The Random iTunes Fairy must have been a little sore about my comments dissing Justin Timberlake two weekends ago because she’s serving up another helping from his 2002 debut solo album, Justified.
While I do like this more than the syrupy ballad we got last time, it’s not anything I ever need to hear again. Inviting Janet Jackson to feature on a second-rate Michael Jackson song doesn’t make you Michael Jackson!
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 11: ‘Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing’
Between the album title and this song’s moniker, rest assured that Lana Del Rey satisfied any word count requirements for this project. She’s actually showing some restraint, as the line that gives today’s track its name adds the phrase “for sharks in the Pacific.”
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 10: ‘Paris, Texas’
Del Rey teamed up with pianist Jon Batiste earlier on the album, and here she looks to indie pop artist SYML, whose instrumental piano ballad ‘I Wanted to Leave’ forms the background of this lovely song.
‘Paris, Texas’ is a song about knowing when you need to get away and knowing when it’s time to go back home. It’s one of the simplest songs on Ocean Blvd and one of the prettiest.
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 9: ‘Fingertips’
Yesterday’s song might not have seemed radio friendly but it’s ‘Uptown Funk’ compared to the free form poem set to music titled ‘Fingertips.’
The first time I heard this I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics, distracted by trying to work out the structure. Where is the chorus? Why does the melody shift from verse to verse, and in some cases echo melodies from songs on earlier albums? What the hell is this thing?
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 8: ‘Kintsugi’
A couple of weeks ago, I described Del Rey’s album Blue Bannisters as “the most gorgeous therapy session you’ll ever hear.” Well, the middle section of this new album responds with a hearty “hold my beer.”
Today’s track and tomorrow’s, which fall (not accidentally, I’m sure) at the dead center of Ocean Blvd, contain some of the most raw and personal lyrics of Del Rey’s career.
Meet Me In Montauk 