It was back in May when Lana del Rey, arguably a pretty lowkey “celebrity,” decided to sow chaos in like seven different fanbases, and then she tried to clean up the mess she created entirely on her own by issuing terrible statement after terrible statement. The point of it, at the end, was that Lana wants to be treated like a delicate white woman and that white fragility needs to be protected at all costs or something. It was a mess, as I said. Thankfully, Lana did go away for a few months after that and I’m not even sure people will really remember it or understand how problematic she was for about one full week. Now she’s back with her new album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club, and a new poetry collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass. To promote both, Lana chatted with Jack Antonoff for Interview Magazine (he produced Chemtrails). You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Whether she’ll ever leave LA: “I guess I can’t because I have all the animals and I have my family. I don’t know if I’ll do this drive again in a hot minute. The fact that you can be in Kansas in two hours by plane is amazing.
Whether Chemtrails feels more country-folk: “It’s funny, the record was Midwestern-sounding before I even went to the Midwest. What’s interesting about having a true muse—and it sounds kind of ridiculous—is that you’re at the whim of it. When I’m singing about Arkansas, even I’m wondering why. The one way I would describe the Midwest, Oklahoma in particular, is that it’s not cooked or oversaturated, and there’s still space to catch that white lightning.
The people in her life know her mental health struggles: “They do. Every ex I have, every girlfriend I have, every family member I have, even the ones I don’t speak to—they know the ins and outs of why I sometimes catch sheer panic out…. I’ll say, “Today was a bad day and it’s because of you, and I don’t even know you anymore.” I don’t necessarily think there’s much value in doing that—it’s just what’s true. I don’t ever feel bad for saying to someone, “I’m having a panic attack because of what you’ve done.” That’s black-belt life, like 3.0. What’s insane is that the pandemic has brought up all of these mental health crises and domestic crises that were always there, that I always sang about, that people had so much to say about in terms of, “She’s just feigning emotional fragility.” And it’s like, “Well, not really. You’re feigning emotional togetherness despite the fact that you’re a wack-job Monday through Friday.”
The micro/macrocosm: “I subscribe to the idea that what’s going on in the macrocosm, whether it be in the presidency or a virus that keeps us isolated, is a reflection of what’s going on in the individual home and inside bedrooms and what people intimately talk about. I think there’s been existential panic for a long time, but people haven’t been paying attention to it because they’ve been too busy buying shoes. And shoes are cute. I love shoes. But now that you can’t go shopping, you have to look at your partner and be like, “I’ve lived with you for 20 years, but do I even know you?” You realize maybe you’ve only ever allowed yourself to scratch the surface of yourself because if you went any deeper, you might have a mild meltdown for no reason, just out of the blue, and no amount of talking could explain why. It’s just a part of your genetic makeup. You could just be prone to panic. I think a lot of people are that way. I got a lot of s–t for not only talking about it, but talking about lots of other things for a super long time. I don’t feel justified in it, because I’m not the kind of artist who’s ever going to get justified. I will die an underdog and that’s cool with me. But I was right to ask, “Why are we here? Where did we come from? What are we doing? What happens if this insane, crazy, sci-fi crisis happens, and then you’re stuck with yourself, and you’re stuck with your partner who doesn’t pay attention to you?” I’m not saying it’s more relevant than ever, but my concern for myself, the country, the world— I knew we weren’t prepared for something like this, mentally. I also think it’s a really good thing that we’ve gotten to this point where we have to bump up against ourselves, because it’s not going to be the same when the Beverly Center reopens.
Okay, I know some of us are still mad at Lana and we have our reasons, but I actually found that whole last section really profound? It does feel like we’ve been skirting around that idea for the past four years, the realization that all of this – imagine me waving my arms around – has been happening at the micro level for years and Trump and the pandemic and the racial justice movement has brought everything to the macro level. That the existential panic inside so many of us was realized and fostered and amplified. Whew. I guess I have to stan?
Cover and IG courtesy of Interview Magazine.
The reason we are mad is because she keeps wearing these stupid NON masks. I will not read the interview, I came here to see whether she will be yelled at, which she should be.
