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"Before there was Lana Del Rey, there was Elizabeth Woolridge Grant - an awkward shy, blonde, and a rather plain singer with a failing career in New York

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NY Times on a San Francisco performance:

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NY Times on a San Francisco performance:

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She was "flanked by a pair of singer-dancers dressed in goth cheerleader outfits who slithered in slow motion, as if to parody the very idea of backup dancers".

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Fan Forum: Which Lana Del Rey song is the most 'Daddy'?

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Fan Forum: Which Lana Del Rey song is the most 'Daddy'?

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Forum discusses which of Del Rey's songs contains the most references to her taste for older men.

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r/lanadelrey - What song by Lana is the most "Daddy"?

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r/lanadelrey: A place to discuss and share all matters concerning singer, Lana Del Rey. Lust For Life available now!

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Commercial persuit - Great Gatsby Soundtrack,  

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Commercial persuit - Great Gatsby Soundtrack,  

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Song written for the film The Great Gatsby. Vintage, 1920s backdrop and the prominent theme of the The American Dream are key aspects of Del Rey's image.

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The Great Gatsby - Young and Beautiful (Music Video)

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Lana Del Rey takes out restraining order against fans

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Lana Del Rey takes out restraining order against fans

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Lana Del Rey is known for being very, very active with her fan-base, most commonly known as the "Lanatics". But recently, a few "Lanatics" have shown signs of genuine lunacy and California State has gotten involved.

Towards the end of 2015, Lana Del Rey faced a variety of bizarre, unsettling, deeply invasive moments involving fans that crossed the line. A 19 year-old male was reportedly camping out in her Malibu home garage. Then, as if you'd expect something else more insane, two of her Jaguars were stolen by a woman named Icess Floyd.

Now, it's 2016 and Lana Del Rey has had enough. New year, new me etc. Two young Russian girls have gone too far in their efforts to - well, we're not sure exactly. Threatening suicidal letters have have been written, violent and jumbled letters have been placed inside her mailbox, and there have been reported outbursts of public screaming.

Lana - real name Lizzy Grant - moved to a new location. However, the girls found her new residence and began camping outside. It's been said that they've been screaming her name in the middle of the night. Grant has now raised security for herself by hiring a full-time bodyguard and off-duty LAPD cops for further maintenance. The judge involved with the case has ordered the girls to stay away by 100 yards, approximately 300 feet. Which actually still doesn't seem that far.

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Lana Del Rey takes out restraining order against fans

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Lana Del Rey is known for being very, very active with her fan-base, most commonly known as the "Lanatics". But recently, a few "Lanatics" have shown signs of genuine lunacy and California State has gotten involved. Towards the end of 2015, Lana Del Rey faced a variety of bizarre, unsettling, deeply invasive moments involving fans that crossed the line.

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"She romanticizes everything modern women have fought not to be."

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The past few years have brought a host of empowered female pop stars and a new flurry of discussion regarding feminism. It's about owning your sexuality. It's about taking power. It's about freedom. It's about Lilith Fair or riot grrrl. It's about . Actually, it's about Nicki Minaj. No, wait, it's about Miley Cyrus - or . OK, OK, maybe it's actually about all of those things.

Conspicuously absent from this list, though, is the most talked about woman in music right now: Lana Del Rey, whose new album Ultraviolence hit on the Billboard charts as soon as it was released. She wants nothing to do with any of this discussion. A few weeks ago, she proclaimed in an with FADER, "The issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept."

"Whenever people bring up feminism, I'm like, god," she said. "I'm just not really that interested."

Her appeal depends on her willingness to disregard feminism completely. She plays a character who smells like French perfume and lusts after "dope and diamonds." Her music hints at abusive relationships, at , at , but never comes close to offering a nuanced discussion on those topics. She sits around listlessly, waiting for her man to call (and when he does, she'll quickly answer, as she points out on the track "Old Money" - "But if you send for me / You know I'll come"). She romanticizes everything modern women have fought not to be.

With that sentiment, Del Rey has basically ensured that the word "feminism" will haunt her wherever she goes. But anybody looking for her to use her star power for equal rights will find something pretty disturbing: Del Rey's music and image seriously romanticize an era in which women were systematically degraded.

Her for "National Anthem" makes that pretty clear. In the film, she plays Marilyn Monroe and then Jackie Kennedy - two women who have nothing to do with each other except for their status as 1960s damsels in distress, hung-up and done in by the same mega-powerful man. That's the kind of thing Del Rey celebrates - a dramatic and troubled movie star in the thrall of a powerful man and then dead by overdose.

Sure, Del Rey owns her sexuality at times, but even then she plays right into the gendered dynamic that has existed pretty much forever. And she hardly offers a nuanced perspective on it. On "Fucked My Way Up to the Top," Del Rey throws a punchy title onto a song - yet another one about powerful men and the women who need them - that withers down into the same old dependency line: "Need you, baby / Like I breathe you, baby." That's at the core of almost all her songs.

