10 years ago this week, Lana Del Rey releases the critically-acclaimed musical masterpiece "Ride”

[DignifiedLove]

10 years ago this week on September 25th of 2012, Lana Del Rey releases the cult classic and iconic musical masterpiece "Ride" encapsulating on what it feels to be lonely in a busy, crowded world and wanting to be a free-spirit.

At the time of its release, Lana Del Rey was one of the fastest rising stars in the pop music scene. With only one major-label album under her belt, Del Rey was shifting the way the world would think of pop stars. Rather than first-pumping or belting out to the synchronic electro beats of Dr. Luke, Afrojack, will.i.am, RedOne or Max Martin, Del Rey invited you to lounge on a chair, preferably next to a lover, and watch the world pass by. Her naked sadness, backed throughout symphonic strings, was different from the in-your-face boldness of many of the major pop acts of the early 2010s. 

The lead single off of her third EP titled Paradise was written by Lana Del Rey and produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin. With an orchestral production flair and a deep sense of melancholy, she planted the seeds not only for her own success, but for a timeless and defining moment in pop culture. In the song, Del Rey sings with smokey vocals over a string-drenched, piano-driven melody with lyrical themes of daddy issues, alcoholism, loneliness and exploration. The psychedelic hums, melancholic piano progression and poignant string-peered crescendos exemplify a sentiment that takes you through a journey of life through elegance, opulence and fantasy in just under five minutes. 

The accompanying 10-minute short film for "Ride", written by Del Rey and directed by Anthony Handler displays images of adultery, revenge, hitchhiking and several other themes surrounding Las Vegas and Americana culture. Del Rey's family and friends disapprove of her lifestyle, but urges that they are simply unaware. Del Rey proceeds to perform in a dazzled dive bar, revealing that she was a performer, but "not a very popular one". On one hand, we see a free-spirited woman who is detached from all obligations and is out in the world, as the first verse shows. However, lyrics like “But I, I’ve got a war in my mind” shows, not a different person, but rather a different perspective on the same situation. "Ride" also suggests the darker side to lifestyles normally romanticized and glorified in Hollywood. 

Del Rey insists that she's always been different, and was "born to be the other woman" belonging to no one and everyone at the same time, who has nothing but wants everything. The first part of the monologue claims how this kind of life she yearns for has made her obsessed with the freedom it comes with, pushing her to a nomadic point of madness. A montage of clips displaying her and her biker gang with multiple romantic lovers involved begins to play. For Del Rey, biker culture represents that freedom she longs for. She enjoys wild times in the empty California desert, moving from motel-to-motel, driving bikes through flames, drinking excessively, and howling at the moon.

 The very core of who she is is split into two. There’s the side of her that wants order. The side wants a place to call home, a person to be with, and the security of a relationship. Along with this is the other side. The side that, in the pursuit of happiness, is willing to compromise on all of Lana’s moral principles, from sugar daddies and ***ual favors to ***** and alcohol which slowly chip away at her humanity suggest to give her the happiness that she never actually found. The theme of "Ride" suggests that she just flows through the roads her life takes her through and lets fate decide for her. 

In the monologue, she talks about a life where she finds fleeting happiness with the people she met on the open road. She talks about her failed run at wanting to be a poet and her time as an unsuccessful singer under her name, Lizzy Grant -- and how all her dreams were just completely shattered because of unfortunate events. Consequentially, this moral ambiguity means that she can fit in with everyone but doesn’t belong to anyone. There isn't a group of like-minded people she can call her own kind. She then talks about her vagabond lifestyle on the open road and how the term ‘home’ means just something completely different to her and why some people will never understand that her ‘home’ is not physical or literal, but a feeling of belonging. She talks about people who have never left the safety of a home to be out in the world completely on their own, for home to be wherever you lie your head down as long as you feel like you belong there -- which is something that cannot be attained without the kindness of strangers that you meet during your experiences on the road. 

Towards the end of the monologue, during which scenes are shown of Del Rey sneaking away with the bikers, she declares, "I am ******* crazy. But I am free" as she proceeds to swing on her free-range tire swing affirming her faith in the kindness of strangers and the freedom of the open road, even if it is completely unpredictable at times. It’s the story of finding freedom through the road, and through the people that she meets on the way. This suggests that she’s done struggling with who she is and she simply just rides, agreeing to disagree. The song and video is a profound journey on its own -- about the woman that Del Rey used to be and who she once wanted to become, which is now her reality. It is a song about exploration and finding that happiness. 

On October 10th of 2012, Del Rey premiered the music video for "Ride" at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California and made its VEVO debut on October 12th. Though criticized by some for its controversial themes, the music video remains prominent within modern-day pop culture with a massive following and its influence went on to inspire a slew of artists from Taylor Swift to Lady Gaga to Miley Cyrus and more. The music video was nominated at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards for 'Best Cinematography' but lost to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us".

 While "Ride" was considered a modest hit at the time, the track itself earned widespread critical acclaim from music critics all around. Billboard described the track as "a long, dreamy ballad that swells into full view during the chorus".  Complex listed the track as the eighth best song of 2012. The track made several other year and decade-end lists. In 2019, Rolling Stone listed "Ride" as the sixth best music video of the last 20 years. As of 2022, the video has reached over 143 million views on YouTube, has over 225 million streams on Spotify and is certified platinum in the United States.

