Sometimes it seems that the Internet runs on the power of memes and viral videos (and snark, of course). Things on the web come and go so fast, it’s difficult to keep up with every blip that rises from the online void. Thankfully, Sharp understands. In our Video of the Week segment, we bring you the best of the Internet, so you’ll always be relevant. No more relying on your nephew’s Facebook page to find cool videos. 

The Video of the Week: Video Games, Lana Del Rey

Why It’s Worth Watching:  Never mind the actual video, which is little more than found footage of skateboarding, summer and drunken celebrities (which is perfect),  never mind the minor controversy behind the singer (which we’ll  get into), Video Games deserves to be watched because it is an incredible song. Mostly, the fact that young people live in a world filled with immediate and disposable nostalgia is grating and twee. (The nineties need not be praised). But Del Rey somehow taps into that immediate longing for the past and makes it beautiful. Perhaps better than any other  contemporary song, it captures the hungry, heartbreaking nostalgia of youth. It’s sad and mournful and beautiful and now.

What’s the Story: The single, which is officially released on iTunes on Oct. 9, has exploded across the web, and brought attention to the singer that hasn’t always been positive. But, such is the nature of celebrity, especially those born on the Internet. Specifically, skeptics and critics have wondered if she isn’t a touch too inauthentic, some even contending that she is a complete corporate fabrication (her seemingly fake lips and enlarged eyes don’t help matters). She has admitted that her name is a creation of “managers and lawyers over the last 5 years who wanted a name that they thought better fit the sound of the music,” (Her real name is Lizzy Grant), though why having a stage name in the age of Lady Gaga would be a problem, we don’t know. More likely, the song leaves people aching and confused, and some need to find a nefarious explanation for it. The fact is, the slight whiff of inauthenticity only makes the song more cinematic, more true.