So what's wrong with that? Lorde put it pretty eloquently when she discussed this line of thinking: "[It's] so unhealthy for young girls to be listening to, you know: 'I'm nothing without you.' This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don't leave me stuff. That's not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear."

But still, it's somewhat unfair to pin all of this on Del Rey - after all, no one paid Lizzy Grant much attention until she tried on the glamorized, old Hollywood Del Rey costume, so we're all partially to blame for encouraging her to play up that character.

And, as Ann Friedman puts it, "The 'Are you a feminist?' test is most often administered to young, female celebrities who have dared to challenge stereotypes or allude to their beliefs in gender equality." Asking Del Rey, or any young female celebrity, about their feminist politics is a trap that puts them between the "feminist police" and the fearmongers who task themselves with sniffing out radicalism, Friedman says.

But Del Rey at least owes her fans some sort of sensitivity around topics like domestic violence. On the title track off Ultraviolence, she sings the title from the Crystals' "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)." It's not the first time she's romanticized domestic violence, either.

When Del Rey was confronted with the question about why she's always being choked in her videos, she simply responded, "I like a little hardcore love." She made no real discussion of attempting to represent women who are living out these scenarios in their daily lives - and when you sell this many records, at least a few of your fans are probably experiencing those problems - or any attempt to bring a bigger discussion about domestic abuse to the forefront with her music.

Sometimes it's reductive to force the question of feminism on a pop star, but in Del Rey's case it needs to happen - we should be thinking hard about why she (and consumers of her music) are so keen for her quivering lips and the battered damsel-in-distress act. Maybe she'll even come to question why people paid more attention to her once she began presenting herself as a retro goddess. But she probably won't - that's a big part of what has helped her sell records.

The real question, then, might be: Why are we buying them?

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Lana Del Rey Is a Huge Step Backwards for Women Everywhere

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The past few years have brought a host of empowered female pop stars and a new flurry of discussion regarding feminism. It's about owning your sexuality. It's about taking power. It's about freedom. It's about Lilith Fair or riot grrrl. It's about . Actually, it's about Nicki Minaj.

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“I believe in the country America used to be.”

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Fan fantasy: James Franco's infatuation with Lana

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Fan fantasy: James Franco's infatuation with Lana

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Her face is photoshopped as a tattoo on his neck

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Fantasy about a romantic relationship with actor James Franco

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Fantasy about a romantic relationship with actor James Franco

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(The two are just friends.)

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"Del Rey has made a career accepting the male gaze's role in modern pop" (Aranoff, 2017, internet)

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"Del Rey has made a career accepting the male gaze's role in modern pop" (Aranoff, 2017, internet)

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Lana Del Rey's America (Aronoff, 2017, internet)

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Lana Del Rey's America (Aronoff, 2017, internet)

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She has been criticised for lacking authenticity, with detractors saying she's too plastic, and was set up for commerical success by her wealthy and well connected family"

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Lana Del Rey's America

Trump's election has made Lana Del Rey rethink her patriotism, without losing sight of a resilient, youthful Americana-and hope along with it.

Kate Aronoff &squarf; Fall 2017

More than halfway through her Billboard topping latest album, Lust for Life, Lana Del Rey wonders, "Is this the end of an era / Is this the end of America?"

On one level, the line is typical Lana Del Rey. The persona she's developed over the last decade has been defined by sad, nihilistic songs that revolve in one way or another around death, bad boyfriends, and Americana-sometimes all three at once, and always painted in a thick, tacky coat of nostalgia. "I'm in love with a dying man," she sang as Lizzy Grant on her 2008 EP Kill Kill, less than three years before she became Lana Del Rey, an internet sensation turned award-winning pop star. "Dear lord, when I get to heaven," she prayed over a full orchestra on "Young and Beautiful," her contribution to the 2013 Great Gatsby soundtrack, "please let me bring my man." As in that story, death is just around the corner in Del Rey's version of the American dream. When it does come, that end will be as tragic as it is garish-never less so than in the Trump era, where violence and gold plating go hand in hand.

Lust for Life is plenty sad-it wouldn't be a Lana Dey Rey record if it weren't. But it might also be her most upbeat production yet, announced by the fact that she's traded her well-known scowl on this cover for an earnest, toothy smile. She even put some flowers in her hair.

Following early failure as a young musician, New York City-born Elizabeth Grant transformed herself into Lana Del Rey shortly before her breakout hit, "Video Games," went viral with a homemade video and slow, catchy song about a love that's as boring as it is obsessive, singing vacantly, "it's you / it's you / it's all for you" to a man more interested in his Playstation than her affection. Sparse at first, then gradually swelling, the orchestra meets Del Rey's deadpan voice as she hums, "Heaven is a place on earth with you . . . I heard that you like the bad girls honey, is that true?" She's been criticized since then for lacking authenticity, with detractors arguing that she's too plastic and was set up for commercial success by her wealthy and well-connected family. (Del Rey's parents met while working at a major New York advertising firm, and her father went on to make millions selling web domain names after the family moved away from the city.) She dealt with the flack mainly by casting off the idea that authenticity is even possible in modern pop music, leaning hard into her dark and campy trademarks, and never cowing to the haters.

