hesitation to continuing her music
career, and despite her record label's initial dissatisfaction with
her album. Ultraviolence possesses this underlining theme
of bittersweet heartbreak and unequal love etched into the core of
every track, echoing the themes of her previous albums -- but this
time with a raw and darker sound.
Although Lana Del Rey may be using a stage
name, she has clarified the meaning she attributes to this name. As
people with passions in many different areas, we each have a muse
that ignites these particular passions, whether it's a person, a
place, or an idea.
Frequently referred to as a "self-styled
gangsta Nancy Sinatra" and "Lolita lost in the hood", Lana Del Rey
has maintained this urban persona and matured it in Ultraviolence. What started off as a concept for her music
has developed into a full aesthetic that teaches us it's okay to be
crazy -- because it is then that we are free.
(Photo via
WENN)
- Darlene Melendez, YH
Staff