"I think I am smart unless I am really, really in love, and then I am ridiculously stupid." — Taylor Swift in Vogue, February 2012

"Gangster Nancy Sinatra" Lana Del Rey served herself well by making her reference point Nancy and not, say, Nico. While Nancy Sinatra didn't have the same kind of vocal talent as father Frank, she had Jersey Girl charm and a try-hard, striving, posing cool, infused with kicky go-go dancerisms. Wedding Nancy's aesthetic (always considered fairly jokey) to a '90s sullen-girl trip-hop sound IS a smart idea, so smart, in fact, that Del Rey's detractors seem convinced it was not hers. But one good gimmick is no longer enough to sustain a career once launched. You're now expected to have billions. If Lady Gaga's refusal to light on any one specific trick for too long is infuriating, it is also oddly sensible. If you never stop changing, nobody can pinpoint the end of your "moment." Just as quickly as everyone was delighted by Lana's glam, white-trash, David Lynch aesthetic they decided that it was now played.