7/24/19

"Doin' Time" by Lana Del Rey

Me and my girl… we got this relationship…

    And so begins Lana Del Rey’s “Doin’ Time”, a lament of her unfaithful, controlling, and unappreciative girlfriend. A woman who sleeps around, and keeps Lana living in an emotional “penitentiary”. Despite proclaiming her love for her, Lana also admits that she’d like to hold her… head underwater. Pretty dark stuff for a pop song, especially one in which the verses are juxtaposed against a laid-back summery vibe and a chorus that evokes parties, concerts, and fun.
    Yet that is exactly what Del Rey delivers on her smoky, jazzy treatment of this classic ‘90s tune, originally recorded by ska-punk icons Sublime. I haven’t been able to get this one out of my head since I first heard it a few weeks ago, and this is why it earns Kyle’s All-New Radio Dial spotlight tonight!
 
    Released on Sublime’s self-titled 1996 breakthrough LP, and as the album’s fourth single in ’97, the original “Doin’ Time” was Sublime’s only hot 100 hit, peaking undeservedly low at US #87. Even the band’s signature tunes “Santeria”, “Wrong Way” and “What I Got” from that album didn’t cross over to the hot 100, (much less the top 40), though the first two peaked at #3 on the US Modern Rock charts, and “What I Got” topped that very same chart.
    Lana Del Ray’s version was recorded for a documentary on Sublime for the Tribeca Film Festival, and may possibly appear on her upcoming 2019 album. To date, she has earned three top 40 singles, with her greatest being the #6 pop, and #2 Hot Dance smash “Summertime Sadness” from 2013. Despite rampant critical acclaim and tunes that draw from indie pop, trip hop, baroque pop, and alternative, Lana has not really burst into the mainstream, and it remains to be seen if “Doin’ Time” scales the Hot 100, or Modern Rock charts, though this reviewer believes it truly deserves to.
    On the surface, Lana’s vocals are relaxed and dreamy; lovely and melodic, but lying just below the surface there is a tangible level of anguished weariness that speak to the dark subject matter. In fact, it almost sounds like a beautiful lullaby until you notice the story of the awful relationship she is stuck in.
    I also appreciate that Lana did not alter any of the lyrics (no gender swapping of “boyfriend” for “girlfriend”, no sanitizing the “S” word, etc.), and she still calls out the members of Sublime during the chorus exactly as done in the original. This makes me imagine that Lana is at a Sublime concert, and thus she would actually be referring to the late singer Bradley Nowell when she sings “Bradley’s on the microphone with Ras M.G.”, as opposed to Nowell speaking of himself in the third person.
    Even if you somehow are not a fan of (or are, perish the thought, unfamiliar with the original version), do yourself a favor, and lend Lana’ your ear below. Hands down, this one deserves to be her next top 10 hit!

No comments:

Post a Comment

"Home by the Sea" by Genesis

   “ Creeping up the blind side...shinning up the wall.. stealing through the dark of night. ”    Welcome back to Kyle's Radio Dial, fr...