Lana Del Rey Music Video Analysis

Lana Del Rey-Born to Die

The target audience of this music video is indie/sad core lovers aged between18-28 because a lot of the content in the video is mature and it would be hard for young people to interpret and understand the meaning of the video, and a lot of the singers fans are young adults. It is mostly aimed at females because the video is about love which most people associate with females and also abusive and argumentative streaks which females can also relate to.

The audience will see the music video as a narrative music because the video tells a story which will interest the audience and if people are in relationships that have similar problems as shown in the one in the video then they can relate to it however it also informs people of the realisation of what can happen in relationships, especially those in young relationships.

The music video is opened with the main character a young female and a heavily tattooed man hugging each other in front of the American flag. The main lead stares at the camera while the man she is embracing, has his eyes closed which could mean that they are in a relationship and could give the impression that she is more important to him than he is to her, or he has done something to possibly jeopardize their relationship.

The next scene is shown in what looks like a palace as the viewers are shown the beauty of the place and then shown a long shot of the lead sitting in what looks like a throne and dressed elegantly in a white dress which is normally associated with the idea of purity and innocence and also looks like she is something like royalty, sitting on a throne with two real tigers by her side giving her an air of power and showing her dominance as the tigers are so relaxed around her as if they are there to protect her and therefore she must have some sort of command over them.

The next shot is completely different from the first two and is showing the protagonist in casual clothing and she is with same man as before and he is also in casual clothing, showing some sort of narrative unveiling giving the impression that there is a story behind it.

The low key lighting suggests a dark atmosphere but also gives off a romantic vibe with the couple there in the night. They are in a deserts, or woods and that also gives off a romantic element as they are a couple, alone and she speeds up to him and he kisses her which suggests a sexual attraction between the two.

The scene then goes back to the artist in the palace like place suggesting that she is having flashbacks to the times when she was with her lover.

The scene then appears to take a turn for the worse as there are abusive traits being used as the man pokes the female’s head and forces her to kiss him and mid shots are used throughout this to show the couple from far away but close enough to see the facial expressions on both characters. This is probably used to show the posture and forcefulness of the man but to also show the two big differences between the man and the women’s facial expressions.

The next shot is a mid shot of the artist lying in bed wearing a white silk gown again showing expensiveness behind it but also a theme of innocence associated with her. The shot is then half faded into black and that connotes that something bad is going to happen and it is then shown Lana and her lover lying beside her stroking her arm and this is still a mid shot and you can see their facial expressions and hers looks a bit like she is somewhat scared and the idea of her facing away from him shows that she is maybe scared of him and wants to hide her pain from him however for him she has become an obsession and he now controls her.

Because she is frowning it shows that maybe she is sad and shows the audience that she no longer wants to be with him, in a relationship with someone whom she feels trapped. With the man smiling it suggests that he is happy and content with how things are going and he does not find his actions wrong in fact it seems the opposite he finds them right.

As the flashbacks continue the man now his hand around her throat strangling her and suggesting that he has authority over her which then shows her as the victim and her face in the shot is shown to have tears in them which leads the audience to believe that she is very badly affected by what’s happening and allows the audience to sympathize with her.

The scene then shifts back to them in the car with their casual clothing on again and as the lyrics in the song between to intertwine with the music video the audience gets the sense that the man is about to commit suicide as he leans over to kiss his partner and the couple approach a bright red light which the audience can identify from the reflection on the car but the couple are too busy kissing, which shows the theme of love and obsession from the man’s point of view, and this alerts the audience that they are approaching something dangerous because the colour is shown to be red which symbolizes hazards and danger.

Lana is now shown in a white dress which again shows the theme of purity and approaches a door which she pushes open and a beaming white light is shown across it and this connotes the idea of her now being in heaven.

The next shot is close up which zooms out into a long shot showing the man holding Lana and showing the damage that has happened to him. He has cuts on his face whereas Lana is covered in blood and appears to be dead. The look on the man’s face insists that he is sorry and remorseful about what he has done. The flames in the background illuminate both the female and male and with the low key lighting and with them walking in the middle puts all the focus on them, and also suggests that there was a crash but only Lana dies in the man’s attempt to kill himself with Lana failed.
The man is now living in his own hell and she is living in her version of ‘heaven’ and is at peace which is shown in the previous scene. The lyrics of the song fit in with the music video which gives it a narrative for example, ‘we were born to die’ suggests that the relationship was damaged and broken but the two people loved each other that their relationship was doomed from the beginning and also living life on the wild side and loving ‘recklessly’.

The video then finishes with the same scene as the first one of the couple hugging which then allows the audience to make their own choices and judgement about what the video meant.
By Farhana Kadir