Revisiting Classics – Born To Die

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and poet. Born to die is Lana’s first album and it shines brightly. A Hip-Hop influence is clearly seen on the way the record it produced with heavy drums and Synth driven songs throughout the record. Elizabeth Grant is essentially an actress, and Del Rey is a character she’s created and you can see that this record is a full-blown cinematic experience. The album is Gorgeous, yet mystic painting a picture of artistry which was ahead of its time. The perfect debut and better than most of the albums released post 2000.

Here’s a breakdown of my favorites from this record:

• Born To Die- ‘Born to Die’ is an homage to true love and an ode to living life on the wild side. This song is my favorite Lana Del Rey song till date. The way her vocals is mixed with a dark down tempo beat is beyond perfection. This song takes me back to when I was 16 years old and heard it for the first time. A melancholic and beautiful experience. 

• Off To The Races- a Bonnie and Clyde like relationship gone rogue, is the perfect way to describe this song. Lana portrays a character that has a criminal past of alcohol, stripping and overspending. She falls in love with a wealthy gangster and their relationship is bound be doomed. With the heavy drums Lana shows her lyrical prowess telling us a story about her obsession with money. 

• Blue Jeans- ‘Blue Jeans’ is another song about a relationship that went bad. The relationship started off well, but soon he left. Eventually he became caught up in chasing money and selling drugs, leaving her in the dust. The chorus on this song over piano keys is what makes it appealing to me. 

• Diet Mountain Dew- you can gauge the influence of hip hop over this record by only listening to this particular song. Just like the soft drink title, the song is a slow sexy jam loaded with youthful and summer-related pop culture references. In the track Del Rey goes back and forth contemplating her desire to live in this not so good relationship with her lover and society standards.

• National Anthem- on ‘National Anthem’ Lana speaks about her obsession with money and how it’s always going to come in the way between her relationships. A very dark song in its subject matter, it sounds like an anthem with the powerful chorus and the drums backing it. 

• Dark Paradise- Lana Del Rey once again declares her undying love for her bad-boy lover over blippy beats, with a melody that recalls late-‘80s. Lana Del Rey falls for the bad guys who end up breaking her heart and even though she knows what’s happening, she still goes through with the things. This song is one of the most underrated Lana Del Rey songs and I absolutely love this one. 

• Summertime Sadness- ‘Summertime Sadness’ is one of the most popular and one of the best Lana Del Rey songs. It explores a bittersweet summer where Lana felt electrified by a lover. This song mesmerized me with Lana’s beautiful voice. It’s crazy that someone can have such a gorgeous voice and I am still crushing over it. 

Why is this album a classic? 

Despite it receiving mixed reviews from the critics, ‘Born To Die’ has been a fan favourite since the time it has released. This was an introduction to the melancholic world of Lana Del Rey and introduces us to her intoxicating voice. This is a stellar debut record ever released and has stayed true to its beauty since it has released.