Lana Del Rey is a fascinating musical
artist because she is a mainstream artist who really is not
mainstream at all. She embodies a vintage nostalgia of a time period
through which she, having born in 1986, has not lived - primarily
the sixties and seventies. This is something for which she has taken
a lot of criticism, with some people believing that she inaccurately
portrays the era which she attempts to portray, an apparently
inevitable crime given that she, as previously stated, did not live
through it. I personally love Lana's agenda, however, and I don't
think that it is uncommon to be nostalgic of a time period through
which you haven't lived. It is, in fact, more likely that you would
wish to perpetuate a time period if you have not lived
through it, for it is essentially in our nature to desire that which
we do not and/or cannot have. Lana is an admirer of Marilyn Monroe,
and I think that her appreciation for past decades begins with
Marilyn and ends right around the seventies, and her newest album
Ultraviolence, her
third major label release, does not violate Lana's trend of embodying
past decades, but whereas Born to Die and
Paradise embody more
of sixties and seventies Americana, Ultraviolence is
darker, even more downbeat, and sounds a lot more like the Doors had
it been fronted by a woman. Lana holds back on the sounds of
alternative hip hop and trip hop tunes like “Off to the Races”
and “National Anthem” and ups the raw rock sounds of songs such
as “Cruel World” and “West Coast” on Ultraviolence.
The
album opens with the psychedelic rock song nearly seven minutes in
length, “Cruel World,” and this song is the one song on the album
that really reminds me
of the Doors. One might recall the lyric “Livin' like Jim Morrison”
from the Paradise track
“Gods and Monsters,” which strongly suggests an appreciation for
the Doors, so I think that the comparison is just. The opening lyrics
of the song “Share my body and my mind with you; that's all over
now” pretty much sum up the entire sentiment of the album: loss. I
really love the hook of the song, which features the lyrics
“...you're young. You're wild. You're free. You dance in circles
around me. You're fucking crazy.” It is reminiscent of the haunting
opener of Paradise,
which features the lyric “I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking
crazy.” The song is definitely a little heavier and a little more
chaotic than anything that is found on Born to Die or
Paradise, and I love
it because it is a slightly new sound for Lana, indication that she
is willing to cover new territory. The second track is the title
track “Ultraviolence.” The title track is more of a return to a
previous sound, reminding me of the song “Cola” from Paradise.
The song is a swoony rock song that is essentially about loving
someone who is abusive to you, clearly evidenced by the lyrics “He
hit me, and it felt like a kiss.” I definitely think that there are
ways to interpret the song more abstractly, as well, as it
potentially comments on love being violent even if not physically so.
“Shades
of Cool” is the album's official second single, with Lana releasing
a music video for it right around the same time as the album was
released. This is another song that sounds like sixties and seventies
psychedelic rock to me. The song seems to be from the perspective of
a woman in a relationship with a man who is, shall we say, flexible
when it comes to commitment, but she has the longer end of the stick,
saying that there is nothing that she can do to fix him. At least,
she comments, “When he calls, he calls for me and not for you.”
The fourth track is “Brooklyn Baby” and is one of my favorite
songs from the album; it might be even be my #1 favorite. In contrast
to the hard rock sound of “Cruel World” and “Shades of Cool,”
“Brooklyn Baby” is far more breezy and summery and reminds me of
the Cranberries when they are light and soft. I love Lana's voice in
this song, especially in the refrain, as she sings very high and
sounds about the most innocently angelic that she ever has. I think
that the song is meant to be taken a bit sardonically, which is
something that I love about it. It seems to sarcastically challenge
the aforementioned criticism that she sometimes receives regarding
the disconnect between her age and the time periods which she
embodies via her appearance and her music. She sings: “They say I'm
too young to love you. I don't know what I need. They say that I
don't understand the freedomland of the seventies.” In the refrain,
however, she counters this by saying, “Well, my boyfriend's in a
band; he plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed. I've got feathers in my
hair. I get down to beat poetry, and my jazz collection's rare; I can
play most anything 'cause I'm a Brooklyn baby.” She offers these
justifications sarcastically because they obviously don't make her an
expert of a previous time, but with the silly criticism that she
gets, they might as well. Lana co-wrote the song with her boyfriend
Barrie O'Neill, which I think is kind of cute because he actually is
in a band, and he sings the last variation of the refrain - “My
boyfriend's pretty cool, but he's not as cool as me” - with her. I
also love how the song uses the lyric “Talkin' 'bout my
generation,” a reference to “My Generation” by The Who.
The fifth track is
the lead single “West Coast.” “West Coast” is a surf rock
song that changes pace a bit between the verses and the refrain. Lana
seems to compare her love for the culture of the west coast to her
love for her lover, ultimately allowing the lover to win the contest.