Her four albums have given us lyrics like, "My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola" and "I'm pretty when I cry"; she begins "Fucked My Way Up To The Top" with the line "Life is awesome, I confess," only to rhyme it with another about passing an STI test. Ultraviolence (2014) took a darker-than-usual turn even for Del Rey, exploring the depths of how brutal a relationship between two people can get. The title track gives us one of her more controversial lyrics, albeit borrowed from the sixties girl group the Crystals: "He hit me and it felt like a kiss."

Many of the songs on Lust for Life-soaring, debauched ballads about relationships gone sour with men who were probably rotten from the jump-continue in this same vein. If Lust for Life is her most cheery album, it's also her most on-brand. There's no more classic Lana Del Rey scene than her wandering "13 Beaches" (track three) in search of one where she can mourn a boy alone. (The song makes a nice companion to "High By The Beach," off her last album; in the video, Del Rey mopes and writhes uncomfortably around a sparsely decorated shore house before finally shooting down a helicopter full of paparazzi with a bazooka.) Another track-"White Mustang"-finds her characteristically pining the titular car of a guy who may or may not be a murderer. The difference now seems to be that she's more visibly in on the joke, admitting just how Peak Lana a line like "making love while I'm making good money" is. After all, as she reminds us in the chorus, "Who's doper than this bitch? Who's free-er than me?"

Amid all the brash hedonism and the relationship melodrama, Del Rey always finds an excuse to drape herself in the American flag, whether casting longtime collaborator A$AP Rocky as the JFK to her Jackie in the video for "National Anthem" or enjoining listeners to "Be young, be dope, be proud / Like an American." "My eyes are wide like cherry pies," she continues on "Cola," over a string section, spaghetti-Western guitars, and a club-friendly throb. "I fall asleep with an American flag."

Del Rey's career-long interest in Americana is part of what separates her out from the pack of newly woke celebrities. It hasn't been uncommon in the months since the election for pop stars to voice their opposition to Trump, and in some ways Del Rey's most recent work is part of that trend. One difference between her and the likes of Katy Perry and Lorde, though-pop darlings who've issued anti-Trump missives on Twitter and in sporadic interviews-lies in how well Del Rey's larger artistic project lends itself to this political awakening.

Part of that difference may stem from the fact that Del Rey's stardom has never been dependent on chart-topping hits, her songs a few shades too dark for radio. With the possible exception of "Video Games," her greatest commercial success was a club remix of "Summertime Sadness," a revved-up rendition of a standard LDR lost-love ballad. Distance from the top of the charts has granted Del Rey a bit more space to develop her vision at album length, playing around with broader themes without the pressure of punctuating them with hit singles. Consequently, she's famous more for her general mood and aesthetic than any one song. That's put her less in the spotlight than other stars, allowing her to maintain a relatively elusive, low-key public persona-perhaps also because, at thirty-two, she's more worldly than contemporaries like the twenty-one-year-old Lorde.

Rather than trying to score points with political statements, what Lust for Life touches on is something deeper, as she tries to reconcile her fictional America with the one we're all living in. In her lengthy 2012 video for "Ride," she narrated mournfully, "I believe in the country America used to be." She loves her country, but it's always been messy. The monologue ends:

I believe in the freedom of the open road. And my motto is the same as ever: "I believe in the kindness of strangers. And when I'm at war with myself I ride, I just ride."

Who are you? Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies? Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?

I have. I am fucking crazy. But I am free.

Del Rey's America was always a kind of dystopia-a bubblegum pastiche, except peopled by lecherous old bikers and drug addictions and bad boyfriends who stalk her through beaches and deserts and stifling small towns. America is as much a character in her work as a setting, shaping and stealing scenes. What's made her brand of Americana endearing to many is that it manages to be enthusiastic about the idea of America while filtering its reality through enough hazy nostalgia to wipe out any notion that she's talking about a country that actually exists-or ever did. "Affectless without irony, full of pop-symbolism that refuses to signify," the New Inquiry 's Ayesha Siddiqi wrote of Del Rey's work, "perhaps an American culture drained of all moral qualities or ethical commitments is worth holding onto."

With Trump's election, the bleak, kitschy America Del Rey holds onto has acquired another layer. Trumplandia has made her rethink her patriotism, in other words, but not abandon it. In an interview with Pitchfork, the singer said she would stop flying the stars and stripes behind her when performing "Born to Die," the title track off her first album. On Twitter, she's voiced her enthusiastic support in the last few months for everything from the March for Science to a binding spell against Trump, meant to prevent him from doing harm.

Some of Del Rey's contemporaries have no doubt been quicker to channel their newfound politics into a catchy protest anthem or a bombastic quote. Perry, for instance, credited Trump in June with her sexual liberation: "I was retriggered by a big male that didn't see women as equal," she told the New York Times. "I went to that dark place that I had been avoiding, and I dug out the mold"-returning the male gaze with defiance.

