Lana Del Rey’s “National Anthem” Video: Watch Her & A$AP Rocky As Jackie O And JFK

Robbie Daw | June 27, 2012 7:18 am

After all the hinting and teasing, Lana Del Rey‘s “National Anthem” has premiered. We’d been hearing (and seeing) for the past week that the Born To Die songstress would be portraying Jackie Kennedy, opposite A$AP Rocky‘s guest turn as late President John F. Kennedy, and the epic clip lives up to the hype by coming in with a sprawling seven-minutes-and-40-second run time.

The Anthony Mandler-directed “National Anthem”, which arrives just in time for next week’s patriotic Fourth Of July holiday, begins in black and white, with Lana also taking on the role of actress and JFK mistress Marilyn Monroe as she sings her seductive “Happy Birthday” to the cigar-smoking President. The clip then segues to Del Rey as Jackie Kennedy sitting beside her husband during the tragic Dallas motorcade in November 1963 during which the President was assassinated.

The video next flashes back in time, showing the two musicians as they portray the passionate love Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy shared while the President was still alive. There are obvious modern-day flourishes peppered in with the sepia-toned, nostalgic ambiance: the pair are shown busting some hip hop-style dance moves during a party, and, of course, the idea of an interracial couple in the White House in the early 1960s would have been downright unheard of.

But Kennedy himself was a controversial figure with a mysterious, highly secretive side. (Hence the reason we’re all still fascinated with his life and legacy in 2012.) Likewise, Del Rey’s “National Anthem” video is sure to raise many questions — or at least get people talking.

What are your thoughts on the video? Do you think it’s controversial? Artistic? A national snooze? The visual certainly doesn’t match up with the song’s lyrics (get a refresher on them over at Direct Lyrics) — or does it?

Let us know what you think below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!