Music can have a profound impact on your environment. It can be the soundtrack to your life. Today, we have great control over the type of music we listen to. There’s radio, CDs, iTunes, and many different streaming services. The internet makes it easier to explore all music, including underground and indie that would otherwise be rare to find, decades ago.
Personally I have a deep admiration for CDs. As a young girl, I was still listening to cassette tapes, and CDs were a big deal. They were double the price, double the size, and you could actually skip songs instead of impatiently playing with the fast-forward/rewind buttons.
I have good childhood memories going to our town’s local store “CDs & Tapes” (obviously they went out of business a few years later.) It was a roulette, paying $20 (that’s A LOT of money for a 90s school-child) for a CD when I only knew one song from the radio. It was riskier back then, before you could preview all the songs online.
I can appreciate radio/streaming, but I will always prefer CDs/tapes/etc… When an artist puts out a new record, the tracks should be in a purposeful order that tells a story — instead of randomness. Many pop artists do not put as much thought in the order of their tracklist because they are trying to sell singles. They are focused on radio top hits. I prefer hearing a story rather than bop after bop.
I really enjoy creating playlists and burning mixed CDs. In a way, it’s like I am creating my own story by borrowing the pieces of others’s stories. I have made many mixed CDs for friends and family and it makes me happy to see them appreciate it. I once gave my friend a mixed CD and she told me how she could see how much thought was put into it. Never hesitate to ask me to make you a CD — just give me a genereal idea of what artists/genres you prefer!
In the past few years, I started listening to records. I bought a record player in college. I only have a few records right now, because of the high price, but someday I hope to have a decent collection I can display with pride. I’m obsessed with the whole aesthetic of records. Something so nostalgic and dreamy about it, as well as a feeling of true respect for music. It is an entirely different quality of sound.
Music is a wonderful thing. It can be a way of controlling your life, in a way. The lyrics seep into your thoughts and the melodies seep into your movements. Sometimes it’s not until you look back, when you see how much an album, artist, or genre has shaped you.
Lana Del Rey has A NEW ALBUM coming for us on August 30! I decided to do a thorough investigation into Lana Del Rey’s top 25 darkest & saddest songs. Keep in mind that this has nothing to do with my personal favorites — that would be really tricky, but I may do it another time. This is a bit more fact than opinion. We are looking for 50% dark and 50% sad. LDR specializes in darkness/sadness because she is not afraid of the controversy/public shaming that comes with romanticizing masochistic tendencies — in fact she is “the starving artist” who recognizes that great art comes from great pain. (Even her “happiest” songs have a melancholy tone.) Let’s begin…
25. In My Feelings (Album: Lust for Life)
“If you were me, and I was you, I’d get out of my way.”
Dark, but a lot more ‘anger’ than ‘sadness.’
24. 24 (Album: Honeymoon)
“There’s only 24 hours in a day, and half you lay awake with thoughts of murder and carnage.”
This is very dark, but just not sad enough. Very sassy, actually.
23. Blue Jeans (Album: Born to Die)
“And I know that love is mean and love hurts.”
Kind of sad and kind of dark. Man would rather go out and make money than be in love.
22. Without You (Born to Die)
“I can be your China doll if you’d like to see me fall.”
Blessed with fame and fortune — but that means absolutely nothing without love.
21. Million Dollar Man (Born to Die)
“You said I was the most exotic flower.”
This is just hopeless heartbreak.
20. Ride (Album: Paradise EP)
“Been trying hard not to get into trouble but I’ve got a war in my mind.”
Feeling out of control, needing to rely on others just to survive.
19. This Is What Makes Us Girls (Born to Die)
“She starts to cry, mascara running down her little Bambi eyes, ‘Lana, how I hate those guys.'”
Very interesting song, probably only relatable if you are a girl. It’s a spotlight on female friendship: how someone can mean so much to you and you can have so much fun together, until boy-drama gets in the way and rips it apart. It’s sad because ladies need to stick together and support one another, but jealousy can ruin it all. The bond is eternal and never forgotten about, though.
18. Pretty When You Cry (Album: Ultraviolence)
“I’m stronger than all my men… except for you.”
This is the best song to cry to, if you want to feel glamorous through all the pain. It’s almost kind of funny.
17. The Blackest Day (Honeymoon)
“Got my blue nail polish on, it’s my favoritecolor and my favorite tone of song.”
Quite sad, quite dark.
16. Is This Happiness? (Ultraviolence)
“Taking violet pills, writing all my songs about my cheap thrills.”
Is it…?
15. Tomorrow Never Came (Lust For Life)
“I waited for you.”
Having so much hope, and then getting let down.
14. Terrence Loves You (Honeymoon)
“But I still got jazz when I’ve got those blues.”
Really, really missing someone who you lost. And feeling absolutely empty because of it. But you can get through it with sad music and substance abuse.
13. 13 Beaches (Lust For Life)
“I’d be lying if I kept hiding the fact that I can’t deal, and that I’ve been dying for something real.”
I think it’s about being fed up with the world and trying to find some peace and quiet, so you can sit back and fully feel your sadness.
12. Body Electric (Paradise)
“Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn’s my mother, Jesus is my bestest friend.”
Loneliness… and cleverness. Inspired by Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” poem.
11. Shades of Cool (Ultraviolence)
“My baby lives in shades of cool: blue heart, and hands, and aptitude.“
Cold love.
10. Born To Die (Born To Die)
“The road is long, we carry on, try to have fun in the meantime.”
Life is short. We are missing out by rushing to our deathbeds.
9. Carmen (Born To Die)
“Darling, darling doesn’t have a problem lying to herself cause her liquor’s top shelf.”
Dangerously sick and depressed alcoholic woman who has the world convinced she is happy, healthy, and having fun.
8. Sad Girl (Ultraviolence)
“He’s got the fire and he walks with fame, he’s got the fire and he talks with fame.”
The verses are so confident on the surface and then the chorus is so vulnerable and raw. She makes it seem like she is the one in control, but she is powerless.
7. Summertime Sadness (Born To Die)
“Think I’ll miss you forever, like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky.”
Impossible to listen to this song without crying! It’s simply about missing someone and waiting for them to come back even though they never will. The way the song is composed, the whole melody and such, paints a dark energy over heartbreaking lyrics.
4. Ultraviolence (Ultraviolence)
“Cause I’m your jazz singer, and you’re my cult leader.”
Darker than ultraviolet radiation.
3. Heroin (Lust For Life)
“But the facts of life can sometimes make it hard to dream.”
It gets darker and sadder the more you listen to it.
2. Black Beauty (Ultraviolence)
“Oh, what can I do? Life is beautiful, but you don’t have a clue.“
When you fall in love with someone who is depressed and you get sucked into their black hole of sadness. Unable to see the beauty of life — that’s sad. Painting the house black — that’s dark.
1. Dark Paradise (Born To Die)
“Your soul is haunting me and telling me that everything is fine, but I wish I was dead.”
This song is the ultimate mix of darkness and sadness. If there was an official Venn diagram for darkness vs. sadness, this song would be smack in the middle. Dark Paradise is when death seems more tranquil than life.
