Lana For the Wall

November 11, 2017 — About three months ago, to see if I could get a pre-sale ticket code, I had to make a purchase from Lana Del Rey’s official store. I thought about getting the offered limited edition red vinyl pressing of her 2017 release Lust for Life, but by the time I got around to making the purchase the record was sold out. In its place the official Lana store was offering a signed lithograph of the album cover. Each purchase came with the download of the record. I went with that. Every few weeks, however, I would get an email saying that the delivery was delayed. In my search for news for the artists I keep track of I noticed some people had received theirs. They actually complained, saying that they thought her signature was lame. Seriously? She took to social media herself, defended her bad penmanship, saying she personally hand signed each one. I could hear her being tired. I googled other signed Lana things and saw her signature. Mind you, that’s not her real name, so perhaps her half-printed signature, with stylized small “a’s (when I was a young girl I used to do those too) is because her name is not really Lana Del Rey, perhaps she went to school after they stopped teaching cursive, or perhaps it’s just how she likes it, some semblance of retro. But to complain? Never. And while all the complainers got their signed Lana lithograph, mine didn’t come. I visualized it. Lana got tired of signing, sent out some, got complaints, then decided … “no more”. I would be in the group of “no more”, but I was wrong. Lana … kept signing.

Last week I got an email saying my purchase was on its way. A few days later, it arrived. Armed with the advance knowledge of what it was going to look like, I opened the tube and pulled out the curled poster. It might be cheesy to get an autograph this way, but I thought it was sweet, like receiving a letter from my friend Lana, not so much an autograph as a really big greeting card.

I posted a sentiment on her social media thanking her for it. I told her I liked it, hoping my post would make up for those ingrates who complained about her handwriting. I told her my only other autograph I’ve ever gotten was that of Robert Plant. I explained, more for the benefit of her young followers that Robert Plant was the singer of Led Zeppelin, and I wondered…. If she reads my post, and I do think she reads many of these posts seeing as she responds from time to time, what would she think of being in my personal company with Robert Plant?

Before you say, hey she can’t touch Robert Plant, I get that, but what matters is who touches us as individuals. Right now I’m a combo of those two, one part Zep, one part Lana. Plus I’m a girl, and I like the company and influence of other girls. Lana is most definitely my girl. And honestly, Lana is growing up before my eyes. She’s looking very mature in her latest performances.

She just did a number as part of tribute concert to the late singer-songwriter-poet-writer Leonard Cohen, singing with his son a Cohen song she used to cover called Chelsea Hotel. From what I can find of this performance, her singing was strong and emotive, making me believe the line “I need you; I don’t need you”; you know … when you can’t decide? I like how she doesn’t succumb to the pop machine too, that there isn’t an EDM backing track in every song. You’ll see what I mean when I get around to reviewing Taylor Swift’s new record. I can’t find enough free material yet, so that one will wait, but so far, I’m not liking it.

That means one thing. I can enjoy my Lana record for bit longer, oh and hang it on the wall too, my one remaining autograph as the Robert Plant one walked away years ago. Hey, thanks Lana! I actually like the signature too. I honestly do.  Now to work on my “a’s”. There is one “a” in my name, and I’m feeling retro….