Del Rey, who has made a career more or less accepting the male gaze's role in modern pop, is less concerned with the symbolism of Trump than in the consequences of his reign. She's caught flack in the past for calling Tesla more interesting than feminism, but recent attacks from the federal level on Planned Parenthood have made her see sexism in a more explicitly political light. She was inspired enough by the Women's March to devote a song to it.

Yet while toxic relationships have animated large parts of Del Rey's past albums, she doesn't make the perhaps obvious move of subbing those bad boyfriends out for Trump, or even for America writ large. Nor does she adopt the now-clichéd line that he's gaslighting America or somehow re-enacting the other traits of abusive male lovers. Her sadness on Lust for Life is more sweeping, grappling with what it means to love a country gnarled into something she doesn't quite recognize.

That millions of Americans are involved in a collective mourning process over Trump's election seems to have freed Del Rey's songs from the confines of destructive interpersonal relationships, allowing her the space to talk about what's wrong with the rest of the world. With a few exceptions, love interests in Lust for Life 's more political tracks are mostly demoted to narrative devices. Where at times the men in her songs have sounded more like bosses than boyfriends, her digs tended to limit themselves to the power dynamics between individuals. If there's any twisted relationship at the heart of this album, it's between her and the country she's spent the better part of her career celebrating.

Where Del Rey's zeal for America has in the past been animated by a series of symbols-flags, cars, bourbon, and Budweiser-what seems to excite her most now are Americans themselves, from participants in the Women's March ("God Bless America-And All The Beautiful Women In It") to the festival kids making the best of life in an increasingly unstable world. There are still bad boyfriends, of course, but there's also fun and uncomplicated love, of the steamy variety found in "Lust for Life" (featuring the Weeknd) and innocent "Love," about finding solace in one another even as the world crumbles around them, "cause it's enough to be young and in love."

Over the course of Lust for Life, her biggest battle seems to be between escapism and a desire to see some version of the American dream fully realized. "When there were the women's marches, I was writing about that," she told collaborator Stevie Nicks in an ethereal V Magazine conversation between the two. "There was enough space in my mind to really absorb everything. I think I was very much in the mix of culture in California over the last five years, but it feels good to feel more connected to a wider world." In the resulting track, she cheers on marchers: "May you stand proud and strong / Like Lady Liberty shining all night long / God bless America."

In "Coachella-Woodstock In My Mind," she reflects on the feeling of being at the Southern California music festival and waking up to news of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea. She's older and more reflective, looking out for the future generations in her audience and seeing herself in them: "'Cause what about all these children / And what about all their parents / And what about about all their crowns they wear / In hair so long like mine." What would each of them do in the event that tensions between Trump and Kim Jong-un reach some catastrophic breaking point?

For Del Rey, the fact that she's spent the better part of her career embracing death contributes to the sense that she's already come to a kind of spiritual acceptance with nuclear war and whatever other horrors the Trump administration might bring. But now she's interested in doing something about her circumstances, even if she's not entirely sure what that might be. "Lately I've been thinking it's just someone else's job to care / Who am I to sympathize when no one gave a damn," she stews, before admitting that "Change is a powerful thing / I feel it coming in me." Somewhere between Born to Die and Lust for Life, she's realized we all might have to step up if we want to have anything to hang on to at all.

But for now, it's still the escapism that wins out. As long as Trump's in power, Del Rey's got a prescription for how to deal with the emotional wreckage wrought by his administration: keep dancing and keep fucking. Sex and pleasure are usually intertwined with sadness for Del Rey, but more than on any other album, Lust for Life parses out love and happiness from manipulative relationships. If the world is crashing down around us, then let's enjoy the cheap, dirty pleasures we've got.

Even while contemplating the end of empire, Lust for Life manages to fit in its share of pure fun. Del Rey isn't resigned to watching the world burn, but wants us to enjoy ourselves so long as we're caught in the fire. It's in that resilient, youthful Americana that she sees hope for the country's future.

Is it the end of America? "No," Del Rey urges, phoenix-like. "It's only the beginning."

Kate Aronoff is co-host of Dissent's Hot & Bothered podcast on the politics of climate change and a writing fellow at In These Times.

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Lana Del Rey's America | Dissent Magazine

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Trump's election has made Lana Del Rey rethink her patriotism, without losing sight of a resilient, youthful Americana-and hope along with it. Kate Aronoff ▪ Fall 2017 More than halfway through her Billboard topping latest album, Lust for Life, Lana Del Rey wonders, "Is this the end of an era / Is this the end of America?"

