Topics in Recorded Music: Lana Del Ray

Catalog description

Lana Del Rey is one of the most accomplished and influential pop musicians of the 21st century. Over the course of eight critically acclaimed studio albums, the six-time Grammy nominated artist has introduced a sad core, melancholic, and baroque version of dream pop that in turn helped shift and reinvent the sound (and mood) of mainstream music in beyond the 2010s. Through her arresting visuals and her thematic attention to mental health and tales of toxic, damaged love, Del Rey provided a new platform for artists of all genders to create “anti-pop” works of substance that could live in a mainstream once categorized as bubblegum. In 2019, VICE writer Duncan Cooper wrote of Del Rey, “it's hard to imagine an Eilish, a Lorde, or a Halsey without her first.” In this course, we will deconstruct Lana Del Rey’s sometimes enigmatic contributions to 21st century pop stardom, looking through the lens of gender, class, race and whiteness, and taking into considerations topics like nostalgia, inauthenticity, persona, melancholy, noir aesthetics and cancel culture. Lana Del Rey is a highly controversial and polarizing pop star: she has been scrutinized for glamorizing sexual abuse, multiple instances of cultural appropriation, willful misogyny, and for her harsh criticisms of women. In this course, we will consider Lana Del Rey’s relationship to 21st century feminism, and whether she might be regarded as a Bad Feminist—one who makes significant contributions to the cause, yet shuns the movement as a part of her identity. Through an extensive analysis of her music (including lyrics, production, and visuals), interviews, critical thinkpieces and essays, as well as by reading texts like Simon Reynolds’ Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction To Its Own Past, students will gain a deeper understanding of Del Rey’s role and impact in music. Students can also expect to learn about artists…