Marina Diamandis (who previously went by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds and now simply goes by MARINA) released her fourth studio album LOVE + FEAR, a double album featuring eight songs that encompass love as an emotion and eight songs that encompass fear as an emotion, earlier this year. (I reviewed the album as two separate albums here and here.) More than a week ago, she released a companion EP to it which includes five acoustic interpretations of songs from the album - "True," "Superstar," "Karma," "No More Suckers," and "Orange Trees." It is worth noting that the cover of the EP is likely meant to
symbolize the songs featured respectively. This especially makes sense
given that blue has pretty much always been associated with "Superstar,"
and orange would be the obvious choice for "Orange Trees," and Marina
is no stranger to associating songs with colors because she did almost
the same thing with her Froot of the Month campaign several years ago. I am overall pretty happy with the songs that were chosen because three of them ("Superstar," "Karma," and "Orange Trees") are singles so are therefore obvious choices, although I would have loved to have heard "Believe in Love" acoustic and would have taken that over "True," especially as an opening track. I don't know how I feel about the EP opening with this rendition of "True" because (a) it isn't really one of my favorite LOVE + FEAR tracks (and she didn't even do it live when I saw her in concert recently) and (b) it kind of seems to abruptly and jarringly begin on Marina's vocals with no introduction (which is a way that it differs from the album version as the album version does begin with an instrumental introduction). Marina sings the song (which, on the album, is a very upbeat and poppy song) in a softer and more delicate tone, making the song a bit more emotional and vulnerable. The EP then gives us an acoustic version of "Superstar." The opening of the song is louder and much more pronounced and sounds like it might be played on an acoustic guitar with a high and tinny register (I am not sure precisely what kind of guitar that it is). The song prominently features piano and the aforementioned string instrument being gently plucked, with Marina's porcelain and fragile vocals not sounding too different from the album version. I prefer the album version as this one simply doesn't have the same power behind it, but it's also nice to hear Marina sing about emotional vulnerability in a more emotionally vulnerable way.
We then get "Karma," which, given its ambient introduction added to the beginning of the song (which is not heard on the album version), probably would have worked better as the EP's first track. I actually prefer this acoustic version of the song to the album version. I hear what sounds like a xylophone and, once again, the gently strumming guitar, and I just think that this version is a lot rawer but also more theatrical than the album version. I also like the aforementioned introduction that was added to the song as well as the similar outro. "No More Suckers" is one of the more surprising choices on the EP because it is one of the most playful and upbeat songs on LOVE + FEAR; it is therefore the song that probably deviates the most from its album version counterpart. Marina even sings the chorus in a much lower register than she does on the album version. It sounds like the xylophone from "Karma" might have been carried over here, and I also hear what sounds like maracas and/or tambourines being used for percussion. Although I prefer the more playful nature of the album version as well as the chorus being sung in a higher register on the album version, I definitely find this version to be an interesting and pleasurable take on it. The EP closes with an acoustic version of "Orange Trees," and I have to admit that I don't really like the decision to close on this song because the song's tone and structure don't really make it sound like a closing number, but I also can't be too critical of that because this is just an acoustic EP, not an album, and the order of the tracklisting therefore doesn't matter as much. There are aspects of this version of the song that I prefer to the album version; for example, the heavy snapping beat is gone, and I think that the song sounds better without it. However, also gone is the Caribbean and tropical sound from the chorus, which is my favorite aspect of the album version. This EP was overall a great treat for diamonds, but I do vehemently wish, as I said, that it had featured "Believe in Love." She also did a piano rendition of "I'm Not Hungry Anymore" on the LOVE + FEAR tour, so even though that is actually a FROOT song (although it unfortunately ended up on the cutting room floor), a studio recording of that would have been a nice addition, especially since it is one of my favorite MARINA songs of all time, and the aforementioned acoustic rendition of it that she did on tour is so incredibly beautiful.
