Lana Del Rey – “Norman f*cking Rockwell”

By: Jesse Benitez

Haven’t written much on music this week; could be ’cause I’m going through something I don’t realize, or maybe binging Never Have I Ever has me all in my feels. Either way, the queen of melancholic pop, Lana Del Rey, never fails at helping me construct my yearnful, Southern California dreamscape.

“Norman fucking Rockwell,” the first (and title) track off Del Rey’s sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), is a magical and deeply moving anthem. The track itself is cinematically luminous, with lyrics that weigh upon one’s self-awareness on the complexity of love and infatuation. To me, there’s so much graceful lonesomeness expressed within Del Rey’s fragile vocals, and I can’t help but feel her profoundly personal history alongside my own. She is very much so, one of the greatest songwriters of our time. There’s a brave past embedded within the song, with a mix of fluorescent memories and overcast yesteryears. “NFR” is not about repressing feelings, but about disarming one’s consciousness and addressing reality; a difficult undertaking when enamoured in the splendor of allurement. The sincerity within “NFR,” both the track and the album in its entirety, is earnest and isolating, in such a way that provokes massive moments for contemplation and honest heart-searching.