Pop Stars Struggle with Satire, but Lana Del Rey Cracks the Code on Her Newest Single “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”

The “Sad Girl” Aesthetic of Lana Del Rey

Over the years, Lana Del Rey’s impact has become undeniable. Regardless of whether or not her divisive artistry resonates with you, the provocative singer-songwriter’s brand of “sad girl pop” has affected the work of many of today’s top artists. Huge pop stars like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish have cited Del Rey’s artistry as an important influence on their musicianship and songwriting. Her breathy vocals, moody lyrics, and witchy aesthetic became a part of mainstream culture in the 2010s, thanks to songs like “Summertime Sadness” and “Young and Beautiful.”

However, as impactful as Lana Del Rey has been, the Grammy-nominee’s persona has routinely been picked apart by the press and on social media. From her live performances to her enigmatic ideologies to her recent marriage to swamp boat captain Jeremy Dufrene, people have a lot of opinions about Lana Del Rey. As such, she has become an easy target for endless criticism and, yes, satire. 

Her discography plays a part in this as well. Although many of her albums are critically acclaimed (Rolling Stone named 2019’s Norman ****ing Rockwell as one of the greatest albums of the 21st century), Lana Del Rey’s music has also become the subject of parody. Even the idea of a Lana Del Rey record has become memeable, as there are several quintessential elements in her songwriting. For instance, she loves a long title (“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?”), dramatically melancholy lyrics (“I’ve been tearing uptown in my ****ing nightgown / 24/7 Sylvia Plath”), and California malaise (“I left Calabasas / escaped all the ashes / ran into the dark”). She might be the only artist working today who will make literary references to Allan Ginsburg in one song and then remark on Kanye West’s demise in another.

“White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter,” the first single off of her upcoming album Stove, employs many of the aforementioned ingredients of a classic Lana song. For starters, the title alone is about as Lana Del Rey as a Lana Del Rey song can get. Then, there’s her trademark whispery delivery. Even the jarring stylistic and tempo shifts have become part of Lana’s oeuvre. 

For some fans, this self-referential quality will be satisfying; for others, it may inevitably provoke eye-rolls. But Lana Del Rey’s “sad girl pop” aesthetic has never been for everyone. Still, it’s how she continues to lean into the persona further and further that allows her to pull off the satire on this single.

How Lana Del Rey’s Own Persona Allows Her to Pull Off Satire

So what exactly is Lana Del Ray parodying here? Like other female pop stars have attempted to do in recent years, she is commenting on societal views of women, but on “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter,” her main tool seems to be the cultural perception of her own persona. 

Del Rey, who has been largely out of the spotlight since her marriage to a Louisiana tour boat captain, is ready to talk about married, domestic life, but with her own unique sensibility. In one lyric, she jokes, “I know it’s strange to see me cooking for my husband.” In another, she alludes to the darker parts of herself (“Everyone knows I had some trouble”) before humorously playing the role of a stereotypical housewife (“Whoopsie-daisy, yoo-hoo!”). Then, in the video, she pointedly puts her head in the oven (another Sylvia Plath reference and also a potential rebuke of “tradwife” allegations).

When other contemporary pop stars make playful attempts at satire, it doesn’t necessarily go according to plan. The tongue-in-cheek album cover for Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, for instance, fueled its own controversy. The artwork features Carpenter seated like a dog as an anonymous man grabs her hair. Audiences were split as to whether or not Carpenter was effectively critiquing or celebrating what some critics believed to be a “demeaning” portrait. Of course, depiction is not necessarily endorsement, and with our growing lack of media literacy in contemporary culture, people tend to confuse the two. Still, Carpenter ended up having to release a more PG alternative cover.

Katy Perry received more backlash in 2024 when her supposedly satirical single “Woman’s World” was criticized for half-baked lyrics and for certain collaborators Perry chose to work with on a so-called female empowerment anthem. The music video, which she attempted to frame as a satire of the male gaze, didn’t exactly help the situation. Ultimately, the poor reviews and lack of commercial success of “Woman’s World” proved that if Perry was, in fact, trying to pull off parody, she wasn’t the right person for the job.

Clearly, pop music is not an easy medium for pulling off effective satire, but Lana Del Rey is doing something right that others are struggling or outright failing to achieve artistically. It helps that in her music, Del Rey leans into and comments on the public’s decades-spanning perception of her. 

That strange, offbeat persona was never meant for the masses, so she was never going to get the divisive response that a more mainstream artist like Sabrina Carpenter or Katy Perry would get. Still, unlike these other artists, Del Rey is uncompromising in her satirical vision. There will be no alternate palatable version of “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter,” and while not everyone will understand exactly what Lana is trying to do here, she won’t need to clarify and editorialize her work either. By leaning so fully into her persona, Lana Del Rey allows herself the freedom to take the listener as far as she wants to take them, stoves and all.  

_{via @PopBase}