
Lana Del Rey, who has seized the mantle of protest with her latest album, spoke for many artists in a new interview about the anger, sadness and paranoia she now feels in the wake of the latest mass shootings in America.
It’s fear that is not unfounded and shared by most Americans in the age of mass shootings.
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The 34-year-old singe says she and fellow Americans are noticeably more cautious in big groups. She says she personally check for exits at events because of the seemingly unstoppable string of mass shootings.
Her track “Look for America” on her new album Norman Fucking Rockwell after being deeply affected by the El Paso and Dayton shootings this year, she said in a new interview.
Gun violence has made her and likely the majority of American citizens extra cautious when they are in large numbers.
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“When I go to the movie theater I always make sure I know where the exits are,” she told Britain’s Times newspaper.
“We all do. The same with any big parade or Fourth of July event, she explained. “I’m not the only one who thinks about it. It’s everybody.”
Lana laid the blame squarely on President Donald Trump.
She said he is dividing the country with his rhetoric and inciting violent behavior among his far-right and white supremacist supporters. “It’s hurting people and encouraging violence in the culture. “If people think that’s not a coincidence, my opinion is that they’re wrong.”
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Trump has talked about cracking down on gun violence after each mass shooting, but has yet to act. The Republican-controlled Congress also done nothing, despite a national outcry. Trump and Republicans in Congress are both widely considered to be beholden to the National Rifle Association (NRA).
The NRA spent $30 million to support Trump during the 2016 election, more than any other presidential candidate in the organization’s history.
As a result, Trump is fast becoming known as the “Massacre President.”
The ‘Doin’ Time’ singer believes anyone “more emotionally stable” than Trump would be better in charge at The White House.
On who she would like to see in power, Lana replied: “I think things will be better with someone more emotionally stable at the helm.
“So to answer your question: anyone.”
The ‘Born to Die’ hitmaker also takes Kanye West to task for supporting Trump in “The Greatest,” another track on her new album.
However, she insisted she doesn’t want the ‘Famous’ rapper to respond to her mention of him on the track.
“Kanye West is blond and gone,” she says. “Here’s the thing: I don’t want to elicit a response. You never feel better for having written something like that. But Kanye just means so much to us.”
“And by the way, I’m grateful to be in a country where everyone can have their own political views. I’m really not more of a liberal than I am a Republican–I’m in the middle.
But it was more like the mood and the vibe around, Yo, this man is the greatest! Really? The greatest? It hurt me. Did I have to say anything? No. But it’s more just a line that represents a lot of things.”
Her fifth major-label album out today (Aug. 30), “is packed with fiery and profane lyrics (along with an obscene title) that again explore iconographic versions of masculinity and femininity — dismantling one and fortifying the other,” according to The New York Times.
“The back-to-back shootings, within 24 hours of each other. I’m always upset when I hear about anything remotely violent. But I was extremely upset,” she told The Times.
“Every now and then, like for instance with the Amazon burning, people wake up and they’re like, wow, this is not just a passing phase.
“There’s something extremely wrong. I like to stay on the periphery, but when you have back-to-back shootings like that — should I say that’s when it’s time to say something? It certainly was for me.”
Check out her video below and a special preview of “Look for America.”