Lana Del Rey would find it “weird” using American flag visuals on her tours now that Donald Trump is U.S. President.
The 32-year-old singer has become associated with Americana imagery since she first made a name for herself in the music industry. But since businessman-turned-politician Trump made his way into the White House, Lana has had to rethink her aesthetic and how she uses images such as the star and stripes flag going forward.
“I definitely changed my visuals on my tour videos,” she told Pitchfork magazine. “I’m not going to have the American flag waving while I’m singing Born to Die. It’s not going to happen. I’d rather have static.
“It’s a transitional period, and I’m super aware of that. I think it would be inappropriate to be in France with an American flag. It would feel weird to me now – it didn’t feel weird in 2013.”
Her uneasiness about the imagery began during the election, when Trump fought rival Hillary Clinton for the presidency, Lana explained.
“All the guys in the studio – we didn’t know we were going to start walking in every day and talking about what was going on. We hadn’t ever done that before, but every day during the election, you’d wake up and some new horrible thing was happening.
“With When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing, I was posing a real question to myself: Could this be the end of an era? The fall of Rome?”
And it’s not just Trump’s political ideals that have caused issues for Lana – his views of women have also impacted the singer’s decision to get rid of her Americana nostalgia.
“Women started to feel less safe under this administration instantly. What if they take away Planned Parenthood? What if we can’t get birth control?” she mused. “Now, when people ask me those questions, I feel a little differently.”
