sábado, 31 de mayo de 2014

Lana del Rey and Tennessee Williams

When our dear teacher was talking about Blanche Dubois, inevitably a song from one of my favorite singers came to my mind; "Young and Beautiful" by Lana del Rey. 
A part of the chorus actually reminded me Blache, because it says "...Will you still love when I'm no longer young and beautiful?..." That part is about an insecure and superficial woman, just as Blanche, who is a person that lives in fear because of the decadence of her beauty and someone who is afraid of accepting reality.
After this thought, I wanted to find out if Lana uses some references form Tennessee Williams and...she does! 
While I was reading about it, I discovered that another song of her called  "Ride" refers to a Blanche Dubois' phrase: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers..." The the song is called "Carmen" and is about a beautiful girl who will always be helped by others, in this case strangers, because of her beauty and probably for some free action later (something that inmediately evokes sex)
Finally, the last song that I will present is "Ride", in which the main character  makes referene to Blanche. In the video a girl (again), looks for safety in other people, relying in the kind of strangers. The video shows a woman who hides behind promiscuity, alcohol and lies; showing two opposites sides of her personality. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_-3di1yx0&feature=kp

3 comentarios:

  1. I found really interesting and surprising that many singers and song writers make reference to this kind of writers. While reading about Hemingway´s novels, I found out that one song by Metallica is actually inspired by the book written by Hemingway and they share the same title "From whom the bell tolls". It is always good to find out those little details, it makes music more interesting and not just a buch of words with no sense at all ( like reggaeton) ahaha. Pretty nice :D
    By the way, I like Lana´s flowers crown, it reminds me of a part of a song by Jamiroquai Seven days in suny June, good music though,

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  2. It never cross my mind relate some songs of Lana del Rey with Tenesse William but after reading the post I realized that 'Young and Beautiful', at some points,represents Blanche thoughts. I think that Blanche was afraid of facing a society that has radically change. Moreover, the song 'Ride' represent even more Blanche as during the whole play she represents what is lost, the Antebellum magnific reallity of the South, but in her weaknesses moments her confessions lead us to think that she doesn't represent so well Southern belle values. This "instability" is because she is caught in the past as she try to behave following past values, hidding the features that she has because of the present time.

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  3. During this unit, I have had all the time, in the back on my mind, this song: "Young and Beautiful". It was originally written by Lana del Rey for the movie "The great Gatsby". In fact, I always thought that they may have some connection, but only until now I have the certainty of it. It's very extraordinary and unexpected this kind of inspiration that such us a piece like "A streetcar named desire" could have in the artist.

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