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Her facial expressions in videos "...portray gothic elements of uncertainty, sorrow, grief and a pervading sense that she does not belong in this world" (Botting in Usmar, 2014)

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Her facial expressions in videos "...portray gothic elements of uncertainty, sorrow, grief and a pervading sense that she does not belong in this world" (Botting in Usmar, 2014)

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Her darkness may be "a contestation to the bubblegum consumerist, fairy tale sexualisation of the Katy Perry brand of neoliberal pop music" (Usmar, 2014 internet)

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Her darkness may be "a contestation to the bubblegum consumerist, fairy tale sexualisation of the Katy Perry brand of neoliberal pop music" (Usmar, 2014 internet)

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Usmar identifies 'repeated' themes of death and suicide

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Usmar identifies 'repeated' themes of death and suicide

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Born to Die: Lana Del Rey, Beauty Queen or Gothic Princess?

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Born to Die: Lana Del Rey, Beauty Queen or Gothic Princess?

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Journal article examines how gothic themes and modes are used in the music videos of Lana Del Rey.

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Born To Die: Lana Del Rey, Beauty Queen or Gothic Princess? | Usmar | M/C Journal

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Born To Die: Lana Del Rey, Beauty Queen or Gothic Princess?

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Performances held at Hollywood forever cemetery

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Performances held at Hollywood forever cemetery

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She told the crowd she "...often comes there for solace" (Del Rey quoted by Maloney, 2014). The graves of famous hollywood stars also connects to the idea that she is in mourning of a lost golden era of America.

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Parallels between Lizzy Grant > Lana Del Rey and Margarita Cansino > Rita Hayworth can be drawn.

-Both invoke "the American Dream as a narrative about moving from obscurity to stardom"

- However, the difference between the two is that while Rita Hayworth openly "Named and discussed the process of her own commodification" evidence of Lana's previous persona was 'Scrubbed from the internet' meaning that the revelation of her past became scandalous, producing intense criticism and a suspiciion about who the r'ea

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Theme of Obsolescence as a theme is prominant in her image, also connects to her death fixation 

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Theme of Obsolescence as a theme is prominant in her image, also connects to her death fixation 

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Her star image is heavily based around nostalgia 

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Her star image is heavily based around nostalgia 

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Relatable theme for many audiences

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Assocation with female sexual submissiveness 

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Assocation with female sexual submissiveness 

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Shit Lana Del Rey Says (Paradise Edition)

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"Her eyes are ablaze with hurt and pride"

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"Her eyes are ablaze with hurt and pride"

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"She says goodbye and shuts the door"

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This interview, amidst the intense criticism she has faced from the public and media, invites empathy and an understanding of Lana as a human being with emotional vulnerabilities

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Lana is offended by the interviewers questions about her infamous SNL performance and her quote to the guardian about wishing she was dead, cuts the interview short and shows the interviewer the door - but it is still allowed to be published - raises questions about image manipulation

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Her dislike of/ambivalence towards fame and attention. 

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Her dislike of/ambivalence towards fame and attention. 

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I've never felt like, oh this [fame] is great"

"[my music] is none of their [the public's] business!"

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In this interview, audiences get a glimpse of a much more authentic Lana Del Rey

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Rolling Stone considered a"A music bible" - Expectation is to be honoured to be featured in it, but yet Lana is reluctant:

"There has to be someone else to be the cover story."

- She suggests that she does not feel worthy of this appreciation, modesty which does not fit with her star persona.

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Heavily criticised for her notoriously poor performance on Saturday Night Live

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Heavily criticised for her notoriously poor performance on Saturday Night Live

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Comedian Kirsten Wiig impersonates Lana Del Rey

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Comedian Kirsten Wiig impersonates Lana Del Rey

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Her image is frequently the  object of ridicule/parody. 

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Her image is frequently the  object of ridicule/parody. 

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Her distinctive, dramatic persona invites comic impersonations

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"She has gained the reputation for having one of the craziest and most rabid fan bases."

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Lana Del Rey has had fans that are willing to die for her since the beginning of her rise to fame. Her initial rise started with the release of a homemade music video in 2011. The music video she made for "Video Games" depicts a relationship that is has elements of extreme love and compassion but also has the major factor of boredom.

Her first album release, Born To Die, is what added to her rise to fame. It quickly became a top selling album and would end up staying on the billboard 200 charts for many years to come. With the raging popularity of her first album, her next album, Ultraviolence, reached number one on the charts. This was her first number one album that she had. From there her fan base has continued to grow and become even more rabid, with instances of fans breaking into her house and even attempted kidnappings. But what is it about her that draws people in and gets them to act this way?

Almost over feminizing herself has made extremely attractive to many, similar to how Marilyn Monroe made herself by making herself look almost like a sex object.. She has also brought on a huge wave of an Americana type movement, using flags and talking about the country in many of her songs and videos. She gave a sense of the american dream but she did it in a way that seemed almost dreary. Lastly, she has had influence on the music industry itself, setting off a new era of a slower almost dreamy type of music.

Over the years, Lana Del Rey's fan base has grown exponentially. Through two top charting albums, and several singles that have gained extreme popularity, she has gained the reputation for having one of the craziest and most rabid fan bases. Her fans can be seen this way because of how she presents herself in the world and in her music. She presents herself in almost a Marilyn Monroe type fashion of being over feminized. She also presents her music with themes that tend to draw people in such as America/Americana. Lastly she has had influence on other artists to follow in her direction. This has contributed widely to how people view her. It is things like these that have the ability to draw all of her "rabid" fans in to her music. Enchanting them in a mysterious way with her lustrous personality and themes.

