u/AidanHisamoto

Obviously, this beautiful song wasn't Elizabeth Grant's first, as we know she had several independent works before this, but this song was the first single released by a major label.

And today I decided to talk about this.

"Video Games" is a song by singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, featured on her debut studio album, Born to Die (2012). It was written by Del Rey herself and Justin Parker, who also produced it along with Robopop.

The track was made available online on July 29, 2011, and later released as the album's first single. Initially, Del Rey's record label had refused to release the track as a single, believing it lacked radio potential. It is a baroque pop and indie pop track, with a calm tempo and predominant dream pop elements. Thematically, the inspiration came from her boyfriend playing video games while she worked.

"Video Games" had a favorable commercial performance, reaching the number one position in Germany, and positioning itself in the top ten in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song reached number 91, spending only one week on the chart. In 2013, the track was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for over 500,000 copies sold, and was also awarded gold status three times in Germany, totaling 450,000 copies. It was also certified in five other countries.

The song was promoted with a music video directed and edited by the singer herself, which features scenes of her singing in front of a webcam, as well as making use of old clips taken from the internet (which, for me, is one of the most aesthetic videos I've ever seen). The song was performed by Del Rey in a series of performances, including at the MTV Push, ECHO Awards, and Saturday Night Live, the latter of which was heavily criticized for her nervousness, and the next day everyone was talking about her performance. Regarding her ability to sing or not.

About the music video.

To create the music video for the song, Del Rey used existing video clips, featuring skaters, cartoons, images from old films, and paparazzi footage of actress Paz de la Huerta falling while drunk. For the video scenes, Del Rey filmed herself using a webcam. When asked if she would change anything about the video's production, she replied: "If I had known that so many people would see the video, I would have put more effort into it. I had my hair and makeup done and tried not to look grumpy, because everyone would be talking about my face all the time." "I could have put a storyline in the video." The singer also said that in the video, she was trying to appear intelligent and savvy, rather than sexy: "Of course I wanted to look good, but intelligence was the main focus."

Amanda Dobbins of New York Magazine referred to the music video as "predictable, but deserving of some public attention." Rya Becker of MTV questioned the singer's originality, saying: "It's hard to know what to make of Lana Del Rey at first glance. Is she like Jools Holland, once called an 'internet phenomenon' who's worth no more than a few racy posts?" Or is she a legitimate singer embracing hyper-femininity, naturally American, and an image she projects in her videos for the tracks "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans"? Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media commented that "the music video falls somewhere between surrendering to romance and depression."

A second music video was uploaded to her VEVO account titled "Video Games (Live at the Premises)," with a maximum duration of 4 minutes and 42 seconds. A writer for the Huffington Post, commenting on the video, called the song "hellish." Besides criticizing the lip adjustments and long nails, The Guardian praised Del Rey for her provocative looks and muffled vocals as she devastatingly delivers. Nick Neyland of Prefixmag commented: Here the music is stripped down, just piano and voice, with Del Rey looking much more confident in her performance than she did in that nervous Later performance.

Video Games was a sensation in the 2010s and today the song continues to play everywhere and on streaming services. A different choice. For a debut single, but brilliant at the same time, Del Rey shows from the start that she wasn't afraid to take risks and released one of the best songs of her career and of the industry.

Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here Behind the Scenes.

Let's talk about "Video Games," Lana Del Rey's first single.