“Music To Watch Boys To” from Lana Del Rey’s third album, Honeymoon, is a pop-noir slow-burner that dives head first into her trademark bleak songwriting. For this track, Del Rey teamed up with “Summertime Sadness” collaborator Rick Boyles, and the outcome is undeniably dark. Executed to perfection, the song is far more than it appears to be.
Accompanied by an aquatic, dreamy, and surreal video treatment, “Music To Watch Boys To” is a quintessentially Del Rey number. It’s brooding and depressing, but still sexy – thanks largely to an ethereal and atmospheric beat. This time, however, Del Rey demonstrates a sense of self-awareness she’s previously kept under wraps.
For much of her career, Del Rey has been slammed for painting herself as a slave to men. She’s always the wounded woman in some lifeless relationship, rooting for the bad guy even when he clearly doesn’t deserve it. With “Music To Watch Boys To,” what she leaves on the surface offers nothing new. But, after dissecting the song’s lyrics, it takes on an entirely new meaning.
The vocals are recored in a soothing and almost echoing way, marking a distance between her, her subjects, and her audience. The lyrics are seductive, mysterious, and even a little bit twisted. Coming straight out of the gate with: “I like you a lot, so I do what you want,” pays homage to the foundation upon which she has built her legacy. Her critics say she’s all about what the guy wants, quick to disregard herself and what she wants. With lines like, “I see you leaving, so I push record and watch you leave,” however, Del Rey is less a hopeless victim and more a woman capitalizing on her situation. She’s using these male interactions and experiences to foster new material for her music. Perhaps she is being left by yet another guy, but, even if that’s the case, she certainly doesn’t seem to mind. The bridge – “Live to love you, and I love to love you” – also reinforces the theme of her pinning for affection from her male love interest. But the question remains: is she flaunting her sexuality so she can get what she wants, or is she merely doing it for attention?
The group of boys portrayed in the video are shirtless and tattooed. They play basketball, hang out by fences, and mess around on pull-up bars. All of their scenes are filmed in black and white silhouette, pushing towards the unrecognizable. It’s almost as if each of the boys she’s “watching” are interchangeable (and, maybe even, replaceable). Shifting the power from the hand of the man to her own, Del Rey deftly indicates an awareness of what the critics condemn her for. And she simultaneously ensures she comes out on top. (Boom!)
Ultimately, the undertone of “Music To Watch Boys To” is that of a trickster, as Del Rey cleverly lets us know where she really stands when it comes to watching boys: “It’s all a game to me anyway.” And this game is hers to win. Well played, Lana. Message received. Check out the breezy new video below and let me know what you think of it in the comment section:
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