Wow, we finally made it! Our number one song of 2011, and as you can see from the post below, it wasn't without some intense and profane discussion. It is such an amazing tune, but it's already hard to keep put it in perspective. This song catapulted Lana Del Rey out of obscurity and into "the next big thing", maybe it happened too fast, and a negative tidal wave backlash is forming. She bombed on SNL. Her album was released this week, and was pretty uniformily panned, as fluffy pop, and doesn't deliver on the depth promised from 'Video Games'. In a way, the hype was SO big, that anything that was to follow was sure to be a letdown. This was a part of the discussion, not to let the backlash impact your perception of this song.
Have another listen. This song IS SO GOOD! The strings. The vibe. Her voice! Sultry, wanting, desirous, enticing. It makes me wonder at the fool who's ignoring her in favor of Call of Duty. And yet in personal and professional practice I see this all the time. The desire for men to escape, leaving behind the troubles of the world, and the woman they love. It's the escapism epidemic that is part of our modern world (dont' get me started!)
It doesn't matter that Lana Del Rey's album kind of blows, or that in fact she's not much of a performer. Even if she is remembered only for this song (which I hope she will be), and fades back in obscurity, it takes nothing away from the fact that this song is a masterpiece, and that in our opinion was the best song of 2011.
