Inspired by the emergence of Kreayshawn, or more precisely the inability to wrap one’s brain around it, my friend Edith wrote, in an essay for the New York Times that was published back in November, the following: “The Internet is a new kind of barometer for keeping track of exactly how old you feel: how many things you don’t get, how many mini-Internet worlds you can’t find the door to; exactly how many crickets in the world you can no longer hear chirping…Everywhere you go on the Internet there are rooms you don’t understand, people playing games you don’t know the rules to, teenagers doing drugs you’ve never heard of and can’t even pronounce.”
She was lamenting the fact that when she’d first encountered Kreayshawn’s “Gucci Gucci” video in her role an the editor of a website, she tossed it off as a passing fad no one would be talking about a week later (“some random stupid video that no one needs to know about”), only to see her become downright ubiquitous. My point in telling you this is because I feel the exact same way about Lana Del Ray.
I’m still not quite sure where Lana Del Rey came from, but suddenly she, in the same manner Kreayshawn was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public by the internet, is everywhere. And much like Edith did with Kreayshawn, I reacted in a blow-her-off-as-a passing-fad sort of way to Lana Del Rey when she first crossed my radar: I thought, “Pretty girl with a decent voice released a kinda catchy song on the internet that some people are talking about…I’ll pass.” (Judge her recorded tracks for yourself here.) But now friends whose opinions on music and culture I respect are still fawning all over her and she Just. Won’t. Go. Away. — last night appearing as the musical guest on SNL, FREAKING SNL, where she laid an egg so big and rotten that it seemed more like something you’d see in one of those rejected American Idol auditions. I mean, her debut album hasn’t even been released yet, and won’t drop until next month!
So now, today, I’m beating my head against the wall. I don’t get it. Lana Del Rey last night on SNL gave what may be the worst musical performance in the history of the show. To say that she looked unpolished would be like saying Sasha Grey likes boys. She looked and sounded terrified, utterly not ready for prime time, almost like Kristen Wiig performing the character of a bad lounge singer. Frankly, it was cringeworthy and I felt sorry for her. Lana Del Rey appears unprepared for the spotlight that’s been thrust upon her, and I’m sure there’s plenty of blame to go around for that.
Here, see for yourself. Here she is performing “Video Games”…
And here she is performing “Blue Jeans”…
So I guess I’m gonna have to stop ignoring her and start writing about Lana Del Rey now. At least I can take comfort in knowing that I’m not the only one who just doesn’t get it…
Others, however, remain steadfast…
