Lana Del Rey loves a good book

Lust for Literature: Exploring literary references in Lana Del Rey’s most iconic tracks, are they superficial? are they meaningful? does it matter?

Known for cinematic melodies and hauntingly murmured lyrics evoking hazy nostalgia and images of wistful Americana, Lana Del Rey has achieved colossal amounts of success; despite debates which focus on criticisms of her apparent lack of authenticity coming along with the publicity.

A facet which is often overlooked in the debate over her ‘authenticity’ as an artist, is her littering of literary allusions which are present in all six of her albums. Being a lover of both literature and Lana, it made me question – do these references which she has scattered in her songs throughout her career – in tracks from Born to Die to Lust for Life – hold any deep significance, or are they mere name drops to A) give an impression of a knack for intellect, or B) to simply aestheticize literary concepts? Do they act as a hindrance to an authentic image, or are they simply an innocent aestheticism, as opposed to being subject to a debate over her harmful romanticisms of controversial topics?

One of the more subtle references can be inferred in Carmen. “Relying on the kindness of strangers,” her drowned out voice lingers, imitating Blanche Dubois – the deeply troubled protagonist in Tennessee Williams’ modern tragedy play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Autobiographically speaking, perhaps Blanche DuBois’ fatal downfall, when she is forced into a mental asylum, is Lana’s literary equivalent to her being shipped off to boarding school in Connecticut, as her parents attempted to combat her alcoholism – a direct parallel to Dubois’ alcohol abuse throughout the play. 

Arguably the most criticised allusion arrived at the beginning of her career when her first album Born to Die was released. Allusions to Nabokov’s Lolita were peppered throughout – an initially banned, controversial novel in which the protagonist, Humbert (37), becomes deeply infatuated with Dolores Haze (12). “Light of my life, fire of my loins,” she chants in ‘Off To The Races is a direct copy of the opening lines in the novel, in which the protagonist expresses his obsession with the controversially young object of his infatuation. “Hey Lolita, hey,” she taunts over and over again, like a broken record, throughout ‘Lolita’.

However, despite attracting widespread criticism for her apparent romanticization of the story involving a delusional paedophile and a minor, no one really talks about how shallow these references are. Ultimately, they’re too shallow to be considered problematic, aren’t they?

No, her allusions aren’t deep – but they’re not meant to be. And this doesn’t make her any less of an authentic artist, or worthy of any broad criticism in response to her occasionally controversial literary references. She grabs iconography – originating from Nabokov to Williams to Whitman – slightly romanticises it, and ultimately commodifies it to the point in which fans begin to glorify it, despite it probably being something of little significance. The extent to which she does this may fool critics into thinking that she’s shallow, or meaninglessly name-dropping. But in the words of Stormzy, it’s not that deep. 

You can listen to Lana on Spotify and Apple Music.

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