Yes, Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky Revisit Kennedy's Camelot in New 'National Anthem' Music Video

Mandler explained to MTV, "Lana was really interested in exploring this loss of innocence, this idea tht what you think you're experiencing is maybe not what it's always going to be. [When] you say 'Kennedy,' that immediately evokes something, just like when I say 'Its a Romeo and Juliet story.' So I think using that power, that pedigree of the story is a really fascinating place to show the loss of something, the breakdown of something."

The video presents an all-American image of paradise, replete with gorgeous costuming, that starts and ends in a moment of terrible loss. Unfortunately, it's punctuated with Del Rey's jarring, cartoonish vocal delivery of ham-fisted lines like, "Money is the anthem of success, so put on mascara and your party dress."

It's always interesting when a music video is better-crafted than the song that inspired it. The Anthony Mandler-directed clip for Lana Del Rey's new single "National Anthem" definitely fits into this category, with Lana and rapper A$AP Rocky portraying Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy in romantic vintage hues.