lana del rey

i know you'll never see this, but in the wake of your introduction to the U.S. market, and all the attacks circulating the internet, i want you to know i support you.

i'm really intrigued by the stuff you're doing so far. it's interesting & complex, but not in the usual assault-our-senses-over-the-top sort of way employed by most modern pop singers.

and regardless of how you or anyone may feel about your live performance on SNL, i don't really think it was any better or worse than what a huge majority of successful singers do live. at least you were making sounds with your vocal chords, and not just moving your lips to some overloaded backing track. that's more than a lot of people can say.

the "born to die" video is exquisite. i love it. and video games & blue jeans are really alluring songs.

i don't know the story of how lizzy became lana, but let's just speculate (this could be completely false, but for the sake of argument) that maybe you didn't completely like parts of lizzy, and lana is the person you wanted to become. people tell me all the time that if i don't like certain things about myself, i should just change them. i personally don't believe EVERYTHING in life is a choice, i think that's wildly oversimplifying. yes you can take certain actions to modify or improve or work on certain things, but i don't think you can just CHOOSE the way everything is or turns out in life, including parts of yourself. but if Lana is the person you want to be, and you are taking steps to become her, then you are very likely just following the advice of many of the people who will criticize you for doing exactly what they said you should. of course, those types of people aren't generally dimensional enough to even see that. all they ever do is talk out of alternating sides of their mouth as it serves them best in any given moment.

maybe you've developed a look & a persona for yourself, your life, your art... i don't know. but i can tell from your music that there is something authentic & dark going on underneath the lips and the nails and the hair, and i personally find it intriguing. i look forward to checking out your album, and i hope you don't let this cruel condescending world destroy you.

from what i've seen thus far, i'd pick you over a fuckload of platinum-selling artists.