The song was co-written by Lana Del Rey and Rick Knowels. It was produced by Dan Auerbach.
Genre: Blues Rock
Lana Del Rey’s song ‘Shades of Cool’ was released on May 26 2014 by Polydor and Interscope records. It was the second single from her album ‘Ultraviolence’. It could be purchased digitally on websites such as amazon or on iTunes. She released her first album in 2010 as ‘Lana Del Ray’, the album was of the same name. She began uploading homemade videos to her own songs on youtube but was very unknown at the time until she hit big with ‘Videogames’. She won the Q award for ‘Best New Thing’ and a Brit Award for ‘National Breakthrough act’ towards the beginning of her career. She has also recorded songs for Hollywood movie successes such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Maleficent’.
The video starts with a long introduction of the instrumental with a layered clip of an old man with a blue light over it. The clip is layered on top of a road which connotes that he is in a moving car. The song then starts with Lana singing the non-diagetic lyrics ‘my baby lives in shades of blue’ which relates to the blue light that was over the man at the beginning. This also suggests that she is in a romantic relationship with this man. The lyrics are also similar to the title of the song which already automatically creates a bond with the audience as they recognise the title within the song. Lana’s voice is very deep and old fashioned which suits the blues rock genre as many blues singers have deep voices. She also has a slight Marilyn Monroe feel to her voice which suits her image well. These lyrics make it clear that Lana is singing about a man she is in a romantic relationship with. We then see different shots of the same man driving a car in the night time. She then sings ‘he lives in California too’ while we see him driving in a car in LA. The setting is iconographic and can be recognised by the tall, well lighten buildings and palm trees. It is filmed in a dark setting and the road is clear which works well with the ghostly tone of the song.
Lana then sings ‘he calls for me and not for you’ as a clip of her back in a white dress is shown layered over the LA setting. The colouring is still very bright and toxic. She then turns around and we see her face with a red toned light on her hair and a blue light on her face. The blue light works with the clip of the man at the beginning as he also has a blue light on his face. All of this works cohesively with the lyrics, tone and genre of the song. The red light on her hair also connotes love – at the same time she sings ‘he loves his baby too’. From this I further infer that she is in a romantic relationship with the man who is featured in the video.
After this we see a clip of the same man walking with a layered transparent clip of Lana and the American flag over it. This fits in with the LA theme behind the video. The man is wearing a white shirt and is centre frame which shows his importance. The next clip is of Lana standing at the right corner of the frame in the darkness as she sings ‘and I can’t do nothing about his strange weather’. This shows that she feels inferior and unimportant as it is practically opposite to the previous clip of the man in the light and centre frame. Lana then moves to centre frame as the song becomes more upbeat and positive. We see clips of fireworks over her which could show that this man fills her with energy and excitement – just like a firework. She is also wearing white which connotes purity. The tone of Lana’s voice then goes down as she sings the lyrics ‘I can’t break through your world’ and a clip of the man is shown which informs the audience that she is singing about him. It is now incredibly clear that there is a narrative story within the video as well as abstract elements such as the clip of Lana in the darkness with fireworks. Lana then has clips of flowers blossoming and birds flying over her which connotes how this man makes her feel – which is pure and free.
The video then takes a change as we see Lana outdoors, centre frame wearing white. The iconography is the same as before which informs the reader that the location and setting is still the same. The camera then pans around Lana to reveal the man in the background with his car which is mentioned earlier on in the song and seen at the beginning. We then see a close up of this man as he looks at Lana. We know he is looking at Lana because of the graphic match of the palm trees and the car. The camera then zooms in on the man to show his emotion.
Another abstract element of the video is shown with a video of flowers overlapping an explosion. This connotes the mood and lyrics to the song and the fact that whatever is going on between them is not good for Lana and is very disruptive. The shot then goes back to Lana in the darkness as she sings ‘but I can’t help him’. The darkness and medium long shot could show how distant and powerless she feels towards the problem. The shot of Lana in the darkness is then overlapped onto the clip of him driving off in the car. It is a medium close up of her as he gets further away in the car which could connote that they are drifting apart.
The video now goes to a different shot of the man watching Lana swim in a pool as she wears white which connotes the same as before. There is a blue light over his face which could show that he is feeling down as there is also a dark shadow over him. The song then turns more upbeat as the location changes to inside a luxurious looking house as the man drinks from a fancy cup with his pinky finger in the air which reveals that he is likely to be quite wealthy. His hair is also slicked back and he drives an expensive car while wearing nice clothing which is stereotypical of a rich man. We then see Lana in front of a pool eating a strawberry which also has romantic and attention seeking connotations. She is also wearing red lipstick and drinking a red beverage – all of which connote love. There is then a fast paced montage edit of Lana swimming, dancing with the man, sitting on the floor looking sad and lonely from a high angle which makes her look inferior and also shots of her having fun. This matches the beat of the song. The use of this montage edit is to show the fast range of emotions that she experiences throughout her time spent with this man.
The song then slows down as we see Lana slowly getting out of the pool which is shot/reverse shot to the man with a harsh light on his face which is very different to the rest of the video when he is in the darkness. This could show that she is enlightening him. However, after this moment Lana sings the chorus about not being able to break through his world and we see similar shots to those of which we have previously seen such as the man in the darkness and Lana in the darkness with flowers blossoming in the background. This shows the repetitive nature of their relationship; especially as towards the end of the video we see them both in the same house – in the light embracing each other.
Language
The language used in the video is typical of the genre as the word ‘blue’ is often used in old fashioned music which is what Lana’s music is based on. The narrative story in the video also supports the language used as it is represented very well specifically and abstractly.
Institution
Lana Del Rey music has been noted to reference that of old Hollywood films and movie stars. People would also compare her music to ‘film noire’ and ‘poetry’. She has a contralto vocal range which means that she can express emotion well and has a very jazz-like tone to her voice – which applies to her genre and the mood of her songs effectively.
Ideology
The main ideology behind Lana Del Rey is that of a blues artist. Her music is very bluesy and often quite melancholy; however some are different which what labels her into the indie genre. The ideology behind this video is the representation of a love story with a lot of problems.
Representation
In the music video Lana Del Rey is repeatedly represented as a pure and lonely woman. The representation of her on an everyday basis is very ‘old Hollywood’ as she gets similar labels to Marilyn Monroe and Nancy Sinatra.
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