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Part of me wants to dress like this all of the time but I know that in reality I’m actually too lazy and scruffy for that. I can dream though.
Lana Del Rey on writing
“It definitely is an interesting experience to sell a lot of records, but not at the cost of having people question your authenticity when that’s something that means a lot to you as just a writer, which is what I considered myself to be.”
“I was in more of a sardonic mood,” she says of writing Money Power Glory. “Like, if all that I was actually going to be allowed to have by the media was money, loads of money, then fuck it … What I actually wanted was something quiet and simple: a writer’s community and respect.” She talks about that frequently: craving a peaceful life in an artistic community, away from the glare of a media that “always puts an adjective in front of my name, and never a good one.”
“I’ve been sad for different reasons. I have my own personal reasons. I was disappointed when I was criticized early on for those records that I was attached to because I considered myself a writer. Maybe the way I looked got in the way. That was disappointing for a few years.”
“The point is, I know what I like and what to write about thematically and I have integrity in my musical choices and I’ve stuck to that and I think it’s a nice gift for me because I have stuck to my guns about what I want to hear sonically, so at least I’ve done that right.”
“Writing to me doesn’t feel that much different from talking, and my new shrink says that I talk differently from most people he sees. Maybe that has something to do with why the songs sound unique. I knew how the songs felt to me, but I was surprised when they translated the right way to other people. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done the right way.”
“It’s a form of escapism for me in some ways, now that I don’t go out much. So, definitely, if you’re lucky enough to do what you love, it can be your whole life. I’m very lucky. I like to be in love when I’m writing. I like anything tropical and exotic, anything Tahitian, Hawaiian. It’s a form of escapism for me in some ways, now that I don’t go out much. So, definitely, if you’re lucky enough to do what you love, it can be your whole life. I’m very lucky. If you can alter people’s feelings through rhymes, couplets and melodies, it’s really a fun job to have. I find myself sometimes going back and forth between writing autobiographically and living vicariously through my own lyrics. I like to write at night. I lived in New York for 10 years. I never thought I’d move to the West Coast. Now that I’m in California, I find that I actually love writing when it’s really hot.”
“I write about what I know and I try and find the most beautiful melodies I can.”
“My lyrics are very similar to me, who I truly am, but I must admit that I’m currently trying to do some new things. It’s a bit surrealist, full of colors. I feel much more inspired by people like Mark Ryden, Fellini or Picasso… Oh, I’m totally fond of this documentary: “Fellini : I’m a Born Liar”, which explains that the film-maker was in love with his hometown, and each of his movies is like one of its facets. I like his idea, the fact that truth should never impede to a beautiful lie.”
“I’m not going to limit my lyrical content to things that don’t really relate to me or sing about things just cause they rhyme.”
“I want one of two things. I either want to tell it exactly like the way it was, or I want to envision the future the way I hope it will become. I’m either documenting something or I’m dreaming.”
She remembers spending long nights at a Chinese deli on 42nd Street. "They’d let me buy a banana and a coffee and stay there until midnight,” she says. “I would go over different rhymes in my head, like rhyming ‘disco’ with 'go-go,’ writing about girls with blue mascara and black eyeliner, and about all of the men I had met who I just loved.”
“I live in my obsessions and then the music comes from there. Living that way and writing from that place doesn’t make for a “color in the lines” mold. And yet, the songs and the videos and the image go together well because they all come from the same place. So, maybe I’m not deliberate about the packaging, but I am deliberate at trying to do things that I adore.”
“The thing about me is, coming from an alternative music background and singing for nine years, being basically invisible, I’m so used to writing for myself — and at the end of the day, I do it because I feel like I have to. So when I’m recording or writing, I don’t have other people in mind. It’s not always comfortable for me, but I don’t not say what I want to.”
“I think the biggest lesson I learned was there’s never a wrong time to write. Sometimes it takes years to make a record, and sometimes you write something right after you’ve released a record, but you’re crazy not to take advantage of the lyrical muse if it comes to you. Also, to not second-guess the direction that a record naturally takes itself—or a title for the record—if it presents itself to you. “
“Being a writer is more like being a director than it is like being an actor. You’re directing the script. Nobody’s telling you what to do and you choose where that lyrical story is going to go. As you’ve seen with the stuff I’ve gone through, you can’t control anything else that follows it. The story is in the record. It’s your decision as to whether that person is your taste or not. I mean, you can’t be everybody’s cup of tea.”
“I’ve been influenced by things I’ve read - that’s why I’m a writer - but I don’t think it’s ever made me do something I wasn’t going to do anyway.”
“First of all, when you’re writing a record alone, you don’t really think about the effect your music is going to have on other people. I’m not really the type of person to condone any behavior that would end up being harmful to anyone else but at the same time I’m not going to limit my lyrical content to things that don’t really relate to me or sing about things just because they rhyme. The further away I get from each record the more space I have to think about whether it’s important to be responsible. I still don’t know.”
“A lot of people have good ideas but it’s all about communication. With a lot of my songs, you don’t have to look much further. I’m right here. It’s right here. We could almost talk about anything else because I’m putting it all out there already. Any time you have a a question you can always refer back to the songs. Therein the story lies.”