It was announced several months ago that pop musicians Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus would be collaborating with Lana Del Rey on an upcoming track for the new Charlie's Angels film, and that announcement was met with mixed reactions from Lana Del Rey fans (and understandably so). Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus are both top 40 pop stars who have vibes that conflict with Lana Del Rey's vintage hippie vibe, and it just seemed like a way to cash in. It still seems like that might have been the case to an extent, but Lana Del Rey and Ariana Grande do appear to be good friends and frequently exchange their appreciation for each other and their music through social media posts, so there does seem to at least be something genuine behind the two of them working together on a song. The song is titled "Don't Call Me Angel" and is an upbeat dance-pop song with hints of R&B. It's definitely catchy, and for that reason, I don't hate it; I especially like its instrumental which features a persistent hook which sounds a bit like a cowbell being repeatedly rung. (We need more cowbell!) It is lyrically a feminist anthem in which the women sing of wanting to be treated with respect and not childish affection: "Don't call me 'angel' when I get undressed," Miley Cyrus sings aggressively and rapidly in the song's first verse. "You know I, I don't like that, boy. I make my money, and I write the checks, so say my name with a little respect. All my girls successful, and you just our guest." Although I admit that I am biased in this opinion because I love Lana Del Rey yet have never much appreciated Ariana Grande or Miley Cyrus (I just can't get behind Ariana's sultry R&B sound, and I don't much like Miley's voice), Lana's verse is definitely my favorite part of the song, and I wish that she were featured a lot more prominently rather than on just a verse; she feels like an added afterthought, and her (as is typical of her) slow and dreamy vocals don't mesh with the rest of the song's style. "I appreciate the way you watch me; I can't lie," Del Rey sings in a hushed, almost whispered, tone. "I drop it down, I pick it up, I back it off the county line." When her verse starts, it almost seems like a different song because the vibe and the pacing are completely different, and I just think that this collaboration could have been tailored to synthesize the opposing styles a bit more effectively. With that being said, however, I definitely don't hate the song and like it a lot more than I thought that I would, and I really like the music video!
The wait is finally over! After releasing the first two singles - "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch" (both of which I reviewed here) - a solid year or so ago, Lana Del Rey has finally followed up her 2017 album Lust for Life with Norman Fucking Rockwell!,
an album that showcases fourteen tracks, many of which Lanatics had
already heard in one way or another. Two songs, as just stated, were
released last summer; "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it" (which I reviewed here) was released in January of this year; her cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time" (which I reviewed here) was released in May of this year, and shortly before the album release, Lana released a double music video of the NFR! songs "Fuck it I love you" and "The greatest."
I even saw some fans complain when the tracklisting was first announced
that there were too many songs that we had already heard and that she
should have scrapped the previously released singles, but I could not
understand that because singles such as "Mariners Apartment Complex" and
"Venice Bitch" were always going to be on NFR!; no one
ever said anything differently, and it wouldn't have made sense to leave
them as standalone singles because "Mariners Apartment Complex"
references "Venice Bitch," and "Venice Bitch" references Norman
Rockwell. "Venice Bitch" is also one of the greatest songs that Lana has
ever released, so it would have been conspicuously absent from the
album, and I can't imagine never having the opportunity to hear it on
the superior format that is vinyl. I was definitely very surprised by
two inclusions, however - the first being the aforementioned "Doin'
Time" and the second being "The Next Best American Record."
"Doin' Time" is a Sublime cover that was released to coincide with a
documentary about the band. (Lana's cover, from what I have read, plays
in the end credits of the documentary.) Right around the time of its
release, it was reported (although I can't remember by whom) that the
song was unrelated to Norman Fucking Rockwell! and would not be
included on the album, so it was a surprise to see that that decision
was obviously overruled at some point. "The Next Best American Record"
surprised me because it's a song recycled from the Lust for Life
sessions. Del Rey had said that she considered that song and the also
excluded "Yosemite" to be sister songs, which was why they both ended up
on the cutting room floor, yet here it is on Norman Fucking Rockwell!
without "Yosemite." ("The Next Best American Record" did leak, but
"Yosemite" remains unheard by fans.) I can therefore understand a couple
of the complaints, but at the same time, who is to say that we would
have gotten fourteen tracks if those songs hadn't been included? We
probably wouldn't, so I can't say that I mind.
