Baz Luhrmann's new adaptation of The Great Gatsby features original music by Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Florence and the Machine, and others, yet Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" is the only song used recurringly throughout. It becomes the "Daisy and Gatsby theme," audible at times when Gatsby longs for Daisy. Luhrmann employs the song not only in its original soundtrack version, but also as an instrumental one incorporated into the background score and again performed onscreen as a foxtrot.
"I've seen the world, done it all, had my cake now," the song begins, effectively describing Gatsby. The subsequent lines are typical Del Rey, with references to "diamonds," "summer," and things "electric." These ideas appear so often in the artist's oeuvre that it's possible she writes songs by completing Lana Mad Libs. While lyrics like these seem inauthentic elsewhere, they fit the cheesy extravagance of Luhrmann's film. Themes in her songs "Summertime Sadness" and "Ride" about driving fast, dying young, and living the American Dream also fit the Gatsby narrative, as does her song "National Anthem," with lines like, "Money is the reason we exist" and "Blurring the lines between real and the fake / Dark and lonely, I need somebody to hold me." Her song "Without You" even takes the same form as "Young and Beautiful." It begins with boasting about success ("Everything I want I have / Money, notoriety, and rivieras"), continues with self-doubt ("Am I glamorous?"), and proclaims love in the refrain ("All my dreams and all the lights mean nothing without you"). It's as if all of Del Rey's previous songs were preparation for Gatsby.
The singer's connection to the Gatsby narrative goes beyond the lyrics. Like the titular character, Del Rey appeared on the scene practically overnight. She uses a pseudonym and offers few details about her past. She faked it until she made it, singing about money and success before she actually achieved it.
In her music video for "Born to Die," Del Rey plays a kind of hipster princess in a chateau. She sits in a grand hall, not unlike Gatsby's ballroom where he and Daisy dance as "Young and Beautiful" plays. At the end of her video she dies in a car accident. Like Gatsby, it is extravagance that ultimately leads to her death. The music video for "Young and Beautiful," on the other hand, is devoid of that extravagance. Dressed in black, Del Rey sings into the camera as if from the afterlife following her "Born to Die" death. Jay Gatz is probably there too, and who knows if they've learned their lessons?
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