Lana Del Rey is an enigmatic singer-songwriter who's been entertaining the masses since 2012.
Little is known about her personal life, but her split from police officer boyfriend Sean
"Sticks" Larkin made headlines in March 2020.
This is the real reason Lana Del Rey has trouble with relationships.
Many of Lana Del Rey's songs have to do with dating seemingly toxic individuals.
While opening up about her former relationship with ex-fiancé Barrie James O'Neill in a
2014 interview with Fashion, she admitted,
"It's been a tenuous and tumultuous three years.
[...] He's unwell and I'm unwell in some ways, and psychologically we've been through a lot
together."
Apart from that, the singer has remained very tight-lipped about her personal life.
While speaking with Rolling Stone, Del Rey was asked about the lyrics to her song, "Ultraviolence,"
where she croons, quote, "He hit me and it felt like a kiss."
So, are the words autobiographical?
She explained:
"I guess I would say, like, I'm definitely drawn to people with a strong physicality,
with more of a dominant personality."
At the end of the day, it's not like Del Rey has always had poisonous romances.
In fact, her single "Video Games" is about the complete opposite.
As she put it:
"I was blessed to find someone who made me so happy.
And I just didn't understand why true love shouldn't be the end-all, be-all.
I have everything else, you know?"
Perhaps Lana Del Rey's difficulties with maintaining long term relationships have nothing to do
with any internal struggles.
Simply put, maybe there's something else that's a priority - like her career.
An A-lister for almost a decade, it looks like the Manhattan-born star has finally found
her professional stride.
Vox highlighted this point perfectly, summarizing,
"In 2012, people called Lana Del Rey a fake.
Now they call her one of the best pop stars of her generation."
"Yeah, the labels I'm signed to now, I had met with 4 times over about 8 years."
This respect largely came on the tale of 2019's Norman F----ing Rockwell, which was received
with widespread acclaim.
Even Pitchfork named it the 19th best album of the 2010s.
Back in 2012, however, The Observer called Del Rey
"A failed pop singer who got lip injections, changed her name, and now has a great backstory
about living in a trailer that makes her New Jersey Chanteuse schtick as Urban Outfitters-ready
as a pair of tight Levi's."
Nevertheless, the "Born to Die" crooner pushed forward, and critics eventually praised her
for staying true to her brand.
So, with her singing career, does Del Rey even have time for a relationship?
Who knows, but she's definitely expanding in terms of her creative outlets.
In 2018, the star announced she'd be releasing a book of poetry, and by 2020, fans were lucky
to get a glimpse at some of her prose.
At the end of the day, maybe Del Rey is too heavily engrossed in a relationship with her
own mind.
When she does choose to maintain a relationship, it looks like Lana Del Rey doesn't go for
anything casual.
In essence, it's either all or nothing.
The "Doin' Time" singer elaborated on the intensity of her romances to Rolling Stone
in 2014:
"It's been beautiful, but it's been confusing, because when that's your prerogative, things
don't end in a traditional way.
You don't have that traditional relationship where maybe you go out with couples at night,
or you do normal things.
It's more of an extension of the creative process.
There's high-impact events that happen, or big adventures, or big fallouts.
So it's inspiring, and it's not grounding, but it's what I need to keep going."
Sure enough, intense relationships aren't for everyone, but it looks like that's the
main sort of love that Del Rey is after.
She explained to Billboard:
"For someone like me - and it's not a codependent thing - I just like having someone there.
I've been alone, and that's fine.
But I like to come home and have someone there."
Considering Lana Del Rey seems utterly engulfed in her music, will she ever prioritize having
a family?
Apparently so, according to a Rolling Stone interview in 2014:
"I hope that's in my future.
If I don't f--- everything up.
I don't know."
It looks like having children someday is definitely on her mind.
She said to Billboard:
"I've [...] really thought about it lately because I've just turned 30.
[...] I'd love having daughters.
But I don't think it'd be a good idea to have kids with someone who wasn't [...] on the
same page.
Who isn't exactly - like me!
Though maybe it's best to have kids with someone who's [...] normal."
So, is being in a relationship with someone who's similar to Del Rey a bad thing?
The star seems to think so.
Speaking with Billboard in 2015 about an old flame, the "Summertime Sadness" artist recalled,
"The last one [...] was pretty bad.
It wasn't good to be in it, but it wasn't good to be out of it, either.
He was like a twin.
Not a facsimile twin, but a real twin."
There's no denying that for Lana Del Rey, her music comes first.
She told Bloodworks Live in 2019:
"I mean they say that I was singing before I was talking.
I actually read this book called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
[...] I'll just always remember this line where he talks about burning every bridge
except the one bridge to the thing that makes your heart the most on fire, and I was like,
that's definitely singing."
"I'm definitely on my own path."
During a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Del Rey made a candid confession.
Speaking about her music, the "High By the Beach" singer admitted,
"I'm very selfish.
I make everything for me, kind of.
I mean, every little thing, down to the guitar and the drums.
It's just for me.
I want to hear it, I want to drive to it, I want to swim in the ocean to it."
Considering she so openly admits she's selfish with her music, perhaps she's also selfish
in relationships?
While the singer revealed to Bloodworks Live Studio that she, quote, "can be a bit of a
people-pleaser," she explained,
"I am more eclectic than most of my friends, so I guess just doing whatever it is I feel
like doing in any given moment."
At the end of the day, it looks like that's precisely what suits Del Rey at this point.
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