Norman Fucking Rockwell! opens with its title track
(stylized as "Norman fucking Rockwell," which is typical of the album
as many of the song titles are capitalized in unconventional ways, which
does kind of annoy me if I am being honest since it's inconsistent). I
love this song for multiple reasons. I love its opening line: "Goddamn,
man-child, you fucked me so good, I almost said, 'I love you'" (which
might be my favorite opening line of any of her albums so far), and I
love its waltzy piano and subtle harp accompaniment. It is a beautiful
and slightly jazzy song about a relationship (or fling) with a
pretentious know-it-all. The song never actually mentions the song
title, but I seem to recall Lana saying in an interview once that the
album title was inspired by a guy whom she actually knew who thought
that he was "Norman fucking Rockwell" even though he definitely was not,
so it is pretty clear that this song is about that same guy. The man in
the narrative of the song also seems to be a poet (and perhaps not as
good of a poet as he thinks that he is): "Your poetry's bad, and you
blame the news... Self-loathing poet..." The second and third tracks on NFR!
are "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch," both of which, as
mentioned already, were released last summer. Since I already reviewed
them, I don't have much to say about them now, but I will say that (a)
"Mariners Apartment Complex" has grown on me a lot, and I like it a lot
more now than I did last year when I first heard it, and (b) part of me
kind of wishes that she had not released "Venice Bitch" last year
because it is, in my opinion, the best that the album has to offer;
while there are definitely other highlights, nothing (with maybe the
exception of "The greatest") matches the raw emotion and atmosphere of
"Venice Bitch." We then get "Fuck it I love you" which was released as a
single alongside "The greatest." "Fuck it I love you" is one of the
more upbeat songs on the album (although that isn't really saying a
whole lot because the album is overall very downbeat and melancholy,
which is hardly new when it comes to Lana Del Rey). Although it's
certainly not "Off to the Races" or "High by the Beach" kind of upbeat, it's upbeat for Norman Fucking Rockwell!.
The chorus has a bit of a trip-hop beat to it as well as a dreamy,
wistful accompaniment, and I love its catchy chorus. It was a wise
choice as a single, for sure, and I love its nods to old songs such as "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "California Dreamin'." The fifth track on NFR!
is the Sublime cover, but given that I have already reviewed that, I,
once again, don't have much to say - just that, as I believe that I
mentioned in my review of the single, I am still bothered by the fact
that Lana did not change the pronouns used in the original version
of the song. It makes it feel a lot less personal. While I get that
it's a cover, it should still fit with her narrative, and I just feel
like it really doesn't; it feels kind of out of place on the album.
While I by no means whatsoever hate it or even dislike it, I would not necessarily consider "Love song"
to be much of a highlight for me. Del Rey previewed a snippet of the
song in January of this year, and fans believed the song to be titled
"In Your Car," but that was obviously incorrect (although a good guess,
considering the fact that we had only heard the opening verse and not
the chorus). In the chorus of "Love song," Lana mentions being in a
party dress when she sings, "Lying on your chest in my party dress," and
not only was I not at all surprised by this line, I was honestly just a
tad annoyed by it. I even joked once in a Lana Del Rey fan group of
which I am part on Facebook that fans would have fun playing a drinking
game in which we listen to a bunch of her songs and take a drink every
time that she mentions a party dress. It is a term that has been
mentioned so often throughout her songs that it has gotten to a point at
which it has kind of lost meaning and just become a gag or a joke, but I
digress. There is one small part of the song that reminds me of the
iconic hit "Wonderwall"
by Oasis, which is when she sings that "it all comes back to me..." in
the chorus. The melody there is nearly identical to the part of
"Wonderwall" when the lead singer sings, "...would like to say to
you..." There is another track on the album that also reminds me a great
deal of an older song (even more than this one reminds me of
"Wonderwall"), and while I will wait until I get to discussing that song
before I reveal which one and which song that it reminds me of, I want
to offer the disclaimer that if and when I find similarities between
two songs by different artists, it is not meant to be negative criticism. I am by no
means whatsoever saying that Lana ripped anyone off or should be sued
for copyright infringement or anything at all like that. I am simply
pointing out observations of my own - songs that I was personally
reminded of, and the similarities probably aren't even intentional
(although I do think that the other one that I will discuss might
have been a deliberate nod and respectful homage, but, again, I will
get to that later). "Love song" is a slow ballad backed by piano (which
honestly describes quite a few NFR! tracks, and I love the
fact that she incorporates more piano than usual on this album) and
strings, and I especially love the strings in the intro of the song.
