Lana del Rey (a.k.a the gorgeous mother of sad, mentally ill teenagers)
Before listening to Lana del Rey, after listening to Lana del Rey
Everyone has seen at least one TikTok, reel, or random video on Pinterest that you don't really know how you found which contains the subject of 'Before listening to Lana del Rey, after listening to Lana del Rey'; I've seen three today alone. And it shows them in an image where they were probably in a pretty bad place in terms of mental health, and the next where they've apparently had a gigantic physical and mental glow-up while they were comforted by the soft and gentle melodies of our non-biological mother; Lana del Rey.
So, why does this happen? Well we mostly think that the reason behind this is that people can relate to, or find interest in, the themes in her songs. Let's talk some psychology because the main thing about Lana's songs are their psychological aspect.
Studies have shown that teens have fluctuating levels of oxytocin; also knows as, the loooovvee chemical. The theme of love is present in over 95% of Lana's songs. We also, are approaching the time when families are losing people. For example, my grandfather passed away a couple years ago, both of my great grandmothers also passed away: in other words, death is around all of us, even in songs we enjoy, like in 'Dark Paradise' and 'Born To Die'.
We're also going through the prime of social media and celebrities, where even singers from decades ago are being brought back into the spotlight. Such as:
Elvis (Elvis, 2022 film)
Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody, 2018 film)
Elton John (Rocketman, 2019 film)
The Beatles (Yesterday, 2019 film)
Edith Piaf (La Vie en Rose, 2007 film)
And it's no surprise that our ever-expanding teenage brains are sucking up these movies like we're frigging vacuum cleaners, or that lyrics and names of these baby-boomer popstars are being extricated and put into del Rey's songs.
And because we can relate to so many of these common themes in her songs and she delivers them better than ninety percent of the singers out can *if you're an entrance-level Eminem nerd then you'll recognize that* she's turned into the icon of self-discovery and recovery; which is kind of how the 'Before listening to Lana del Rey, after listening to Lana del Rey' trend came into being.
It's like a dark paradise
came Admittedly, most of the themes that I didn't cover (because they weren't really appropriate for a PG-13 blog) are.....quite dark. And such poignant songs can't just be materialized out of thin air, they have to come from somewhere, which most of the time is quite an emotionally-taxing place. Here's a great sentence, del Rey once said, "I wish I was dead already." This came from an interview with Alexis Petridis at The Guardian as do the following pieces of information and quotes.
She says emotions and past experiences with some of the most unfortunate experiences a person would have to deal with feed directly into her music. "A lot of my songs are not just simple verse-chorus pop songs – they're more psychological."
She talks about the speed of her songs, and how she likes to reflect her mental state through a song's speed: "When I played West Coast they were really not happy that it slipped into an even slower BPM (beats per minute) for the chorus," she said. "They were like: 'None of these songs are good for radio and now you're slowing them down when they should be sped up.' But for me, my life was feeling murky, and that sense of disconnectedness from the streets is part of that."
Why do people love her music -and her- so much?
*Lana del Rey (a.k.a the gorgeous mother of sad, mentally ill teenagers)Lana's music since they were nine, I would say that the answer to that question is simple as heck; SHE'S FRIGGING LANA DEL REY, WHAT MORE OF AN ANSWER DO YOU NEED? But, since we try to stay conversationally professional, I will regain my composure - just for you darlings- and give you a more... refined answer. She has an air of 1950's-1960's charm and flair to her songs, she's an astonishing woman, she sings about relatable things in hauntingly beautiful songs, has a melancholy vibe with little bits of the dark coquette and downtown girl aesthetics in there, and she's truly incredible. Enough said.
So with that, our post ends. I know it's a bit short post this week BUT, it's intentional; it's so that you can enjoy your Christmas -if you celebrate it- and New years. If you've been here from the start of this blog, our team thanks you so much and will see you next year. With that, the 2022 season comes to an end; see you next time,
-thestudentsblogger
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