"National Anthem" written by Del Rey and The Nexus has been confirmed in May 2012 as Lana Del Rey's fourth single from her number one selling album "Born To Die" and will be released on July 9, 2012. Del Rey filmed the official music video for the song in May 2012. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/ I noticed when Born To Die was released in January that the song National Anthem picked up good comments as being a favourite on blogs, youtube and elsewhere. DIY Blog likened the song ‘National Anthem’ to the band All Saints and sees the song as a potential chart hit. Quote:” As a pop song, capable of breaking into the charts - and this is the context we should be putting Del Rey in… it’s a potential no.1 hit.” Quote Kicksnare blog – ‘Leak after demo after leak has hit the net. The latest ‘National Anthem’ is the first track to really catch me since ‘Video Games’….. Her beautiful and unique voice sometimes doesn’t seem to fit the tempo of her music, but ‘National Anthem’ is brilliant… Miss Del Rey, you have finally done it, I am under your spell.’ http://kickkicksnare.com/lana-del-rey-national-anthem/ National Anthem VIDEO - http://www.musicfootnotes.com/lana-del-rey-national-anthem-video The music video for the song premiered on June 27, 2012 and depicts Del Rey as Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Onassis and A$AP Rocky as John F. Kennedy. Del Rey cited the video as "definitely the most beautiful thing" she's ever done. As of June 29, 2012, it has received over one and a half million views.
"Born To Die" is the major-label debut by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey and was released on January 30, 2012 through Interscope Records and Stranger Records. Del Rey's first single from the album, “Video Games” received huge interest on Youtube, now with over 40m hits, and brought about the singer's popularity. Born to Die reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart and became one the fastest-selling albums of the year selling 116,745 copies, the biggest first-week sales of 2012.
This photo of Gaughan was taken at Milngavie Folk Club in 2011
Dick Gaughan
Interview with Phil Cunningham Radio Scotland March 2012
Dick chose
five songs that have influenced him –
(1) Big Bill
Broonzy – Glory of Love
(2) The
Shadows – Apache
(3) The
Beatles – Love Me Do
(4) Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues
(5) Davy Graham – 67
Gaughan
talked about his musical influences. His chat is often profound, sometimes
humorous and always entertaining.
He said
that The Shadows were the first eclectic guitar group and that back then we were discovering all these new
sounds for the first time. Before that
nearly every American singer seemed to
be called ‘Frankie’ and sang songs about what it was like ‘to be a young lad at
summer camp!’
Gaughan
said that ‘Love Me Do’ from the
Beatles was another defining song.
He became
obsessed with songs - he was like a magpie and studied songs at the National
Library. In 1979 the Thatcher government
made him first think about ‘why’ he
was singing the songs and he became a political artist then. He said that Traditional music is about fair play, the
totality of life and about the community.
Nowadays the barrage of media attempts to put forwards ‘one’ message he claimed and he likes to be part of
what he calls the ‘awkward squad’ who are the grain of sand in the ointment and
have other ways of looking at reality - and try to at least think about it!
He spoke
about Dylan’s beautifully crafted songs that punched out images such as ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. Gaughan played
with Aly Bain’s Boys of the Lough and
a punk band called Five Hand Reel. Like
many others on the folkscene back then he developed a drink problem and then he
had a breakdown. He had to clean up and dry up.
Lastly he
talked about Davy Graham’s guitar
which was tuned differently. His musical ideas were unbelievably creative - he
was predictably unpredictable! Hearing
Graham's guitar it becomes clear where Gaughan had learned his distinctive playing style
from. His list of favourite song choices is interesting too and shows the
breadth of his roots in both traditions and more contemporary musical
styles.
Gaughan is
best known for singing the songs Both
Sides the Tweed and Westlin’ Winds.
Some very few artists have the ability to transport and
transcend the moment, and Dick does so with forceful guitar playing and classic
traditional songs with a strong message and a deep expressive, growling
voice. He draws from both Irish and Scottish folk traditions. I first
heard Gaughan play in the 70s in Edinburgh
when I was dating a folk guitarist who raved about how incredible and very
distinctive his playing was. Many years later (after being in America for
nearly ten years and having three children) I heard Dick again at Milngavie
Folk club in 2007, and this was an intimate gig where his chat between songs
was worth going for alone. In his own so distinctive style, Gaughan hammers and
speaks with his acoustic guitar. He performs traditional folk tunes, Robert
Burns, favourite cover songs and his own songs.
He doesn't play the predictable
smoothed-over sugar box 'tartan shortbread' songs - and he may not be to everyone's
taste. Gaughan is plain spoken and holds firmly held beliefs on the rights of
everyman and at one time he took past folk stories and songs from the library
archives and put new melodies to them. You come away from his gigs questioning
butultimately renewed in the faith of our
shared humanity. Dick Gaughan is a Scottish living legend, and he usually
performs every January at 'Celtic Connections' Glasgow.
