Surprise! This week I am switching it up a little bit and writing about one of my second favorite song artists, Lana Del Rey. Her songs remind me a lot of Taylor Swift’s songs in terms of complexity and writing style. One of my favorite songs by Lana, and it may be familiar to you all, is “Young and Beautiful.” Not to mention this song was used in The Great Gatsby movie. I have always loved this song especially after realizing this song can represent Daisy Buchanan’s character in The Great Gatsby as she is continuously defined by her beauty and elegance throughout the novel. After analyzing the novel I compare the lines in this song to an internal conflict Daisy has as she fears what will happen if she ever loses her beauty or wealth. The verse starts with the line,
“I’ve seen the world, done it all, had my cake now
Diamonds, brilliant, and Bel Air now”
This verse showcases all of the materialistic values Daisy has experienced throughout her life so far. Diamonds and Bel Air can express ideas of wealth and social status, but do those things truly contribute to her happiness? No. She states she had those things, but is still fearful of what’s to come in the future because she knows that none of the material possessions amount to the happiness she could’ve have with Gatsby.This song encapsulates this struggle as the chorus goes,
“Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me when I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will, I know that you will
Will you still love when I’m no longer beautiful”
Again, Daisy is questioning what would happen if she lost her beauty and wealth. She knows that Tom would not love her anymore, but would Gatsby? Throughout the novel, we know that Daisy is sort of a symbol of wealth for Gatsby but I think she also represents something greater. He knows that if he had her, everything else in the world would not matter as much as he worked so hard and long to gain her love. Then as she says “I know you will” I think it’s partly Daisy convincing herself that yes he would care but I also believe that Gatsby would love her anyway because after all she is his American Dream.
In broader context, aside from Daisy’s perspective, I think this song can represent the novel’s representation of the American Dream as a whole, not just Gatsby’s. The song is basically reiterating the question of “what would happen if material things or the appearance went away, would there still be a dream for people who had those things?” This expresses the themes from the novel of materialism and social class and how this is what mattered to some people; instead of true love and happiness. The characters in The Great Gatsby tried to find happiness through material possessions and wealth and surrounded themselves by people just like them. This is why the novel did not technically end with a happy ending instead it ended with death and destruction; all stemming from the failed attempt of each own’s “American Dream.”
Comments by Kynli Jones