It seems that since the start of her time in the music world, Lana Del Rey has always presented herself over feminized. Seen in the pouty covers of her albums, her music videos, and how she presents herself in public and at her shows. Many critics have compared Lana Del Rey to Marilyn Monroe. They do this because of her sultry appearance in which she presents herself.

She sings with a smoky voice to lure people in to her music. Many critics have said that she has a larger vocal registry than what she sings at, she claims that she sings at the lower end of her range because it is different from what other singers do and she wants to bring something new to the world of music. An example of this is one her more popular songs "Summertime Sadness" she sings at a much lower end than most artists would. Even when it comes to the chorus which is usually the point where most other female artists try to hit the high end of their vocal range, Lana Del Rey does not do this and happens to stay at the lower end of her range. In songs like "National Anthem" she uses very sexual tones in the way she sings that draw people into the lyrics which are just as sexual and sultry as the way that she sings them. She sings like this veryoften, it seems that she uses this as one of the ways that she presents herself extra femine. Her first album, Born To Die, is full of representation like this, but the biggest part of representation that it has is in some of the visuals that it holds, which are centered around America.

Something that many people can easily relate to across the country is that it seems that everyone is searching for the American Dream. Lana Del Rey takes this thing that we are all constantly seeing everywhere and gives it new life in music. With lyrics that give a lot of attention to the state of America, and songs that are entirely about living the American Dream, it is almost as if people feel like they are living the American Dream when they see her or listen to her. In her first album, she had songs like "National Anthem" and "Radio" that are almost exclusively about the American dream and what is like to live in it. However, it seems that as people have continued to follow her music, her golden view of America has changed through her albums. It started out with a bright sunlit view, but with her latest album, Lust For Life, it seems as if this view has faded with songs that are somewhat political and her fans are following in her footsteps. What she has done here is, as her view has changed, she has noticed what she wants to be changed so it is almost as if she is using the power that she knows she has over fans to sway them in a different direction so that she can change the world in a way that she sees fit. Many other artists have also been political for a very long time but not in the same way that Lana Del Rey has by putting her own opinions on what is going on into her music, but it seems that lately a lot of artists have also started to fall into a fashion similar to Lana Del Rey.

Lana Del Rey has had a massive influence on people other than her fans. Several other artists have also started to follow in her footsteps and do more music that is related to what is going on in the world right now, and going back to their roots and looking at an older style of music. Artists like Lady Gaga have started to go into music that has an older feel. Lady Gaga recently did an entire album with Tony Bennett and later dedicated her own entire album to her late Aunt and put a lot of minor political messages in it.

It seems that Lana has been able to hold a very firm influence over her fans. She does this through presentation by showing herself off as a sultry, smoky woman and singing at the lower end of her vocal range to make herself seem more intriguing. She uses major themes of Americana to keep fans wide eyed with awe, and she has been able to transfer her fan base into other popular fan bases and give support of artists turning into older style musicians.

Lana Del Rey has a way of enchanting her fans. She shows off herself has a beautiful, uber-feminine woman. She uses technique to make herself seem different from other artists while at the same time looking like a pouty modern day Marilyn Monroe. She brought back the theme of Americana and made it seem beautiful and golden whilst having visuals of American Flags at concerts, but then later turned it around to show her own opinion of how she thinks the government is not working how it should. Lana Del Rey has such a rabid fan base because she presents herself so differently from other artists. Putting herself in a different place that seems touchable but just barely is not.

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Lana Del Rey has had fans that are willing to die for her since the beginning of her rise to fame. Her initial rise started with the release of a homemade music video in 2011. The music video she made for "Video Games" depicts a relationship that is has elements of extreme love and compassion but also has the major factor of boredom.

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Controversial lyrics implying sexual violence/ encouragement of female submissiveness

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Controversial lyrics implying sexual violence/ encouragement of female submissiveness

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"He hit me and it felt like a kiss"
"He Hurt me but it felt like true love"

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"An entanglement of feminist and anti-feminist ideas" (Davis, 2017, p7). 

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"An entanglement of feminist and anti-feminist ideas" (Davis, 2017, p7). 

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'Lana Del Rey Fan Starter Pack" Meme/parody

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'Lana Del Rey Fan Starter Pack" Meme/parody

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Includes lip botox, a 1970s-esque flower garland, a 'sugar daddy', Drugs, American Dollar Bills, and the extremely questionable caption "Choke me Daddy".

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Posts very normal, unglamorous photos with non-famous friends )

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Posts very normal, unglamorous photos with non-famous friends )

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Constructs her as being 'just like us'. Twitter thus helps LDR achieve a level of "authenticity and ordinariness" and "closeness"  However arguably the closeness is a mere facade as she favours "A broadcast model" on her social media as opposed to really interacting with her fans. (Thomas, 2014, p243).

