Done my hair up real big beauty queen style High heels off, I’m feeling alive ~Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey … so much written about her. So many opinions!
No one could possibly dispute though, that she has a spectacular voice. And as my blogs are about specific song videos, I’m not going to get into the whole “how dare she reinvent herself under a new name and abandon her original fans” – or some such twat! (though for the record I can’t possibly see why it would matter if she did. Just shows she’s smart and committed).
I think what really miffed some fans and critics is that she wasn’t a starving New York musican who done good but a girl from money, who used her means to help her achieve her goal.
Del Rey likes a certain kind of look to her vids and this one is no exception. Sepia toned, smoky, filtered and aged, she goes heavily for nostalgia and tragic romance. The clip is said to reflect the pain and sadness of not being able to spend your life with the person you love, and depicts suicide. It is a beautiful mood piece but like many clips, its real narrative is a little confused and takes a back seat to sultry set pieces of Del Rey and her actress friend, Jaime King.
In spite of that, viewed in isolation, the video clip is quite moving and lovely. However, if you’re familiar with Del Rey and her work, it may well be passed off (as some critics have) as being just another moody magazine spread of the singer in an array of diaphanous gowns. She does love girly and lacy! I dig her voice and her “thing”. She’s said to be going for a bad ass Nancy Sinatra look, and though I catch echoes of that, it is hard to see Del Rey as anything other than a true romantic.
Thumbs up for the sound and the look of Summertime Sadness, thumbs sideways for the clarity of the storytelling.
Here’s the clip, directed by Kyle Newman and Spencer Susser, Director of Photography: Morgan Susser, Editor: Spencer Susser, Producer: Tova Dann, Starring: Jaime King & Lana Del Rey
But even better is this vid of her version of Summer Wine by Nancy Sinatra