The seventh track on Norman Fucking Rockwell! is a track titled "Cinnamon Girl"
(a term first referenced - and probably not coincidentally so - in her
unreleased track "Summer of Sam"), a track that I love but also find to
be a tad overrated considering the fact that I have seen a lot of fans
cite it as their favorite Norman Fucking Rockwell! track. It is
far from being my favorite song on the album, but there are definitely a
lot of aspects of it that I absolutely love. I, for example, really
love the lyrics of the chorus: "There's things I want to say to you, but
I'll just let you live, like if you hold me without hurting me, you'll
be the first who ever did." There is so much sheer power in those words,
as Lana (to me, at least) is saying that if she were to tell her
lover what she wants to say, then the bite and the venom of her words
would likely kill him. I also love her clever use of cinnamon as a
metaphor (something that she also does on the Born to Die track "Radio"
when she sings that "my life is sweet like cinnamon, like a fucking
dream I'm living in"). Cinnamon is interesting because it is sweet and
is even sometimes used as a sweetener, but it's also very bitter if
taken in large quantities. (Ever tried the cinnamon challenge, anyone?)
The metaphor of being sweet but with a bitter bite is rather obvious and
not a first for Lana Del Rey. She opens the title track on Ultraviolence,
for example, with, "He used to call me DN. That stood for Deadly
Nightshade 'cause I was filled with poison but blessed with beauty and
rage." "Cinnamon Girl" reminds me a great deal of the sound on most of Born to Die,
with the exception that the piano being the base is ultimately a new
sound for her. (She has, of course, used piano on songs before but never
as prominently as she does on Norman Fucking Rockwell!.) The trip-hop beat in the chorus and the lyrical content, however, takes me right back to Born to Die. My favorite part of "Cinnamon Girl," however, is definitely
the short piano outro - a beautiful melody played on the higher end of
the piano over a trip-hop beat and electronic blips and bleeps. I
totally and completely understand why so many people love the song but
do, as I said, find it to be a bit overrated (generally speaking)
because as much as I love it, I definitely don't see it as the best that
Norman Fucking Rockwell! has to offer, and I have seen a lot of fans say that it is their favorite, but to each their own.
I was initially pretty disappointed when I first heard "How to disappear" because Lana had already performed the song live on piano, and the version that is on Norman Fucking Rockwell! is wildly
different from the version that she performed live. The version that
she performed live is much quieter and acoustic, whereas the album
version has a beat and a waltzy rhythm added to it. While I do
still think that it's better suited as a quieter and more muted song, I
have also come to really love this version because of its '50s-esque
rhythm. The song's lyrics are typical of Lana's usual topics. The song
seems to be touching upon a man addicted to substances, a man whom she
loves despite the drug use and despite the fact that he will always
choose drugs over her. (She heavily explores this narrative especially
on Ultraviolence.) "I watched the guys getting high," she sings,
"as they fight for the things that they hold dear to forget the things
they fear. This is how to disappear." I once saw a fan suggest that the
song was referring to suicide in disappearing, but I don't think that
the song supports that at all. It is pretty clear to me that she is
referring to the men disappearing from her life, both initially in that
they aren't emotionally there with her and finally when they actually
leave: "All of the guys tell me lies, but you don't. You just crack
another beer and pretend that you're still here." The song is lyrically
so heartbreaking because she is there saying that at least such men
don't lead her on; she is aware of what she signs up for, and it's also a
heartbreaking song because she dreams of eventually breaking this habit
and finding something more permanent and less toxic: "Now it's been
years since I left New York. I've got a kid and two cats in the yard,
the California sun and the movie stars. I watch the skies getting light
as I write, as I think about those years, and I whisper in your ear,
'I'm always going to be right here. No one's going anywhere.'" In that
sense, I kind of think of the song as a sister song to "Venice Bitch"
because Lana seems to be dreaming about the same future in that song:
"You're in the yard; I light the fire, and as the summer fades away
(nothing gold can stay), you write, I tour; we make it work. You're
beautiful, and I'm insane. We're American-made." Something that I will
discuss in a bit more detail later on is that Lana seems to do that
rather frequently on Norman Fucking Rockwell! - dreaming of a
future when she can live the American dream with someone whom she loves
and with someone who loves her. My only complaint with "How to
disappear" is that I don't think that her vocals are loud enough; some
of the instrumental really drowns her out, which is one of several
reasons why I prefer the stripped back live version.
