Alternative
Year: 2014
The hues of red and blue distinctively come alive in the last scene of the video. We see Lana swim in front of Mahoney by the glass side of a swimming pool as Mahoney crosses his chest. He seems, yet again, unmoved by the presence of Lana and seems to be in his own world. Lana is seen wearing a transparent blue swimsuit during the last scene. Here, not only do colors become more vivid but we also see Lana really working hard to get Mahoney’s attention, as Lana’s lyrics are explicitly apparent, “he is unfixable, she can’t break through his world.” She is then seen dancing in a living room, wearing a red dress, while Mahoney drinks. Del Rey eats a strawberry then has a red cocktail, while wearing red lipstick and smokes in the pool while in another scene she playfully hugs and dances with Mahoney. She gets out of the pool as the shot references Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give. The weather is noticeably good this day perhaps to play on the term “strange weather”, as the sun gleams and bounces off the water, onto Lana, and into Mahoney’s eyes, which are noticeably the blues in this scene. The video ends with Lana and Mahoney embracing one another in a close hug. Mahoney seems content while Lana seems overjoyed. The song ends with the recurrent lines;
“You are unfixable
I can't break through your world
'Cause you live in shades of cool
Your heart is unbreakable”
Lana’s guy has probably been through a lot, so nothing seems to amaze him or catch him off guard. She is trying to break through his hard outer-shell but slowly comes to realize that she will never fit into ‘his world’ and will continue to hide behind his “Shades of Cool”.
By: Leacia Williams
The Problem With Cool
Continued
30