Lana Del Rey Blows Up a Helicopter in the Video for 'High By the Beach'

Earlier today, Lana Del Rey put out the video for “High By the Beach,” a song we had discussed previously. It is something. Here, our staff talks about it.

Corban Goble: When Lana Del Rey puts out a video, it’s either something that’s so low stakes that I sort of can’t believe they even bothered, or it’s a fucking event. This one is the latter. What I love about Lana Del Rey in 2015 is that no one else understands the concept of Lana Del Rey more than her, and we’re all better for it.

Andrew Burmon: Remember that Pacino movie S1m0ne about a computer program that became a famous movie star? Awful movie, but definitely what I think of when I see Lana Del Rey. This video gives the distinct impression that Pacino is slumming it just off camera, leaning back in a chair while wearing a beret and growing a beard and saying stuff like, “Yeah, like that but languid.” Definitely some user error here.

Winston Cook-Wilson: S1m0Ne is sick — actually the house in this kind of reminds me of where Pacino holes up in that movie when he’s all washed up. A combination between that and the mansion from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and wherever the bad guys hole up in any film noir. Lana knows her aesthetic. Sad Hollywood, baby.

Yasmin Tayag: Draped in blue, dark hair framing her impossible face, Lana Del Rey’s still styling herself like a real-life Blessed Virgin. And it still works. It’ll always work because Del Rey is more deity than human. I live in constant fear of the day she inevitably gives up on this barren, meaningless, sun-bleached Earth and flies back into the heavens, blue robe fluttering behind her.

CG: I love how she gives the photographers the shot before she just fuckin’ fries ‘em. It’s lit!

Matthew Strauss The “High by the Beach” video is so good because it’s, like, 99% nothing and 1% Lana with a machine gun. It’s not even a slow burn because you can see the to-be-shot helicopter buzzing around the whole time. You know it’ll go down, so Lana gets it over with. Long live Ms. Del Flames.

Winston Cook-Wilson: Music videos that are really just a build-up to one event are the best. It’s like how at the end of CPlay’s “Yellow” video, the sun comes out, except in this case it’s Lana decimating a fucking chopper with a Halo gun. A chopper with a chopper — suck on that, Chris Martin. I mean, all music videos should have/be gimmicks — that’s all you’ve got time for, really.

CG: Yeah I think this def hits for the cycle of like, modern music videos. Sad-eyed chanteuse, beautiful scenery, all building to one highly GIFable moment. The memes man. Lana did it for the fuckin’ memes. She’s a Christ figure in that way.

AB: She’ll rise again in fulfillment of her Interscope contract.

WCW: Oh yeah, and here’s the text of the stupid note at the end — Matt and I figured it out: “Anyone can start again/Not through love, but through revenge/Through the fire we’re born again/Peace by vengeance brings the end.” It’s what she’s saying in the outro. On some Fire Walk With Me shit.