Spoiler

Sources: 

https://guntajdeepsingh.medium.com/how-a-song-by-lana-del-rey-changed-my-life-forever-d59e5996a0ec

https://medium.com/the-music-cove/ride-the-tale-of-the-broken-********-f3711f331bd6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_(Lana_Del_Rey_song)

And with many excerpts by yours truly

 

Spoiler

@Jordan Miller @radguy89 @lucasmeyer @Az4Angela @stanLOONA @Seel @BlackoutGlory @DougFromBrazilIsBack @britney fkn spears @SJK @meghanc @Ligufaca @MoodRing3 @BeyonceIsQueen @BritneyGXKB @Henry Torres @Jsken @UnbrokenExaholic @TTrouble @armrunner1998 @ChaosMoogle @etherealcat @PrimeBritney @DulaPeep @BrittonJeanSpears @GirlOnTheMoon @TommyX @SunshineKH @Axad @Tear the floor up up @GlitterRain @IsraeliMatt @BananaBoy98 @Benjamyn @JP9101 @frederiickx @princessmimi  @car @rennen2.0 @Donavan Ward @glorified.ho @Midnight @Urbanney (sorry if I forgot to tag any of you) 

 

[stanLOONA]

To me, probably her best song ever 

The song really takes me to a ride 

[danielgeismas]

2012 was her year... first born to die then paradise and don't get me started on the unreleaseds from these albums. truly 2 masterpieces. 

[princessmimi]

I never heard the song, is it good?

[Abdul]

Why I am here what’s going on ?

[Az4Angela]

Why does the notification say I was mentioned in this thread  aint nobody mentioning me in here, I aint Lana 

[Abdul]

I love Lana but her music is dark and and make me depressed though  I was depressed for very long time when I was younger so no the only song that I love is young  and beautiful  still depressing though  

[Urbanney]

 deleted bc I was being an idiot

[DignifiedLove]

1 hour ago, Urbanney said:

Me seeing a notification that I got tagged and being surprised and touched that someone remembered that I love Lana:

Me opening the thread and realizing I’m just being tagged for attention:

 

A good thread doesn’t need tags to be successful. Now I purposefully won’t read it out of spite.
 

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you got me to reply though, so I guess you got some sort of attention you were hoping for out of me 

 

This response seems uncalled for. To clarify, you were not tagged for attention. I purposely tagged you and @Midnight towards the end of this thread because I am well-aware the both of you are big Lana fans. The others I tagged were members in my mentions from roughly over the last 12 hours. I put in a lot of effort into this thread and spent hours piecing it together, hence the tags. Unfortunately, however, threads on Exhale don't do that hot unless they're in BSN, involve some sort of drama (usually about Britney) and/or bashing or pitting other successful artists against eachother. It's why this place has declined in quality because of members bombarding this place with meaningless threads and I am not the only one who's made note of this. Yes, I make silly threads but also do my best to create threads on many pop culture and music events whenever I get the chance. But next time I make an anniversary or appreciation thread that I spend some effort on, I'll keep in mind to not tag you again because it's posts like these that truly steer me away from being on here. I feel like some of you come off so ungrateful and entitled for no reason, particularly in an incident like this where I tagged you because I was well aware that you're a Lana fan. Anyways, I hope we can come to a resolution on some of these unjustified responses and work this misunderstanding out because I always thought you and I were on good terms, especially since I've never been about holding grudges. 

[Jsken]

I love Lana and I feel honored to be tagged, I don't care if it was just for attention 

[DignifiedLove]

2 hours ago, stanLOONA said:

To me, probably her best song ever 

The song really takes me to a ride 

It's definitely in her Top 5 for me.  

I'd say this, Arcadia and the greatest probably resonate with me the most.

1 hour ago, etherealcat said:

2012 was her year... first born to die then paradise and don't get me started on the unreleaseds from these albums. truly 2 masterpieces. 

The influence she had on the pop music scene despite her being considered an indie act. I don't think we've seen a female artist with an impact so profound like that since.  And yes, period. BTD Paradise Edition is timeless. Her artistic peak in the sense of both sonics and visuals combined.  What are your favorite unreleased tracks from BTD/Paradise btw? 

[GlitterRain]

Love Lana 

[DignifiedLove]

13 minutes ago, Jsken said:

I love Lana and I feel honored to be tagged, I don't care if it was just for attention 

You're sweet.  And to clarify -- it wasn't for attention, that was not my intention but rather bringing awareness on such a prolific moment in pop music that I'm sure many of us 2010s kids have enjoyed and can appreciate. Who knows? Maybe some aren't even aware of this masterpiece and can finally learn about its greatness. I'm glad to see all the Lana love on here though. Nice to know who the Lana fans are out of the select few I tagged.

