Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness Music Video

Oh Lana, you've done it again.

It wasn't long ago that we were presented with the 7 minute mini-movie video for National Anthem from the long-haired beauty, and she's already bestowed upon us the visual for album favourite Summertime Sadness.  Lana has played various versions of the same role in her videos, from doomed runaway, to damsel in distress and of course first lady, and in the video for Summertime Sadness Lana is serving us sensual yet suicidal chic.

The motif of death has been glaringly obvious throughout the whole album campaign, in both the videos and the songs themselves (shocking stuff from an album called 'Born To Die') and Summertime Sadness doesn't do much to change things up.  The video depicts a doomed relationship between Lana and her stunning guest star Jamie King, and is effectively compiled of four minutes worth of footage featuring the breathtaking couple either having fun or, y'know, plummeting from great heights to their death.  The whole video calls to mind her beautiful 'doomed prom queen/Carrie' photoshoot from earlier in the year and much like the character she portrayed then, her performance in this video is hauntingly beautiful.  


It may not be uplifting, but it's a perfect marriage of song and visual, as the single itself talks of a love that may be great, but isn't going anywhere and has to hit a wall (or in the video's case, a hard ground).  It's full of silhouettes, stunning scenery and smoky transitions.  Make no mistake, the video is a work of art and is without a doubt the most effective video she has released.  Now if I could just get one video from her that doesn't have such a literal interpretation of the 'Born To Die' mantra.

4.5/5

My one complaint is that out of the six music videos released from the album, four have featured her now trademark cut and paste, heavily filtered style.  It may be pretty to look at, but it's starting to grate a bit and so I'm praying that when she's writing her treatment for the Dark Paradise video, she approaches it from a Born To Die/Blue Jeans angle as opposed to this National Anthem/Summertime Sadness style that she has since perfected. 

Lana Del Rey - National Anthem Music Video

Well this more than makes up for the looped trailer from yesterday.

Lana Del Rey has always been an artist who pays just as much attention to the visual aspect of her artistry as she does to the music and it pays off in the music video for 'National Anthem'.  While there really isn't much of a storyline to the video, other than Lana and A$AP Rocky as JFK and Jackie O thoroughly enjoying their time as the heads of State, it manages to capture the oddly celebratory and melancholy feel of the song itself.  It reminded me of her early cut and paste visuals for Video Games and the original Blue Jeans video, although National Anthem has a much clearer narrative to follow (and of course looks much more expensive).  There is also a sense of dread that creeps up throughout the video, but that's probably because anyone who knows the story of JFK knows that as soon as these two get in that convertible, things are not going to end well.  


Still, it's her most interesting video to date and I for one am relieved she's released a video where her lover ends up dead instead of her.  The final two minutes of the video, in which Lana talks of her love for this man who is "torn between being a good person and missing out on all of the opportunities that life could offer a man as magnificent as him" could have easily come across as pretentious but instead seems heartfelt.  When it comes from a singer who wears her heart on her sleeve as obviously as Lana does, this closing monologue is more captivating than eye-roll inducing.  In my honest opinion the video didn't need to be this long, but the opening and closing chapters are intriguing enough that I won't be skipping them anytime I watch the video.

National Anthem started out as a much more upbeat affair (never forget), and if it had stayed that way this video would never have worked.  This video really shows how grand this song was always supposed to be and the album version is as perfect as it could get.  All hail Lana Del Slay.

5/5