Lana Del Rey pays tribute with 'National Anthem'

Lana Del Rey has just released the music video for her new single "National Anthem," which places her in the midst of John F. Kennedy's final days. With Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky playing the part of the young commander in chief, Del Rey takes on both Marilyn Monroe in her best effort at all its slinky and seductive glory, and Jackie Kennedy, a very loose-hipped, dancing version of the First Lady. This song fits in well with the indie pop intrigue's post-Lizzy Grant cinematic "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" public image.
"National Anthem" is the fifth single taken from Del Rey's debut album, "Born to Die," which peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release back in January. Save for the fact that the song is called "National Anthem," its hard to see how the presidency and death of JFK really figure in here. The takeaway line from the whole song: "Money is the anthem of success." Throwing Rocky into the mix actually makes a bit of sense, as the song was produced by Emile Haynie and Jeff Bhasker, two maestros with resumes rich with hip-hop and rap productions.
"Every so often, I top what I've done, and this video is definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever done," the 26-year-old moody songstress previously said. The Mandler-directed 7-minute epic clip lives up to the hype by coming in with a sprawling nearly eight-minute run time, and boasts a visual ode to money and success more so than a history lesson. Through good performances and gorgeous Super-8 cinematography and a complete indifference to anything related to governing, actually does an amazingly nice job depicting Del Rey and Rocky embrace their characters completely.
The clip begins in black and white, and flashes back in time with Del Rey as Marilyn Monroe sings her seductive "Happy Birthday" to the cigar-smoking President in 1962. The clip then segues to Del Rey as Jackie Kennedy sitting beside her husband during the tragic Dallas motorcade in November 1963 during which the President was assassinated, but as the music fades out, Del Rey leaves the viewer with some food for thought.