It’s no coincidence that this was the song and video that introduced “Lana Del Rey” to the world. But “Ride” is at turns sad, unsettling and beautiful. The video is a wistful depiction of what America “used to be,” the kind of idealistic imagery that has raised eyebrows among the artist’s critics over the years. Del Rey plays a dark-haired, “not very popular” singer who takes up with a nomadic motorcycle gang and becomes their lover. Directed by Anthony Mandler, who also helmed Del Rey’s Tropico short film, “Ride” is a vision of Americana steeped in totems of masculinity. Unlike the trip-hop-infused pop and noir-inspired visuals of Born to Die, “Ride” telegraphed the more rootsy direction the artist would take on her follow-up, Ultraviolence. “Ride,” from 2012’s Paradise EP, marked a shift in musical style and visual aesthetic for Del Rey. Carnivorous conspiracy theories never looked so glamorously decadent. A fever dream in which the titular vapor trails conjure tornadoes, shifting aspect ratios, and, apparently, a hunger for fresh lemons from the local farm stand, the video expands on the fiery, hallucinatory spell hinted at in her visual for 2014’s “West Coast.” By the end, Del Rey doffs her sparkly mesh face mask and prowls around the forest (hunting for birds, diamonds, and, presumably, men to devour) before crawling back to her bed. The Wizard of Oz meets An American Werewolf in London in this peculiar, thoroughly captivating video for the title track from Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club, which debuted at No. Whether her death is literal or symbolic, the point remains: Like the promises of the Dream Factory, life and love are just illusions. She peers longingly over the side of the giant letters – which director Clark Jackson created in his garage with papier-mâché and chicken wire – and takes the plunge, landing alongside The Weeknd in a field of poppies (a symbol of remembrance). Del Rey plays the lovesick lead singer of a girl group who climbs the Hollywood sign to rendezvous with her lover, who may or may not actually be there. Hollywood is a recurring theme in Del Rey’s music and visuals, and the video for “Lust for Life,” a duet with fellow pop visionary The Weeknd, takes place almost entirely atop Tinseltown’s most iconic symbol. Director Rich Lee’s video – not to mention Lana’s lilting performance – perfectly captures the wonder of teenage love. The dreamy, sun-kissed video for “Love,” the lead single from 2017’s Lust for Life, follows a group of suburban teens, including one dressed like Rose McGowan’s character from the ’90s cult film The Doom Generation, as they gather at a planetarium, where they’re transported into space and marvel at a solar eclipse while they bathe in celestial waters. Set to Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” the second half of the video is an extended underwater scene, nearly identical to the one in “Music to Watch Boys To,” evoking a watercolor painting come to life. When she delicately drops a tab of acid on Misty’s tongue, he’s instantly surrounded by a harem of adoring, flaxen-haired women (there’s more than a whiff of the Manson Family throughout). Singer-songwriter Father John Misty stars as a Jim Morrison-style figure who presides over a hippie cabal while Del Rey portrays his alternately despondent and love-struck bride. It’s narratively more straightforward than many of the singer’s visuals, but it’s this unexpected simplicity that makes “Music to Watch Boys To” so hypnotic.ĭirected by Del Rey, the nearly 11-minute video for “Freak,” a promotional single from Honeymoon, moves at a deliberately narcotic pace. The clip cuts fluidly between crisp black-and-white shots of Del Rey surrounded by spinning gramophones - only barely glancing at the shirtless boys playing basketball nearby - and blue-tinted visions of the artist and her friends floating angelically through water. The video for the second single from Del Rey’s 2015 album Honeymoon is as lush and leisurely as the song itself. We took a look back at her videography and picked out 10 of her absolute best videos. “She’s the most involved artist I’ve ever worked with,” Kinga Burza, director of Del Rey’s “Music to Watch Boys To” video, told Billboard in 2015.
The images Del Rey has created are inextricably bound to her music in many ways, she is first and foremost a visual artist. Every Lana Del Rey Song, Ranked: Critic's List
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