Lana Del Rey says she has ‘never dated bad guys’ despite stage persona

Singer says her songwriter is both 'real life and imagination'

Lana Del Rey has discussed the relationship between fact and fiction in her songwriting in a new interview with NME.

The singer features on the cover of this week’s new, free NME, where she stated that while her music may include repeat references to “bad guys”, her songwriting is more of a combination between “real life and imagination”.

“I guess the biggest difference is that when I’m on stage I’m the centre of attention and when I’m back at home I try to blend in,” she said.

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“Obviously I’m singing the songs because they relate to my life. When it comes to guys, I haven’t courted bad guys into my life but I think because I was artistic I never settled for anyone who wasn’t completely enthralled with life or with being different, and that didn’t lend any clarity to my world, although it was enriching in other ways.”

Del Rey continued: “I think sometimes as an artist it’s difficult to know where your unique aesthetic comes from… real life and imagination and art all bend in and out of each other to create your records. I’ve found, about five years down the line from writing the first song for that record, that I am surprisingly similar to the person in those songs – mostly in the way that I have a strong sense of who I am but not a clear idea of where I’m going.”

“There is a high fantasy element in the music, but I’m incredibly plugged into what’s going on politically, socially and pretty much in every way except pop-culturally,” the singer added. “I’ve had a very real life, and there have been a lot of things that took a lot of strength and wherewithal to figure out… things I’m still figuring out. That’s probably why the music has such an element of escapism to it.”

Elsewhere in the NME interview, Del Rey also spoke of her desire to work with cult director David Lynch.

In a 2012 H&M advert, Del Rey covered ‘Blue Velvet’, a song best known for its use in Lynch’s movie of the same name.

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“I would love to do anything with David Lynch,” she told NME. “I don’t know too much about what’s going on but I certainly love the original TV series and his movies since then.”

Lynch has previously spoken highly of Del Rey, saying: “She’s got fantastic charisma, and this is a very interesting thing. It’s like she’s born out of another time. She’s got something that’s so very appealing to people, and I didn’t know that she was influenced by me”.

Read the full interview and see the brand-new photoshoot in NME, available nationwide now and online. Find out where you can get your copy from the full list of pick-up points.

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