Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (2023)

She didn't even really "complain about" the critic – she replied to a Powers tweet with two of her own, taking issue with the piece (but not really attacking Powers herself, beyond saying "don't call yourself a fan"). I was looking back at the whole thing recently, and was surprised at how "mild" LDR's tweets actually were (vs. how I remembered it).

I do take the point that she could have told the stans to knock it off, etc.

I think she deleted her social media in part because she tended to say things that people took the wrong way, or were phrased inartfully (i honestly never understood the pile on re: the cover of Chemtrails), but I suspect she also didn't want to have to read the dumb shit her fans say. (I'm aware she has a private instagram account where she posted boobies recently).

Speaking of "fan engagement" – there was a rumor that she was going to show up at an official "Pop-Up" fan event in Long Beach last Saturday; she ended up FaceTiming into someone's phone from her car (which seems really funny / on-brand to me):

Lana Del Rey Facetimed into the pop up shop in Long Beach, CA yesterday and briefly spoke to fans ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Bh5US2lrOw

— Lana Del Rey Online (@LanaDReyOnline) March 27, 2023

Really concise title compared to Yves Tumor

I was looking back at the whole thing recently, and was surprised at how "mild" LDR's tweets actually were (vs. how I remembered it).

I agree. I take back what I wrote.

Anyone notice the Leonard Cohen line floating around in "Kintsugi" -- "that's how the light gets in"?

Has another popular artist ever "referenced" other artists/songs as much as she does? And I don't even mean just lyrical interpolations (like the above, and the Belinda Carlisle ref. in her first hit) – I mean literally mentioning Nilsson, RHCP, White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Springsteen, Elvis, etc.

Many, many rappers are ahead of her.

Yeah, that's a good point (I forgot a big one, btw, from my favorite song: "You act like fucking Mr. Brightside, when you're with all your friends...")

Rough and Rowdy Ways springs immediately to mind.

It's interesting that she seems to have mentioned Dylan in interviews as a major influence, but I don't think he's come up in her lyrics (he's no Brandon Flowers, after all!)

She references “Lay Lady Lay” in “Tomorrow Never Came.”

She has referenced Dylan’s songs 4 times.

https://lanadelrey.fandom.com/wiki/Songs_from_other_artists_referenced_and_mentioned_in_songs_and_poems

i was about to proclaim this as her best, but then i went back and listened to Cinnamon Girl and realized there's nothing on here as good as that one. it's certainly ONE of her best though

speaking of referencing other artists...

aside from the title, i'm pretty sure the bridge is a nod to portishead

xxp Thanks to both! A few of the “references” on that fandom page are debatable (and one is from an unreleased song I’ve never heard). Guess I didn’t catch the “Lay Lady Lay” line in the Sean Lennon duet!

Getting back to the new one... "Fingertips" is such a remarkable song? It's like passing into a new kind of songwriting... stream of consciousness reflection.

On "Margaret" (which is lovely) – the melody of that line "The soul that you bring to the table" feels very Swift-ian to me (though I can't cite a particular song of hers offhand); I wonder if it's specifically an Antonoff move. By the way, the idea & melody of what comes next – "The one that makes me sing / In a minor key" – that's just wonderful, right??

not the biggest fan of Margaret but the line "btw the party's december 18th" makes me LOL, reminds me of when rappers will announce the release date of the next record and inevitably blow way past it

Yeah, I can’t think of another song that includes the date of a forthcoming wedding… I think it’s really cute, and it makes the album feel so “up to the minute.”

I'm still having serious problems with the length of this thing; it wears me down. But that's cool, I guess.

The Chili Peppers mention a lot of bands in their songs but that's probably influenced by the conversational/reference-heavy lyrics of hip-hop

xp I feel like she's maybe not so uninterested in "curation" of her albums in this phase; they're sort of done when she's finished adding stuff? IMO, she could have left the last few tracks off this one (and, arguably, the interludes – although I actually don't mind those), and it would have been a masterpiece; but she figured why not throw a few more on? It's almost a playlist aesthetic or something, IDK.

*not so INTERESTED in...