When I first heard the song, I reacted rather indifferently, not
really liking the song nor disliking it, but it grew on me, and I now
really like it, although I prefer the more upbeat radio mix featured
as a bonus track on some editions of the album. The sixth track is
“Sad Girl,” sounding very much like a pop tune from the sixties
that, although in a much different register, might have been released
by Cher. The song, composed in waves of notes, is similar to other
songs on the album such as “Shades of Cool,” which is about being
in love with a man who is not committed. Lyrics such as “His Bonnie
on the side... makes me a sad, sad girl.” The song is definitely a
bit befuddling, as there are also lyrics that suggest the unfaithful
relationship as being a comfort zone for her, such as, “Being a
mistress on the side, it might not appeal to fools like you. Creeping
around on the side would not be something you would do, but you
haven't seen my man.” It's as if she is saying that her man is
worth the pain and the sadness. The next track is “Pretty When You
Cry,” which is probably my least favorite song on the album. It is
another slow rock song about being in love with someone who is
essentially unlovable, someone who strays, uses drugs, and so forth,
with the speaker declaring that her happy memories are worth more
than the pain that her lover causes her.
“Money
Power Glory” reminds me a lot of the Born to Die track
“Million Dollar Man” at certain parts, especially the very
beginning. “Money Power Glory” is also a weaker spot on the
album, in my opinion; it accomplishes little lyrically and
melodically and does little to move me, and I would have preferred
the Target exclusive “Flipside” to this song. The song seems to
be a response to someone telling the speaker that she will be damned
to hell for her lifestyle, with her retorting that religion doesn't
mean anything to her. I find this song to be interesting because I
recall her saying that Black Beauty (the
album that would have been had several songs not leaked from it)
would go down a more spiritual path than her previous albums, so I
really wonder what that would have meant. “Fucked My Way Up to the
Top” is probably the most feminist that the album gets, seemingly
about the glorification of sexual power amongst women. With lyrics
such as “Mimicking me is a fucking bore” and “This is my show,”
it has also been speculated that the song is a stab at seventeen-year
old Lorde, whom some critics have compared to Lana. “Old Money”
is, alongside “Brooklyn Baby,” one of my favorite songs on the
album. It's one of the quietest songs on the album and is definitely
the most beautiful. It reminds me of “Damn You (American Dream)”
(my favorite unreleased song of hers and probably my favorite song of
hers in general) in its sad description of a happy love long gone. I
wonder if the song was intended for The Great Gatsby.
Like “Young and Beautiful,” the song demonstrates a fear of aging
and echoes the song in its lyric “Will you still love me when I
shine from words but not from beauty?” Additionally, Old Money and
New Money are aspects of the story.
The
standard edition of the album ends with the cover of the Nina Simone
song “The Other Woman.” The song fits perfectly on the album, and
it's always interesting when Lana covers old songs because her own
sound is usually so vintage as it is that when she covers an old
song, it sounds like her own. The song is a bit raw vocally, which my
boyfriend has criticized, saying that it should have warranted either
being cut or re-recorded because she falls flat when she tries to hit
high notes. I don't really agree, as I think that it is a beautiful
cover, and, as I said, it fits perfectly on the album, as it is in
keeping with songs such as “Shades of Cool” and “Sad Girl.”
The first bonus track is “Black Beauty,” the demo version of
which leaked a year or so ago. It was one of the few songs that
leaked that Lana confirmed was intended for the new album, prompting
her to scrap the original album idea and even retitle the album from
Black Beauty to
Ultraviolence. It is a
song that has definitely grown on me, as I definitely really love it
now but, like “West Coast,” was initially indifferent towards. It
captures the Americana sound that is present on Born to Die
and Paradise and
is about being with someone whom you feel doesn't properly appreciate
your beauty. “Guns and Roses” is another bonus track, a slow rock
song in keeping with the sound of most of the rest of the album. It
is a song that is about the admiration of a man who fits a specific
image – motorcyclist, heavy metal lover, and so forth. The refrain
says that “he loved guns and roses,” which is probably meant to
be a double-entendre that also references the metal band Guns &
Roses. I like the song, but the refrain basically just keeps
repeating “he loved guns and roses,” so it doesn't do much
lyrically.
“Florida
Kilos” is another one of my favorite songs on the album. It
concludes the standard version of the deluxe edition (a bit
confusing, huh?). I have also read that it's a bit out of place on
the album because it's more upbeat than most of the other tracks and
that it has an “unreleased” vibe to it, and I would have to
agree. It is probably something that was going to be cut but wasn't
because Lana and/or the record label figured that it would leak,
anyway (which it probably would have). It's upbeat (for most of
Lana's material) and sounds very summery. The song features lyrics
that remind me of the unreleased song “TV in Black & White
(Living Without You),” as that song features the lyrics “If you
get lonely, think of me only; prison isn't going to keep me from
you,” while “Florida Kilos” features the lyrics “Prison isn't
nothing to me if you'll be by my side.” I really love the song;
it's one of my favorite songs on the album, but that's mainly because
I love the melody and the beat. The lyrics are about making crack
cocaine, something to which I cannot relate at all. “Is This
Happiness” is a bonus track that I believe is exclusive to the
iTunes edition of the album. It is a very slow and beautiful song
about assessing the problems that you're having in a relationship and
questioning whether or not you're happy in it. “Flipside” is the
final bonus track and, here in the States, is exclusive to the deluxe
Target edition of the album. It has a very dark sound to it, and like
most songs on the album, it is about the faults of a relationship. It
is about being with someone who more or less plays games with you,
pretending that everything is all right when it's really not. The
conclusion seems to be that maybe they will find each other again and
find happiness with each other if they spend some time apart.
Overall, I really love Ultraviolence
and am very pleased. It delivers what Lana has always delivered while
also providing a new, edgier twist.