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Her social media posts may challenge criticisms about surrounding her inauthenticity

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Her social media posts may challenge criticisms about surrounding her inauthenticity

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Frequently posts very natural, bare-faced selfies.

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Motivational Tweets and instagram photo captions

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Motivational Tweets and instagram photo captions

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Construct her as  intensely goal-orientated, using platforms to inspire her followers.

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Fans have particularly intense investment in LDR's personal relationships - contribute to the construction of her image photoshopping images to create associations

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A$ap Rocky and The Weeknd key collaborations 

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A$ap Rocky and The Weeknd key collaborations 

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Her fierce anti-trump sentiment is based on his comments about sexually assaulting women - but this contradicts her dismissive stance on feminism -  in this way she may be seen as exemplary of postfeminist sentiment that permeates society.

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Grazia: "Lana Del Rey is Ditching the Americana thing because of Trump"

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Grazia: "Lana Del Rey is Ditching the Americana thing because of Trump"

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As a political statement against Donald Trump she stopped featuring the American flag at her concerts.

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Lana Del Ray Is Ditching The Americana Thing Because Of Trump

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Lana Del Ray's image has been built out of an all-American obsession, but in her latest candid interview with Pitchfork, that's all about to be dropped for her up and coming fourth album.

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"The allure of Jaguar is in large part due to its duality - a unique blend of authenticity and modernity, two values that we believe are shared with Lana in her professional achievements."

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"The allure of Jaguar is in large part due to its duality - a unique blend of authenticity and modernity, two values that we believe are shared with Lana in her professional achievements."

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– Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's Global Brand Director. Quote seems at odds to Lana's constructed image as her authenticity has continually been questioned and we typically associate her not with modernity, but eras gone by.

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Draws a connection between women and cars as accessories to men. Lana endorses 'sugar culture' and so she here stands as an example of women who can almost be bought by material commodities.

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Forum thread: Why do LGBT people love Lana Del Rey so much?

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Forum thread: Why do LGBT people love Lana Del Rey so much?

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Contributors argue that "Lana Del Rey’s unique sense of style made her an outcast. The LGBT community knows what its like to be an outcast and ostracized."

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“Let me put on a show for you daddy”

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She is the "The Queen of Being Misunderstood"

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Put on a flower crown, grab your diamonds and pearls, and crack open a Pabst Blue Ribbon -- on ice. Ever since her debut album Born to Die was released in 2012, Lana Del Rey has acquired a cult following of vivacious fans. But what is it about the dreamy singer that has the gays screaming "icon" at her concert? We've broken it down to the five reasons why Lana Del Rey is literally everything to the gays.
1. The Queen of Being Misunderstood
Just like the LGBTQ community, Lana Del Rey is no stranger to struggle. Although her first album Born to Die debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, its critical reception was overwhelmingly negative. Pitchfork called the album an "ultimate disappointment," while a two-star review from Rolling Stone questioned her "dull" and "dreary" sound. After a couple shaky album promo performances in 2012 including her sleepy Saturday Night Live appearance, the future of the queen of melancholy was uncertain. Five years and four albums later, Lana Del Rey has proven that she can weather the storm that surrounded her early career.
2. Her Lyrics Take You There
Lyrically, her albums are what teenage angst and hot summer nights are made of. In a world that chastises men for exploring their femininity, Lana Del Rey's music is an outlet for gay men to feel their fantasies. Listen to any one of her songs to find the perfect #gayboy Instagram caption. "I was filled with poison, but blessed with beauty and rage," is a great choice for any well lit selfie. Not convinced? Open your Grindr at any gay club on a Friday night and you're sure to spot Lana lyrics like "I gots a taste for a men who're older" opening at least one twink's bio.
3. Teaching the Children How Camp Is Done
Lana Del Rey is the new queen of camp. In late 2013, Lana Del Rey released her "Tropico" short film, a 27-minute masterpiece with intense visuals of sex, drugs, and glittery Hollyweird. References for Lana's aesthetic can be found in camp classic films like John Waters' Pink Flamingos (starring the drag icon Divine), or even from Cher 's most memorable costumes by the legendary Bob Mackie. It is because of the LGBTQ artists that came so boldly before her that Lana Del Rey can explore her own campy qualities.
4. She Defines Sexual Empowerment
It's time to talk about the taste of Pepsi Cola. Lana Del Rey's hypersexual expression isn't afraid to take us all the way, and her sexual candor feels just as controlled as it does playful. Her Weeknd-assisted track "Lust For Life" peaked at No. 64 on the Hot 100, and has a passion-filled chorus where you just might "take off all your clothes." Lyrics like "Let me put on a show for you daddy" from the sultry track "Yayo" is soaked in sexual submission that has the daddy-loving gays all riled up.
5. 'Look At You Kids, You Know You're The Coolest'
Lana has always shared a strong connection with her fandom. But it wasn't until this year with the release of her song "Love," that the subject matter became more about her beloved audience. "Love" is a beautifully-crafted message to her fans in which LDR understands our struggles, and validates our choices. For a generation of queer youth to hear their idol tell them that who they are is simply "enough" is nothing short of inspirational.
For more stories about the LGBTQ community and our fiercest allies, follow Billboard Pride on Facebook.
More LGBTQ Icons & Allies: Ariana Grande | Lady Gaga | Madonna | Miley Cyrus | Lana Del Rey | Rihanna | Beyoncé | Kelly Clarkson | Fifth Harmony | Katy Perry | P!nk | Diana Ross

