Analysis and explanation of the album “Ultraviolence” by Lana del Rey
Irene Galilea Sánchez Villalva
Arkansas State University Campus Queretaro
Fine Arts Music - 14714
Luis Mario Ruelas Romo
May 2th, 2022
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Analysis of the album Ultraviolence by Lana del Rey, Essays (university) of Music
Analysis of the album Ultraviolence by lana del rey and how she uses several musical and lyrical resources to enhace every song.
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2021/2022
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Analysis and explanation of the album “Ultraviolence” by Lana del Rey Irene Galilea Sánchez Villalva Arkansas State University Campus Queretaro Fine Arts Music - 14714 Luis Mario Ruelas Romo May 2th, 2022
Introduction Lana Del Rey is characterized by making vulnerable, emotional pop music that often incorporates nostalgia for America's past, her topics are also represented by failed relationships and the melancholy that it may imply. At the beginning of her career, she first performed under her real name of Lizzy Grant but found fame as Lana Del Rey in 2011 after launching one of her most famous songs with a homemade music video called "Video Games." After "Video Games" launched her career, she was criticized for a lack of authenticity; she's also been called out for songs that sometimes feature female submissiveness and self-destruction. She has an extensive fanbase and has sold millions of albums, with 2014's Ultraviolence and 2017's Lust for Life both landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
by doomed romance and serious incorrigible addictions that at the end also represents a mix of blown “American dreams”. Progression of the album The album starts with the song “Cruel World” in this song she says in a very inconvincible way “I’m finally happy now”, this song putted in comparison to the “damsel-in-mistress” persona in which she sings her last work, born to die, lets us know that with a raw and almost suffering tone, that she is control now and with this, speaking lyrically, it is one of the very rare times in which Lana’s character is able to end a bad relationship. Ultraviolence is the second song of the album, and in the times where it was released, probably the more controversial one. With lyrics like “He hit me and it felt like a kiss” (taken originally from the song “He Hit Me by The Crystals) or how she narrates that with Jim’s (the male character appearing in this song) violence she was reminded of her childhood, obviously narrates an obnoxious and abusive relationship in which Lana’s character does not want to escape from. The next song is Shades of Cool, in this song we can hear a guitar solo by Dan Auerbach accompanied by Lana del Rey’s operatic soprano, a melodic tone full of seductive tones and lyrics related to love and madness. Brooklyn Baby, the fourth song in the album, belongs probably to the catchier part of the album, with stylish vocal breaks Even though there is a preconception that most songs of this album, just as in Born to Die, follow the same structure and rhythm, for the single West Coast, she allows herself to change it from the last melodic songs into this mix of sounds that are able to reflect these
almost glorious moments with her partner just as the lyrics stablish (you’ve got the music in you/I’m in love), reflecting again this desire of someone through love, madness and melancholy. In Sad Girl, the following song has lyrics like “I’m a bad girl/I’m a sad girl” which probably represents the essence of the whole album, and it is represented by the voice switches that go from a childhood-like tone to a passionate and swoon tone. In pretty when you cry, the next song, she describes a moment of weakness in a relationship, combined with very soothe tones she says “I’m stronger than all my men, except for you”, and with this she acknowledges the dynamic of a very toxic relationship, with her partner leaving over and over again and she getting hurt each time. In the following song, Money Power Glory she makes use of the Holy Trinity in a sarcastic way, in this song she almost makes fun of the comments that the journalists and critics were making of her during her Born to Die, in fact, in an interview she said: ““I felt like all that anybody was going to allow me was maybe, if I was lucky, was money, and power, in the form of infamy, rather than fame.”. And with this instead of fight against all of the comments that stated how materialistic and superficial she was, she embraced it and with this song she lets everyone that she is in control. The next song titled as “Fucked my way up to the top” has a similar context to the previous song. In this one she fights back the rumors about the wild sexual favors that she would have done in order for her career to launch exponentially in the way it did. Old Money is the tenth track on this album. In this song Lana del Rey exploits one of her main song topics, a heartbreak filled with melancholy and almost a desire by looking at the past, this accompanied with a somber piano taken originally from Mancini’s “Love Theme
Bibliography Adhitya, G. N., & Lasari, N. (2020). DESIRING DOMINATION: A POSTFEMINIST STUDY ON THE LYRICS OF LANA DEL REY’S ULTRAVIOLENCE ALBUM. Rubikon : Journal of Transnational American Studies , 6 (1), 34. https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v6i1. Feenstra, G. (2014, June 23). Album Review: Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence. KEXP. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.kexp.org/read/2014/6/23/album- review-lana-del-rey-ultraviolence/ Ganz, C. (2014, June 20). Ultraviolence. Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ultraviolence-107530/ Geffen, S. (2019, November 7). Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence | Album Review. Consequence. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://consequence.net/2014/06/album-review-lana-del-rey-ultraviolence/ Jonze, T. (2019, April 4). Lana Del Rey: “I wish I was dead already.” The Guardian. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/12/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-album Marshall-Christensen, A. (2014, June 15). “Ultraviolence” a Masterfully Concocted Haze | Arts | The Harvard Crimson. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/6/15/ultraviolence-masterful-haze/ Nambiar, R. (2021, December 11). A retrospective look at Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence.’ Medium. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://medium.com/the-music-cove/he- hurt-me-but-it-felt-like-true-love-70df5b5dae
Sound, C. O. (2014, June 17). REVIEW: Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence Is the Album We Need Right Now. Time. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://time.com/2891289/review-lana-del-reys-ultraviolence-is-the-album-we- need-right-now/