(and to be clear, I don't hate the last few tracks, they're good – just not quite as awesome or next-level as the rest)

i just deleted the interludes and I like it much better.

the megapreacher interlude is good tbh: stoned echoey giggling behind someone yelping "why are you so infatuated with me??" to god is a v funny idea for a lana del rey track

like skits and interludes on hip hop albums, these things just have very limited replay value for me

Anyone notice the Leonard Cohen line floating around in "Kintsugi" -- "that's how the light gets in"?

I listened to this last night, it was OK but yeah kinda boring. Only a few songs asserted themselves melodically for me, mostly it all felt of a not-very-exciting piece.

For now, NFR remains her high-water mark for me.

As a relative LDR newcomer (and perhaps possessed a bit with the "zeal of the convert"), I have been surprised to learn how highly NFR! is rated (no dig on those who love it, of course). To me, it's a solid ★ ★ ★ ½ album – probably her best to that point – but the songwriting doesn't approach the level of what comes afterwards. It feels like an album anchored by a few great songs, and then fleshed out with some good/OK ones.

Billboard is reporting that Lana has recently become engaged. (Best wishes, Lana!)

Here's a pic her of her fiancé, in character as Rolling Thunder–era Dylan.

Evan Winiker?

What happened to the guy that was kissing his male cousin? I remember he and Lana visited his family in jail too so I assumed they were solid.

i don't know who that was. her last well known relationship was with the guy who was a cop

or at least, the last relationship of hers I knew about (maybe the only one TBH)

What happened to the guy that was kissing his male cousin? I remember he and Lana visited his family in jail too so I assumed they were solid.

that was jack donoghue of seminal witch house band salem

I reviewed Ultraviolence, Lust For Life, Norman Fucking Rockwell! and Blue Banisters for Shfl.

Nice reviews – I appreciate the Banisters one in particular!

i don't think her and jack donoghue were actually together i think that was mostly just to titillate gay ppl on twitter (successful)

As today's LDR spin is BTD Paradise Ed., I realized that song talking about Springsteen & Elvis ("American") also mentions The Crystal Method... that classic trio!

Candy Necklace; up there with Tulsa Jesus Freak as my favourites from 21st century Lana.

I wuz unaware of these cover connections:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FsZS4FFXsAAYH0M?format=jpg&name=large

I didn't know about the blue bannisters one but the new one I saw mentioned elsewhere. that's obscure enough I don't think most people will have ever seen the original

Interesting that the new Boygenius record has the following lyric (in a song called "Leonard Cohen") – must be something in the air:

Leonard Cohen once said
"There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in"

Lana’s IG acct is public/followable again (for the moment)

Listening now - pretty but dreary, may reveal itself more on future listens.

Weird stupid thought that just popped into my head: I would love to hear a Polly Jean Harvey cover of this record.

Looks like LDR is playing a bunch of festivals this summer… I wonder if she’ll tour in the fall.

Still digging into the album but I'm enjoying it...I was going to say something lazy like "not up to the standard of NFR" but then I went back to that for the first time in a while and wow her writing has come so far since then.

(so many references to skinny dipping and otherwise disrobing - why does Lana hate clothes?)

yeah she's doing Outside Lands in SF; I hate festivals so no thank you, but I really liked the last smaller show of hers I went to (the NFR tour)

(I think "Get high, drop acid, never die" is a great way to end the album, and undercut the seriousness of its themes involving death, etc. Think I said this above, but I like how the album "lightens up" at the end... it's like a reminder that despite all the heavy stuff on her mind, she still likes to get silly and party.)

the last part of that is "lake placid" which is where her uncle hanged himself though

Lake Placid is where she grew up, no? I believe she had a teenage boyfriend there, who later died in a car accident… her uncle’s suicide was more recent, and in Colorado (according to Genius.com).

ah you are right, reddit or whatever mislead me

https://www.al.com/life/2023/07/lana-del-rey-spotted-working-in-alabama-waffle-house-she-was-super-lovely.html

OK, I will not click on the link because the story could not possibly measure up to that url.

This video came out and I missed it until the other day, very well done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2e0H6MUWyU

She was recording at Muscle Shoals over the weekend (the pics are online)