Exactly.
Yup, gotta wear a real mask
Lana is and always has been Queen.
Her stock and trade: bullshit, headlines, circular non-logic, faux delicate artistry, and garbage.
May she live and die in obscurity.
shame on whoever let that mask on the cover, it’s giving the wrong message. if everyone was good with masks and safety this decorative take on a mask would be fine, but in the current climate of controversy after controversy and all the people in public places refusing to wear masks or wear them the right way that actually protects the people around them, it’s just not
Nah, I don’t think she’s saying anything profound. I think she thinks she’s deep but really isn’t.
She needs to look up the proper definition of underdog, find a stadium seat and sit down.
I agree with the feigning emotional togetherness statement. That is something that I do, even when I can name a specific person that causes it, whether it be by their past or present behavior. I wish I had the guts to call out people like she said in that section of the interview, it would be great for my mental health and then I wouldn’t have to feign that darned emotional togetherness.
It is so boring hearing this woman born on third base constantly droning on about being an underdog.
“Lana Del Ray discussus that we are all trapped by white peoples’ need to self destruct.” Lana is every white guy thinking we should move to Mars rather than change our behaviors on this planet. She’s every white liberal blabbing about how “the real issue is overpopulation”. (It’s not). Dare I say- she’s privileged white politicians throwing parties during a pandemic and then coming down with that same illness.
We are ALL trapped inside white folks’ self immolation fantasy. News at 10.
Lana stays dreary. Not profound. Self absorbed and droopy. And her commitment to seeing her privileged, moneyed, plastic surgeried, slender, white self as “the underdog” is laughable. Girl, shut up.
All. of. this. Thank you
What a comically pretentious interview!
She sounds absolutely insufferable. Self-pitying, other-blaming, convinced of her own profundity and importance, and possessing all the self-awareness of my kitchen junk drawer. I will be giving her new album the hardest of passes.
So much of that was nonsense. Dreary, self-indulgent nonsense.
Lol what. In what fabled reality in that vapid head of hers is she a underdog? She grew up in a two parent, moneyed home. She’s a multi-millionaire with tons of fame and connections. This shit will never touch her.
Yes, everyone feeling that ~existential dread.~ So deep, so meaningful. 🙄 It’s called being human. Bitch ain’t saying nothing new that everybody else hasn’t grown up and wrestled with eventually. Religion and art and myth have been tangling with it for millennia. The difference being our ancestors didn’t have to deal with the lion’s share of global politics and only had the stress of their immediate surroundings. That’s it. That’s the difference. She isn’t special because she read a psych 101 article and made basic leaps of logic.
Profound my big white arse. Wear a proper mask and stop complaining!
Her quotes about her mental health jump out to me as it sounds like she’s blaming other people for everything. I’m having a panic attack because of what you did/today was a bad day because of you. Maybe I’m mis-reading/reading too much into that but it doesn’t sound as though she’s taking much ownership for her state of mind. Of course other people have a profound impact on us but you need to take ownership of yourself and build your own coping mechanisms.
@Sarah I absolutely read that the same way you did. Other people’s behavior obviously can affect your mental health, but other people don’t “give you” a panic attack. Wtf. She sounds like she has no boundaries & uses her mental health to bully people around her.
I read that too. She’s insufferable but she thinks she’s deep. The more she talks the more I despise her. And the fact she wore that “mask” on the cover of a magazine AND to meet her fans, despicable.
Yeah, she’s a real underdog, what with the daddy in finance bankrolling her career. Shut up, Lizzie.
I really like a lot of her music, but I don’t enjoy reading her interviews.
And wear a proper mask!
I wish I could like all these comments.
This is the mask I was talking about when she wore that net to meet her fans. It makes sense for a photoshoot, not real life.
I can’t form an opinion when it comes to her: I like her music and some of the things she says, other times she has me wondering why I even bother.
I’ve enjoyed much of her music, but she’s gone a bit downhill in my opinion after her statements on racism this year. Could I say that I like some of her content, the creator… not so much?
If “Girl, STFU ” was an actual person
Lana honey, Oklahoma and Arkansas are southern states.