We then get "California,"
a slow and soft rock song featuring guitar, piano, and strings. I felt
rather indifferent about it at first but eventually came to love it.
This is one of many songs that Lana had already previewed online with a
snippet long before the album release. Because we had only heard a
small snippet, the song was nicknamed "Be Stronger" because of the
opening lyrics: "You don't ever have to be stronger than you really
are." I think that, in part at least, Lana might be referring to her
fans when she sings this. She does, however, eventually make it
clear that she is (also) addressing someone whom she personally knows,
and I have seen it speculated that it could be her ex-boyfriend
Barrie-James O'Neill. Lana sings in the chorus of the song, "If you come
back to America, just hit me up 'cause this is crazy love; I'll catch
you on the flipside. If you come back to California, you should just hit
me up." After Del Rey and O'Neill split, O'Neill went back to his home
country of Scotland, and Del Rey moved from New York to California.
O'Neill later tweeted (a tweet which has since been deleted) that he was
"having a beer. I still love her," so it does seem very likely that she is addressing him in this song, especially since she nods to the Ultraviolence
b-side "Flipside" (a song that I have seen rumored to be about O'Neill)
in the chorus. We then get "The Next Best American Record" (having been
previously known as "Best American Record" and then "Architecture"), a
soft acoustic rock song that starts off on low, almost eerie strumming
acoustic guitar. A recycled song from the Lust for Life sessions,
this is another song that I suspect being about Barrie-James because of
its references to the lover also being a musician (as he is the
frontman of Scottish band Kassidy): "We were so obsessed with writing
the next best American record." In the original version of the song that
leaked during the Lust for Life era, Lana sings in the chorus,
"You did it all for fame. Tell me how it treats you now," and that leads
me to also suspect that the song could be about her ex G-Eazy (rapper).
She drastically changed the lyrics of the chorus (and consequently the
meaning of the song) for the NFR! version, however. This chorus
is instead, "Whatever's on tonight, I just want to party with you..."
This version is much less angry and bitter and more of a happy love
song, and although I do prefer the original version, I quite
enjoy this one, as well, especially since other than those lyrics, it
surprisingly remains mostly unaltered from the Lust for Life demo that leaked.
"The greatest," is, without a doubt, my second favorite song on Norman Fucking Rockwell! (the
first being "Venice Bitch"). It is gorgeous and epic and just
big-sounding (for lack of a better term). Dare I implement a really bad
pun and say that it is one of the greatest songs that she has
ever written and recorded? Not only is the song amazing, but its video
(which, as mentioned before, is the latter half of a double music video
featuring "Fuck it I love you" and "The greatest") makes it even better.
It is so beautiful and visually stunning, and I have absolutely loved
the visuals that this album has had to offer, even the vintage and
minimalist "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch" music videos.
