The Queen of Summertime, she might proclaim of herself. And maybe she’s earned the title, for there are few other musicians who come to mind with even half as much imagery related to warm weather and its according good times. Except perhaps The Beach Boys (in keeping with her California obsession that ties so seamlessly into summer motifs). But Del Rey is no longer in a 60s mood, thanks to her latest charitable cause–delivered in conjunction with her “humblebrag” in response to a fan’s demand for why she took so long to come out in defense of that mesh mask back in October by remarking that she’s busy “happily donating a million dollars throughout the nation.”
Apparently part of that million is going to the LA and NY Philharmonic Orchestras, hence Del Rey’s decision to collaborate with them for a video and rendition of George Gershwin’s classic, “Summertime”–which isn’t a stretch for Del Rey considering she already covered Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” a track that pays lyrical nod to it during the intro. Oh yeah, and she has a quintessential song of her own called “Summertime Sadness.” A song that was all too appropriate for this particular summer of 2020. And maybe Del Rey’s decade shift to the 30s is an unwittingly pointed decision, for these times we live in are nothing if not The Great Depression redux. Gershwin’s original composition, written in ‘34, came out the following year via its appearance in the racially charged (for its stereotyping) Porgy and Bess.
To this end, of course, the project wouldn’t be distinctly post-Norman Fucking Rockwell Del Rey without a certain ick factor. For those who remember Del Rey’s many faux pas over the course of this year, it all began with her tone deaf “question for the culture” in which she accused only black female artists of not enduring the same strife she has. As if that wasn’t enough to get her laughed out of the industry, she doubled down on the statement soon after by declaring, “This is the problem with society today, not everything is about whatever you want it to be. It’s exactly the point of my post–there are certain women that culture doesn’t want to have a voice it may not have to do with race I don’t know what it has to do with. I don’t care anymore but don’t ever ever ever ever bro–call me racist because that is bullshit.”
This is why suddenly being flanked with three women of color for her backup (along with, for visual purposes only, her blindly supportive sister, Chuck Grant) feels a little bit too “See, I’m not racist, look at all the diverse people willing to hang out with me.” Uh yeah, because you’re giving them money. “All I hear is Billie Holiday,” Del Rey once sang on the now somewhat awkwardly titled “Blackest Day.” And it was Holiday who immortalized this track with her 1936 version. Let’s just say, try as she might, Lana is not Billie. Though this isn’t the first iconic black female vocalist she’s tried to pay homage to with a cover (Nina Simone being another favorite via her recordings of “The Other Woman” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” on Ultraviolence and Honeymoon, respectively).
To add to the problematic nature of LDR’s specific choice of this Gershwin song, it’s rather cringeworthy to hear a white woman singing about the cotton being high as she also seems to troll with the lyrics, “Your daddy’s rich”–because we all know Del Rey’s Daddy is. And while “mammy” might be an old-fashioned way to say mommy, from Del Rey’s lips it just makes one think of Grace Coddington’s mammy cookie jars. The positioning of herself among black people who aren’t A$AP Rocky isn’t the only pandering element. Because after the backlash regarding her mesh mask, it seems Del Rey wasn’t going to have herself filmed with a crowd sans the opening title card: “After a quick Covid test, the gang absconds back to the hideout.” Sure, Lana, sure.
In any case, while Del Rey is clamoring to be lauded for her noble support of struggling arts organizations, it seems as though she could have chosen a slightly less political song from Gershwin’s robust canon–like, oh, “S’Wonderful”–if she wanted all the focus to be on the cause and not the fact that she’s dredging up the controversial nature of Porgy and Bess during a year of racial reckoning in America (let’s just thank our lucky stars she didn’t choose “I Loves You Porgy”).
At the same time, it’s precisely in keeping with her blithe unawareness of her plantation mistress vibes of late. And yet, like the four white people who had a hand in creating the “first great American opera”–DuBose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin–Del Rey seems to have no consideration regarding the culturally appropriative nature of her whims, thinking nothing other than, “What a fun, cute song.” Again, it was “cuter” when Billie Holiday did it (and Ella Fitzgerald, too), and, as far as musical theater covers go, Del Rey has struck out once more after 2018’s “You Must Love Me.” Leaving one to suggest: stay along the lines of Sublime because, like Joe Biden said, “You ain’t black.”
