National Anthem off Lana Del Rey’s album, “Born to Die” is the gender-bent version of The Great Gatsby featuring themes of lust, money, and power. The music video depicts Lana and A$AP Rocky as the Kennedys, whom many consider being one of the American dynasties. The video has hazy imagery of the “good life,” parties with cigars and free-flowing alcohol, sailboats in the summer, and diamond jewelry.
The first line of the song: “Money is the anthem of success, so before we go out what’s your address?” Lana literally begins the song by stating that the American Dream, or the National Anthem, is a materialistic ideal hidden under a veil of so-called personal success. Lana then sings the lyrics: “tell me I’m your national anthem,” insinuating that she wants her lover, A$AP Rocky, to value her love as America does its wealth. Further lyrics like, “take me to the Hamptons, Bugatti Veyron,” suggest that Lana has become addicted to the rich life and wants to be a trophy wife for her lover to cherish even more.
The beautiful imagery makes it hard to see the troubling undertones of the lyrics until the ultimate assassination of A$AP (JFK) when the audience realizes that the American Dream is fleeting, along with material success.