"Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Rey, Wednesday, July 21, 2021

In April, I introduced Lana Del Rey to my playlists and talked about my experience with her debut album, Born to Die.  My first introduction to Del Rey was The Great Gatsby soundtrack original song "Young and Beautiful" which was the planned single to bring Del Rey to Top 40 radio. Earlier singles like "Video Games" and "Born to Die" were successful in the indie world and overseas, but Del Rey was still relatively unknown in the States. However, when a remix of "Summertime Sadness" by Cedric Gervais appeared and started taking the charts by storm, Del Rey's record label pulled support from "Young and Beautiful." "Summertime Sadness" would become Lan Del Rey's first number one hit, and the remix would earn Gervais a grammy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. 

OH, MY GOD, I FEEL IT IN THE AIR. When school let out for the summer, church was held in the smaller chapel, giving a more intimate feeling compared to the rest of the year. Most of the teachers were gone on vacation with the exception of a few summer session teachers, the principal, and a junior pastor, who was leading out. Teacher Lee was eager to translate the sermon, but Allan would have been content just to sit there, reading the Bible and praying, allowing the spoken Korean to fade into the background. Then church could just be his own personal date with God. Instead, Teacher Lee attempted to translate all the nuance he could about the Old Testament story about the prophet Isaiah confronting King Hezekiah when he was sick. Isaiah said that Hezekiah would die, but because of Hezekiah's earnest, persistent prayers, God healed the king. Allan, too, was asking for healing. He feared everything would be coming to an end, and he faced a test the next day. He needed God on his side. But was he cursed to live outside of God's grace? Did he have to return to a deep state of denial in order to turn to God. What did repentance mean for people like him?

DANCIN' IN THE DARK IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT. "I booked a room in Seoul. Come stay with me," Josh messaged Seunghyeon. Hours later he messaged back, "Sorry. I'm too busy. Enjoy your time in Seoul." "Ffs," Josh typed on his phone and immediately deleted it. He didn't care anymore. As a small victory for passing the test, Josh decided to tryout the apps. That night in Itaewon, he sipped a margarita with the not-so-stellar Mexican food he had ordered as he planned his summer vacation. With much more time on his hands, Josh decided it was time to see more of Korea. And what would be a better way to see Korea than in the company of locals? If his boyfriend had no time for him, he would make a new plan, to see the cities he hadn't been able to see. He would take the train to Boryeong to experience the mud festival. He would try out Jeonju. From there, who knows. Strangers would either take care of him, or if it went poorly it could be a cautionary novel to somebody else. But something biological in Josh was awakening this summer--an urge to chase the dying light of his youth. Being gay in your 20s was supposed to be fun. It wasn't supposed to be a time when you are riddled with religious guilt. It wasn't supposed to be the time that you were stuck in a relationship with a partner too busy to notice you. Young gay men were supposed to have lots of sex. Certainly young straight men were. And if a Biblical heterosexual marriage was not in the cards, then why not chase the dying of youth and see where it leads?

Official Music Video:

Cedric Gervais Remix:

 

Read “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey on Genius