Trixie Mattel's country interpretation of 'Video Games' is something for the Trixie Mattel fans. And Trixie Mattel fans only.
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Chances are you’ve heard of the 2011 smash hit ‘Video Games’ from the brilliant mind of New York born singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, which won song of the decade at the Q Awards in London last year. The haunting ballad captures the essence of self-indulgent love and an obsessive doom that tortured ruined the love affair that Del Rey has first-hand experience with. Released as Del Rey’s first single, the song exploded onto the music scene, attracting attention of many other artists, producing multiple covers of the song. The most recent cover: Trixie Mattel.
Welcome to the country apocalypse.
Where ‘Video Games’ was a baroque-pop ballad with ballooning orchestras and pizzicato strings that cut deep and force the emotion out of the song which subdued the themes of an aloof drinking beer boyfriend figure, Mattel has….interpreted it differently. Being known as an outrageous comedy queen in her career, it’s hard to take anything that she does seriously, and this is no exception. In the harshest way, the cover is the worst thing to ever happen. Period. It’s absolutely awful and hearing it the first time the nausea hit and I closed my YouTube tab faster than you can say ‘Wild Wild West’.
Trixie has undoubtedly applied her own aesthetic to the record, which unfortunately is one I don’t particularly enjoy. Where the old nostalgic Hollywood glam vibe in the original record was incredibly seductive and followed the sultry persona of Del Rey herself, this country vibe is something I struggle to take seriously, especially when it’s Trixie Mattel, one of the most rambunctious drag queens out there. By no means am I discrediting Mattel for her talent; the singer is able t0 apply her own style to the song and interpret it into something completely new. But was it really necessary? There’s a million and one other songs she could’ve picked, yet she chose this one. The inspiration behind Mattel’s cover is purely the idea of video games, which distracts from the delicate and fragile story behind the writing of the track; something that was once a beautiful and delicate tragic story of a tormented love affair is now subject to cowboy western video games.
Whilst it’s something I don’t particularly like, I’m sure Trixie Mattel’s fanbase will enjoy the single and be glad to have Mattel cover such an iconic track from the modern Hollywood glam artist herself.
Trixie Mattel’s cover of ‘Video Games’ is available to listen to now.
8 Comments
I completely disagree trixie Mattel’s version is so beautiful and it’s better that Avril Lavignes one
Trixie made that train wreck by LDR into something beautiful, you missy need your ears cleaned out.
Babe, I think you might’ve needed to proofread this one a few more times. We can see your attempts at copying straight from Wikipedia. Furthermore, your attempts at simply denying Mattel’s caliber due to her being “one of the most rambunctious drag queens out there” are quite pathetic. Jealousy is a disease; get better soon, love. XO
Your review – was it really necessary? It has provided little to no insight of what Trixie has attempted to muster in this cover of the song. This version still musters elements of sadness and longing (by no means to the levels of Del Ray) but you block out the depth and intent intended by Trixie, by instead pointing out that she is a loud, comedy drag queen; a fact which should not be relevant in the criticism of the song.
Now am I a fan of Mattel? Absolutely. But to suggest that this a cover for fans only is a sweeping statement to say the least. It seems from the comments of the song that some YouTubers have discovered Trixie through this cover and the following reception from the public is overwhelmingly positive; in contrast to your article.
From reading your other articles, it’s clear that you’re a Lana Del Ray fan. And whilst there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s quite clearly jaded your opinion of the cover of the song. By no means do I think this is 5/5 perfect, but to brand this as being ‘distasteful’ is distasteful in it’s own right. It seems, dear lady, that your bias towards the original artist has well and truly clouded your judgement. And for that, it has displayed your immaturity and incompetence as an aspiring journalist.
If you admittedly don’t like an artists aesthetic Why would you choose to review a song by them? Especially a song that you have some kind of deranged attachment to, clearly. I heard the original when it was released and I heard Trixie’s version about two months ago.
Trixie’s is the version that spoke to me. I am no fan of country but there is a believability in her delivery that I find lacking in Lana.
The best version of the original is where they took out the vocal and replaced it with Morrissey singing This Charming Man.
I’m a fan of both and the cover has a different aesthetic forsure but that doesn’t make it bad… both versions r good ur just a hater and also weird. touch grass
I thoroughly enjoyed your review! You captured the essence of Trixie’s unique style and how it translates into her music. It’s interesting to think about the necessity of her newest album in relation to her established persona. I can’t wait to see how her fans will respond!
I found your review of Trixie Mattel’s ‘Video Games’ super insightful! It’s interesting to see how you captured the playful yet introspective tone of the album. I’m curious, do you think her unique style in this project might alienate some fans, or will it attract a new audience?