The somewhat Beatles-esque "The greatest" features guitar, piano,
strings, percussion, and so much more and is definitely, as previously
stated, one of the biggest and grandest songs that she has ever done. (I
cannot stress that enough.) NFR! is filled to the brim with
cultural references - references to the Rolling Stones, the Mamas and
the Papas, Norman Rockwell (obviously), and so many more, and we hear
not one but two in "The greatest." The first is near the beginning of
the song when Lana sings, "I miss the bar where the Beach Boys would go,
Dennis' last stop before Kokomo." I actually immediately recognized the
shout-out because "Kokomo" is probably my favorite song by the Beach Boys, although what I hadn't initially recognized (and only eventually did because of Genius)
is that Kokomo is a fictional and dream-like island essentially created
by the Beach Boys and that Dennis Wilson passed away from drowning due
to alcohol intoxication, so there is so much power in what Lana is
saying here. She is referring to Kokomo as a paradise, a peaceful
afterlife. She is such a poet which is one reason why I love her. (She
has, in fact, written a poetry anthology titled Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass,
but it seems to be unreleased as of yet because I cannot find anywhere
to purchase it.) The second allusion in "The greatest" is to David
Bowie's song "Life on Mars?"
when she sings, "'Life on Mars?' ain't just a song." The irony here is
so clever (like I said, she is a poet) because the original Bowie song
is about art being a representation of reality and therefore not much of
an escape, and Lana is here saying that the song is not just a song but
a reflection of current reality because of the fact that colonizing
Mars in the distant future might become a reality due to the fact that
we are slowly killing our planet. Lana is clearly a Bowie fan, as she
also references his song "Space Oddity" in her Honeymoon song "Terrence Loves You" when she sings, "Ground control to Major Tom."
As
much as I absolutely adore the melody which builds up to an epic
climax, however, my favorite part of "The greatest" is its lyrics to
which I highly relate. In the chorus of the song, Del Rey sings, "Don't
leave; I just need a wake-up call. I'm facing the greatest, the greatest
loss of them all." Norman Fucking Rockwell! might be Lana's most quotable album to date. There are so
many stellar lyrics that hit you right in the feels, more so than ever
before, and from a lyrics standpoint, it is definitely her best album so
far. That line in the chorus particularly hit me hard because the most
difficult ordeal of my life was when my ex left me five years ago. It
was definitely my greatest loss and affected who I am today deeply in so
many ways, some of them negative and some of them positive. The song
also invokes this vehement sense of nostalgia in me, especially since
Lana herself is singing about nostalgia: "I miss New York, and I miss
the music. Me and my friends, we miss rock 'n' roll. I want shit to feel
like it used to." This is another line to which I strongly relate
because there are many aspects of my life now that make me feel
indifferent, things that would have caused utter euphoria years ago, and
that has primarily been a result of having been hurt so badly by the
person whom I loved and trusted most in the world. This album review is
not about me, however, so I digress. I am just making the case that this
song so violently (but also beautifully) pulls at my heartstrings, and I
cannot express how much that I love it strongly enough. Some fans,
after hearing NFR!, worried that NFR! was Lana's farewell
album, that she was retiring from music after this album, and I think
that some of the lyrics from "The greatest" are why they were suffering
from that worry. In the song, Lana wistfully sings, "The culture is lit,
and if this it, I had a ball. I guess that I'm burned out after all."
She also refers to "signing off after all," which is somewhat similar to
how she sings "Signing off, bang bang kiss kiss" in "Venice Bitch."
However, this was not the first time that fans were worried about such a
thing. People said the same thing back when Honeymoon was released in 2015 because of songs such as "God Knows I Tried" (which is about the toll that fame has had on her, which she also touches upon in Lust for Life's "13 Beaches") and "Swan Song"
(in which she sings that she will "never sing again"). The fear
obviously turned out to be unfounded, as has this one, since she has
already announced that the next album (titled White Hot Forever) will be out next year.
I would imagine that Lana will
someday retire from music. One way or another, she unfortunately can't
be a musician forever, but I don't think that it is going to happen in
the near future. It is, however, clear from several of her songs that
fame has not always been pleasant to her, especially since she has faced
a lot of scrutiny over the years from the media regarding how authentic
that her vintage style has or has not been, which she touches upon in
the Ultraviolence song "Brooklyn Baby"
when she sings, "They think I don't understand the freedom land of the
'70s." She does seem to dream of a future in which she lives a more
"normal" life in seclusion with the love of her life, but it is also not
necessarily her career from which she wants to be "signing off." It
could be a relationship or a chapter of her life. What I will admit, however, is that in many ways, "The greatest" does
seem to offer some kind of finality, and for that reason, I think that
it should have been the closing track. Moving on, however, the twelfth
track on NFR! is titled "Bartender,"
and I love the persistent and fluttering piano as well as the harp
accompaniment, and I love the melody of the chorus of the song which does
remind me a great deal of a considerably older song. Yes, "Bartender"
is the song to which I was referring earlier when I said that there was
another song other than "Love song" that reminded me of another song.