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5 Reasons Lana Del Rey Is a Muse To Gay Fans

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Put on a flower crown, grab your diamonds and pearls, and crack open a Pabst Blue Ribbon -- on ice. Ever since her debut album Born to Die was released in 2012, Lana Del Rey has acquired a cult following of vivacious fans.

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Lana 'Del Rey' - Spanish for Lana 'of the king'  or belonging to the king. 

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Lana 'Del Rey' - Spanish for Lana 'of the king'  or belonging to the king. 

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Suggestive of male ownership, Metaphoric for her belief in submission to men in relationships

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Del Rey described herself this way in Guardian, 2011

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Depicts Lana in a relationship with an older man.

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Association with older men and 'sugar daddy' culture 

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Association with older men and 'sugar daddy' culture 

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LDR pictured smiling next to an advert for a sugar daddy service

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Short Film 'Tropico' demonstrates her mourning for America's past greatness

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Short Film 'Tropico' demonstrates her mourning for America's past greatness

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Use of American icons from 1950 and 60s - Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, John Wayne depicted in Garden of Eden, then contrasted by transitioning to the present day, in which Lana poses as a stripper in an American strip club.

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Lana Del Rey - Tropico (Short Film) (Explicit)

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Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness (Official Music Video)

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Her "iconoclastic nostalgia for increasingly obsolete media forms in music videos 

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Her "iconoclastic nostalgia for increasingly obsolete media forms in music videos 

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Can be seen in the aesthetics of her music videos - "Light leaks, flare and flecks in the footage," "faded and worn looking" "Super 8 film" style - (reference)

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Vintage Aesthetic and Affinity with retro culture

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Vintage Aesthetic and Affinity with retro culture

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Image primarily based around the eras of 1950s, 60s and 70s.

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"Breathy", "Flirtatious" and "Girlishly petulent"  Renegade Teen's voice in songs: 

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"Breathy", "Flirtatious" and "Girlishly petulent"  Renegade Teen's voice in songs: 

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The Queen's voice is "Dark, deep, serene and slightly melancholic"  (Fetveit, 1015, p196)

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Lana 'The Renegade Teen' (Fetveit, 2015: p196)

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Lana 'The Renegade Teen' (Fetveit, 2015: p196)

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"Prone to wear late 1960s rough jeans shorts, converse sneakers, baggy t -shirts and also a tan fringed biker jacket"

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"Tends to appear as a beautiful, late 1950s diva in long gowns..."

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Death, beauty, and iconoclastic nostalgia: Precarious aesthetics and Lana Del Rey	(Fetveit, 2015)

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Death, beauty, and iconoclastic nostalgia: Precarious aesthetics and Lana Del Rey	(Fetveit, 2015)

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Lana Del Rey's music videos negotiate two different iconographic traditions: 'The Queen' and 'The Renegade Teen'

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Death, beauty, and iconoclastic nostalgia- Precarious aesthetics and Lana Del Rey 

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Davis, 2017 "Postfeminist fascination with Lolita, Lana Del Rey and Sugar Culture on Tumblr" 

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Davis, 2017 "Postfeminist fascination with Lolita, Lana Del Rey and Sugar Culture on Tumblr" 

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- Article identifies an association between young women's interest online with the notion of Lolita, Sugar culture and Lana Del Rey.
LDR is seen to "Glamorise sexual exploitation, and/or women's submissiveness.
- However it may be that there is a certain knowing irony of this, and LDR is merely parodying these tropes.
- Images in her videos of her enjoyment at being choked are an "example of the ways in which the humiliation, pain and subordination inflicted on young women by a postfeminist, neoliberal society may be experienced as pleasurable"

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Postfeminist fascination with Lolita, Lana Del Rey and Sugar Culture on Tumblr

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- She displays a "nostalgia for (female) disempowerment"

- Speaks to a contradiction faced by young women of today - i.e they follow society's prescriptions for success but yet real liberation and satisfactions eludes them" - explains the melancholy part of Lana's star persona.

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The Meaning of Lana Del Rey - Catherine Vigier

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"The Meaning of Lana Del Rey" (Vigier, 2012)

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"The Meaning of Lana Del Rey" (Vigier, 2012)

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“She is representing and speaking to a contradiction facing thousands of young women today, women who have followed mainstream society’s prescriptions for success in what has been called a post-feminist world, but who find that real liberation and genuine satisfaction elude them.”