"Let me break it down for you: she’s writing herself into existence. She’s giving herself a part to play because, God knows, no one else will and she wants to matter in this life. As far as I can tell, it’s working. I went straight to iTunes and bought her new release “Born To Die” in toto (how often do I do that??) because it was more than a collection of songs or a performance, it was a phenomenon. Maybe all the more so because she’s not overwhelmingly talented. The minute I hear the whisperings of “how dare she,” I’m interested. I don’t have to like it, it doesn’t have to be worthy."
—
Liz Phair on Why Lana Del Rey Scares Rock’s Boys Club - Speakeasy - WSJ
Liz Phair is fucking awesome.
And this—what I was talking about with Meg, with Melissa, with so many people—the rage at women who aren’t “overwhelmingly talented” but dare to speak up anyway. Dare to be messy and angry and demanding and wanting and taking. And not—not—in a way that is grasping and hurting other people and shutting them out of the space, but in a way that clears space for the rest of our rage and desire afterward.
I listened to LDR maybe once and brushed it off, didn’t care, but the minute there’s a giant backlash about a woman artist I, like Liz Phair, am interested.
“how dare she.”