Parts of the melodies between this song and Leonard Cohen's "Take This Waltz"
are noticeably similar, really just in the chorus of "Bartender." This
is one, however, that I think could be intentional as a respectful nod
to the late Mr. Cohen. Del Rey is clearly a Cohen fan because she has
covered "Chelsea Hotel No 2"
(a song also seen on the jukebox in the "Fuck it I love you & The
greatest" music video) and possibly references his song "I'm Your Man"
in "Mariners Apartment Complex." Both songs also begin somewhat
similarly lyrically. Cohen's song begins with "Now in Vienna, there's
ten pretty women," and "Bartender" begins with "All the ladies of the
Canyon wearing black to their house parties." As mentioned, NFR!
is lousy with cultural references, and two more can be heard in
"Bartender." Near the beginning of the song, Del Rey sings that "Crosby,
Stills and Nash is playing" and then soon after sings that "sometimes,
girls just want to have fun." Crosby, Stills and Nash are a classic rock
band that debuted in the late '60s and are probably best known for
their song "Ohio," and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song by Robert Hazard from 1979 which Cyndi Lauper then made famous with her cover of it in 1983.
The penultimate song on NFR! is "Happiness is a butterfly."
This is one of the songs to which I was most looking forward because of
the snippet that was previously teased. I love the melody and the
heart-wrenching lyrics in the chorus when Del Rey sings, "If he's a
serial killer, then what's the worst that can happen to a girl who's
already hurt? I'm already hurt. If he's as bad as they say, then I guess
I'm cursed." I don't believe that Del Rey is literally referring to a
serial killer but rather someone who habitually hurts his lovers. It's
no secret that (if her lyrics can be trusted as always being
autobiographical) Del Rey seems to be attracted to bad boys, something
made all too clear due to songs such as "Bad Boy," "Off to the Races," "Diet Mountain Dew," "Ultraviolence," "How to disappear," and so many others. Madonna perhaps says it best in the opening monologue of her "Crave"
music video: "Don't we all want what we know is not good for us, what
we know might break us in the end? And yet, we fly towards it, always
wanting the thing we cannot have." Del Rey poetically refers to
happiness being a butterfly in that it is fleeting and difficult to
catch: "Try to catch it, like, every night. It escapes from my hands
into moonlight." It's such a beautiful and soothing piano ballad and
definitely a highlight on the album. The album then closes with "hope is
a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it" which I
have already reviewed, so I will just say that I don't like that it's
the closing track. It, in my opinion, doesn't make for very effective
closure, and "The greatest" should have been the closing track.
Although, as I said, nothing really matches the unique essence of
"Venice Bitch," I, all in all, absolutely adore this album. It's definitely her best album since Ultraviolence
and definitely her strongest lyrically, and I love how so much of it is
piano-driven. It is also possibly her most assertive album thus far, as
Lana is claiming agency in most of the songs rather than passivity as
she often has in the past. (The opening line of "goddamn, man-child"
makes that pretty evident.) I also love the album cover;
featuring Duke Nicholson (Jack Nicholson's grandson) at Lana's side with
Lana wearing a neon green shirt with neon green nails to match, it's
definitely my favorite LDR album cover to date. The neon green has been a
frequent visual for NFR!, as bright neon green is seen in the
sky and on Lana's nails in the "Fuck it I love you & The greatest"
double music video, and Lana even mentions it at the beginning of "Fuck
it I love you" when she sings, "I like to see everything in neon, drink
lime green..." NFR! was definitely worth the long wait, as it is definitely the album of 2019 so far (for me, at least).
