2/17/2023
2/17/2023
I was making some toast Tuesday morning and remembered that there is a new Lana Del Rey album on the way, the majestically titled Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Then I opened up my computer and saw that Interview hosted a conversation between Lana and Billie Eilish so I dove right in. Lana is, self-admittedly, “long-winded” which is a blessing because there are so many brilliant bits:
“So much of my life is sitting at my metaphorical desk alone and writing.”
“The one good thing about listening to this class is that I’m a trustworthy teacher. If anyone ever wants to learn how to get through a storm and know that all things pass, I can teach that class.”
“When things shift radically in your life you have to almost want to have a radical perspective shift. You can’t force it, but if you stay calm, all of a sudden, it comes.”
Sometimes (often) celebrity-on-celebrity interviews are full of fluff but I appreciate that Billie approaches the conversation from the role of fan, student, and peer. She asks a great question about online romanticization which lets Lana really go off about the vitriol thrown her way early in her career.
DEL REY: I remember my first big interview with Rolling Stone for Ultraviolence. He asked me about the song “Sad Girl.” Where it goes: [sings] “I’m a sad girl, I’m a sad girl, I’m a sad girl.” He said, “At 29, don’t you feel uncomfortable calling yourself a girl?” I was like, “You mean instead of?” And he said, “Well, a woman. I mean, you’re like 30.” I was really caught off guard because I wanted to talk about how I mixed my own album with this guy Robert Orton. Then, I said, “Well, what about that Jennifer Lopez song [‘Girls’] or the Beyoncé song ‘Girls Run the World’? I think she’s older than me.” And he was like, “That’s different. That’s a fun song.” I don’t feel like those kinds of questions get asked anymore. For me, it was trial by fire. It’s definitely a different era now.
She’s right, it is a different era now, meaning that male writers would get clowned so hard for being so outwardly dismissive to a female artist. But ask me irl if things have really changed…
Or ask Charli XCX, who was not nominated for Artist of the Year at the Brits even though Crash debuted at no. 1 on the British charts. The Brits eliminated gendered categories back in 2021 which is ostensibly a cool progressive move. But this year, out of 70 eligible nominees, only 12 were women, and none made the final cut. Laura Snapes breaks all this down in the Guardian: “Despite its outward-facing attempt at breaking down boundaries between artists, the Brits evidently remain as committed to pigeon-holing as ever.”
As an aside, I have a soft spot for the Brits because Matt S. and I would frequently end up covering them together. The Brits are OBSESSED with pyrotechnics. See Kanye’s performance of “All Day” in 2015 (catch Taylor and Kim dancing at 2:40) and Sam Smith/Kim Petras’ latest rendition of “Unholy,” which finally leaned into the leather daddy of it all.
Back to Lana:
I do have a question about a line in “A&W,” Lana’s masterpiece of a new song: “Called up one drunk, called up another/Forensic Files wasn’t on/Watching Teenage Diary of a Girl.” Does she mean The Diary of a Teenage Girl, the movie based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner??? I cosign!
What I read this week:
“Paul Mescal Knows What He Wants” by David Canfield / Vanity Fair
“Rihanna Reborn: How A Megastar Became A Mother” by Giles Hattersley / Vogue
“Choreographer Smears Dog Feces on Critic After Negative Review” by Alex Marshall / NYT
A wild story but one sentence really grabbed me: “What was a surprise was that Mr. Goecke—who is known for his pet dachshund, Gustav, as well as for his work—then pulled a bag filled with dog excrement out of his pocket and rubbed the feces on Ms. Hüster’s face.” Oh, to be known for your pet dachshund as well as for your work!
And then:
“He Smeared Feces on a Critic, and Lost a Job. Now, He Wants to Be Heard”
In this piece, Gustav the dog is described as “aging.” Poor Gustav, he didn’t need to be dragged into some bullshit this late in life. Anyways, I guess this saga brings up issues about ethics in arts criticism but the poop looms the largest.
Somehow, this saga reminded me of Darius, the world’s biggest rabbit, who was supposedly kidnapped back in 2021. At the time, I was very invested in writing some sort of story about his owner, who has a rather suspicious reputation in the big bunny world, along with a penchant for dressing up as Jessica Rabbit. I suppose it’s never too late…