LogFAQs > #955672956

150. Lana Del Rey Video Games (2011)
from the album Born to Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE6wxDqdOV0

Key lyrics:
He holds me in his big arms,
Drunk and I am seeing stars
This is all I think of

A couple years before Lorde took melancholy pop mainstream, Lana Del Rey was already crooning from her preemptive deathbed. Its not that Video Games has particularly depressing subject matter, but rather that Lana Del Rey sings with a fatalistic edge. The mundane themes of ordinary love are cast against bombastic instrumentation there is no explicit acknowledgement that this relationship has ended, but everything about the production informs this perspective. Lana Del Rey successfully casts herself as a star, using Video Games as a melancholy nostalgia piece on the life she has given up to achieve that fame. And she found the perfect modern Rosebud, longing for something as simple as watching her lover play video games.

The production is mesmerizing and lush. A string section plays this up as something grandiose; such themes could have easily been taken as sentimental, but the song instead captures the wonders of ordinary life. A snare drum helps the song subtly rumble into and out from the chorus. The second chorus adds a louder pulse; these contrasting elements sell the sense of loss. Everything adds up to a perfect pop showstopper. Though Lana Del Rey had several fumbles in the immediate aftermath of this release, Video Games was so singularly impressive as to guarantee an attentive audience through every mistake.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/