Blue Banisters

Lana Del Rey’s work will always have a soft spot in my heart. Her writing is poetry, her voice has a fragile and delicate uniqueness to it and tends to sound somewhat conversational at times. I just love the stories she tells and the images she shares. I find that in music I always respond either in an emotional or creative way and with Lana Del Rey it’s both.

I’m a person who loves creating playlists for specific vibes I feel. As a result, I often listen to a mix of artists at one time, however, this week something drew me to listen to an album from start to finish. Specifically to the album ‘Blue Banisters’ by Lana Del Rey.

I knew Lana released two albums in a short period of time in 2020-2021, I listened to the Chemtrails record with devoted attention but I didn’t with Blue Bannister, I remember the first song I heard from the album was ‘Dealer’ as a friend played it for me and I just got obsessed, but never felt inclined to dive into the album. Slowly over time, I heard a few more songs from the album, but again never the entire work. I already listened religiously to so many Lana songs and didn’t have the time or energy for a deep dive, but I believe sometimes you need certain ‘pings’ to do so and not force it.

And randomly while I was housesitting in Connecticut I got a ‘ping’ from the universe to play an album I hadn’t thought of playing. I spent a beautiful summer day, in what I would call the East Coast countryside sitting and quietly listening. And I’m very grateful I took the time to do so. It’s funny because when I was younger I would often make the effort to listen to complete albums but as I’ve gotten over I’m more likely to just jump to specific, individual songs that speak to me.

That said there were certainly a few songs that jumped out to me as I sat and listened to the full works. The song that was named the album is certainly a favourite ‘Blue Banisters’, the imagery is so vivid, and there are such beautiful harmonies in the perfect moments of the song. I get lost in the story she tells and it’s a great listen if you love following the lyrics of a song. Also, a song I heard for the first time (after listening to the full album) is ‘Violets for Roses’ and I’m sad I didn’t hear it years ago when it came out. But I often feel that certain songs stick out to you at certain times of your life and I love that, and I feel if I heard it a few years ago I may have responded to it in a different way. The reason this one jumped out to me was because I’ve recently been working on a new script and I’m in the stage of building the characters, the song really matched the female lead I’m writing, and the song has now inspired me to explore the character in a deeper way and I’m grateful to have found the song at this moment. A few more songs to mention would be, ‘beautiful’, ‘sweet Carolina’ and ‘dealer’ all three have different sentimental values to me and again very pleasant listens. The piano in ‘Sweet Carolina’ is soothing and ethereal and the slow sultriness of ‘Dealer’ is so intoxicating to listen to and definitely hits the vibe of an evening chill (the red wine and candle vibes).

Even though I didn’t listen to the full album at the time of release I do remember reading about why Lana made two albums so close together. Lana later revealed to Rolling Stone that she didn’t want people to listen to the album as it was a reaction to criticism she received over her initial album release in 2020.

She didn’t promote ‘Blue Banisters’ purposely because she apparently didn't mind if people ever heard it or not. For that reason amount many others I find something raw and pure about the writing and even her vocals. And it might just be one of my favourite albums from her. If you want to know more about the perspective she brings to her work then definitely give it a listen or re-listen. And equally, I’d say her latest album ‘Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’ is an even deeper and tremendous portrayal of her life experiences and her artistic perspective.

Personally, when it comes to Lana del Rey’s work I find it hard to say definitively which album would be my overall favourite. Each brings a certain vibe, but as a creative, she is one of my favourite artists to listen to recreationally but also when I’m writing.

There is something about art influencing art that, makes everything feel so interconnected when you are in a creative space. It’s crazy how many times I’ve come up with entire plots just listening to one song. Or a picture/painting of an artist I love has summed up an entire character’s history or even encouraged me to write a lyrical poem/song. Usually, the art in question that inspires me is only a tiny element of what I write about but it’s an uncontrolled chain reaction when a piece of human expression strikes you in the core of your own personal expression and artistry and demands to come out in its uniques but connected form. Like a chain reaction of sorts when those cells in someone else transformed and have now transformed a cell in you too.

So today you can find me in an empty yet full house in Connecticut, listening to the ‘Blue Banisters’ album and writing not only this blog but a script about a couple amid a divorce as one mistook the other to be a woman of roses instead of violets.

I hope if you haven’t you will give the album a quiet listen or even pick a random album from an artist you love and just absorb it all and enjoy the flow of what they created.

And be gentle out there.

NN