[Urbanney]

29 minutes ago, Joshyworld said:

This response seems uncalled for. To clarify, you were not tagged for attention. I purposely tagged you and @Midnight towards the end of this thread because I am well-aware the both of you are big Lana fans. The others I tagged were members in my mentions from roughly over the last 12 hours. I put in a lot of effort into this thread and spent hours piecing it together, hence the tags. Unfortunately, however, threads on Exhale don't do that hot unless they're in BSN, involve some sort of drama (usually about Britney) and/or bashing or pitting other successful artists against eachother. It's why this place has declined in quality because of members bombarding this place with meaningless threads and I am not the only one who's made note of this. Yes, I make silly threads but also do my best to create threads on many pop culture and music events whenever I get the chance. But next time I make an anniversary or appreciation thread that I spend some effort on, I'll keep in mind to never tag you again because it's posts like these that truly steer me away from being on here. I swear, some of you come off so ungrateful and entitled for no reason, particularly in an incident like this where I tagged you because I was well aware that you're a Lana fan. Anyways, I hope we can come to a resolution on some of these unjustified responses and work this misunderstanding out because I always thought you and I were on good terms, especially since I've never been about holding grudges. 

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or diminish your efforts because I can tell this took a lot of time. I’ve written threads like these before, and I know they require a lot of work. I guess I should’ve expected that my post would be offensive but I really didn’t intend for it to. I also have absolutely zero bad feelings towards you directly and didn’t while writing that though it may be hard to believe. 

I just hate mass tags and some users do use them regularly and/or to get featured which I think is very irritating. I do generally agree with the premise that a good post won’t require tags to get responses, but I also recognize that posts with more effort might not generate a lot of responses because they’re lengthier which people are too lazy to read. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good posts. 

Anyways, I apologize again for being an asshat. My intent was to be sassy and funny while getting my point across, but I think I just came across as rude instead. I truly don’t expect people to remember certain things about me (like that I like Lana) because I have a really hard time remembering who is who and who posts what here myself. I realize we’re all busy people with busy lives, and I don’t expect anyone to keep track. Again, I was just trying to poke fun, though I now realize I was unsuccessful and just rude instead.

This was me being an example of what kind of moderator and community member NOT to be. I should be encouraging people who actually put in effort and make thoughtful posts, not discouraging them because I get irritated by a mass tag. I apologize. 

[Wendy Williams]

3 hours ago, Joshyworld said:

 

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@Jordan Miller @radguy89 @lucasmeyer @Az4Angela @stanLOONA @Seel @BlackoutGlory @DougFromBrazilIsBack @britney fkn spears @SJK @meghanc @Ligufaca @MoodRing3 @BeyonceIsQueen @BritneyGXKB @Henry Torres @Jsken @UnbrokenExaholic @TTrouble @armrunner1998 @ChaosMoogle @etherealcat @PrimeBritney @DulaPeep @BrittonJeanSpears @GirlOnTheMoon @TommyX @SunshineKH @Axad @Tear the floor up up @GlitterRain @IsraeliMatt @BananaBoy98 @Benjamyn @JP9101 @frederiickx @princessmimi  @car @rennen2.0 @Donavan Ward @glorified.ho @Midnight @Urbanney (sorry if I forgot to tag any of you) 

 

[AmandaLick]

I think she’s really cool 😎 

[Kand Dion]

I am not reading all that so good for her or sorry for what happened 

JK Lana is my voice of a generation 

[DignifiedLove]

5 hours ago, princessmimi said:

I never heard the song, is it good?

Yes it's a masterpiece. The song starts at 3:25 if you want to skip the opening monologue even though that part is also incredible. 

I can't even listen to it in full without getting emotional and reminiscing on 2012/13.

[DignifiedLove]

4 hours ago, Urbanney said:

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or diminish your efforts because I can tell this took a lot of time. I’ve written threads like these before, and I know they require a lot of work. I guess I should’ve expected that my post would be offensive but I really didn’t intend for it to. I also have absolutely zero bad feelings towards you directly and didn’t while writing that though it may be hard to believe. 

I just hate mass tags and some users do use them regularly and/or to get featured which I think is very irritating. I do generally agree with the premise that a good post won’t require tags to get responses, but I also recognize that posts with more effort might not generate a lot of responses because they’re lengthier which people are too lazy to read. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good posts. 

Anyways, I apologize again for being an asshat. My intent was to be sassy and funny while getting my point across, but I think I just came across as rude instead. I truly don’t expect people to remember certain things about me (like that I like Lana) because I have a really hard time remembering who is who and who posts what here myself. I realize we’re all busy people with busy lives, and I don’t expect anyone to keep track. Again, I was just trying to poke fun, though I now realize I was unsuccessful and just rude instead.

This was me being an example of what kind of moderator and community member NOT to be. I should be encouraging people who actually put in effort and make thoughtful posts, not discouraging them because I get irritated by a mass tag. I apologize. 

 You're sweet.  It's okay, don't worry about it. I forgive you. I'm also sorry if I displayed any attitude with my response.

I really only tagged you because I know you also love Lana! No hard feelings and glad we were able to work this misunderstanding out.

[rik]

Honestly ride….. one of her worst  I have tried to like it but I just can’t. I love the majority of her early work,  if not all of it