Lana Del Rey: Why Brian Williams and Others Are Completely Wrong About Her

By Amy Silverstein Fri., Jan. 27 2012 at 9:15 AM

See also:
*Lana Del Rey - The Troubadour - 12/7/11
*The Problem With Lana Del Rey (Is You)

Lana Del Rey used to be known as Lizzy Grant, and her song "Trash," a live performance of which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, is remarkable for its tacky narrator. She is pure trailer trash. Her fake nails are decorated with "pink tiger stripes." Her hair is "high and white." Her flower is tight. "Don't you want to come to my motel, honey?" she sings to a hick named Bill.

This Lizzy Grant -- who has an edge and real stage-presence -- is nothing like the Lizzy Grant you've been reading about, the one who Thought Catalog claimed made "pop music for bored college girls who shop at Anthropologie."

As Hipster Runoff revealed in the fall, Lana Del Rey used to be a much different-looking person when she went by Lizzy Grant. Back then, she didn't look very "alt-sexy," as they put it. Del Rey's Jan. 31 major-label debut album, Born to Die, has been overshadowed by this controversy.

These types of talking points have pretty much set the tone, as prominent music critics and blogs across the country dismissed Del Rey as a manufactured star who supposedly spent her pre-Born to Die days making tween pop. The Awl, in a more intellectual diss, said her older music was "earnest" and "heavy on the organ."

But this isn't actually true. There are no organs or earnestness in "Money Hunny," an acoustic Lizzy Grant recording. Here she tells the story of a policeman who threatens to arrest a dead man lying in the street.

And her taste in men has stayed consistent through all the face and name changes. In "Nothing More Gorgeous Than A Hundred Dollar Bill," Grant sings: "I like them tough and mean/Jim is the worst that I've ever seen."

Far from "benign" (The New York Times' words) Del Rey's older music could be creepy; "You know you like little girls" is how she seduces a man in "Put Me in a Movie."

Tags:

Brian Williams, Lana Del Rey, Lizzy Grant

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kcyrus

why does it have to be about what kind of person she was/is. why cant you just enjoy a song? I don't think about what my hamburger was before i was enjoying it.

binarystars

Thank you for being someone who makes sense. Everyone nowadays lets their authenticity-righteousness get in the way of the actual music.

Jeanne

Regarding authenticity: In "Born to Die," Lana Del Ray hasn't written a single song by herself. She has a team of a dozen writers... I guess that is par for today's music, though, there ARE actual musicians that write their own songs and play their own instruments (Female, too.)... Wowee! Let's not forget about those...

Jay

It's funny when people behind a computer act like they know what's up with her career when they don't...get a life. Team Lana all the way. she is legit and people that are jealous and vein will always think they have the last word. If you don't like it keep your comments to yourself. This thread and other comments are more about factors NO-ONE knows shit about. only rumors...but hey gossip rags are hip right?Get on that and tell us how much you know about an artist who is more relevant than you.

KatFan

Kat Power Wanna Be. She is completely trying to rip off her vocal style.

Maribel

@f5e1d35211d098745ecd9a1082d4c8d3:disqus ....my roomate's mother-in-law made $7,283 last month. she works on the internet and bought a $379,000 house. All she did was get lucky and follow the information you can find here... MakeCash2.₡om

Maribel

@twitter-276723540:disqus ... my roomate's mother-in-law made $7,283 last month. she works on the internet and bought a $379,000 house. All she did was get lucky and follow the information you can find here...http://y.ahoo.it/Jfe/F

Maribel

@twitter-22873268:disqus .. my roomate's mother-in-law made $7,283 last month. she works on the internet and bought a $379,000 house. All she did was get lucky and follow the information you can find here... MakeCash2.comONLY

llama del rey

I wonder how much the record label paid to have this piece written.

she never said she was trailer trash, only that after moving out of her parents house she lived in a trailer.

Hmmm

Lizzy Grant aka Lana Del Rey is the daughter of a millionaire. She's not what she's packaged to be now, and she is by no means what you seem to think she once was - "trailer trash." All she is, is fake.

Pauline Adamek

Yeah, her songs do seem to be from a "ho's" point of view, and that's disconcerting.

If you examine what she's singing about, it's mostly about being used and abused. Video Games, to me, is about a gal whose happy to "go downtown" on her guy while he's watching video games (and essentially ignoring her).

Regrettably her lyrics play up the stereotype of the compliant sexual plaything who is easily discarded. It's too bad she isn't more of an empowered female...

I like her sound a lot. I am a bit bothered by the weird (slightly off) exterior, meaning the new nose and her artificially plumped up lips. I guess fakery will get you noticed....... That plus the fragile lyrics creates an unsettling combination.