So, okay: I don’t watch American Horror Story: Freak Show, but not out of rebellion — I’m not proud of it! It’s just because I’m not very good at keeping up with TV shows (unless they are Love & Hip Hop or Veep), and yes, I know that I probably would like the show and JUST STOP YELLING AT ME ABOUT IT, OKAY?
However, I did already know that Jessica Lange would be covering Ultraviolence goddess Lana Del Slay on this evening’s episode of AHS. And for that, you have my full attention.
Above is the full version of Elsa (Jessica Lange) singing “Gods & Monsters,” a shining highlight from the Paradise re-edition of Born To Die, and also one of the greatest songs from Lana’s catalog.
And below, you can (sort of) see how the performance went down on the show moments ago, shot in low quality by a very selfless Lana stan.
It’s pretty fucking cool, for a variety of reasons: First, Jessica sounds great. Her heavy enunciation and damning delivery adds a charmingly spooky, Halloween-friendly flair to the track. It’s very Haunted Mansion at Disney World — which isn’t shade, for the record. (A big LOL @ “Oh yeah!” replacing “Fuck yeah!” — for obvious reasons of course, but still.)
Secondly, the fact that Ryan Murphy selected “Gods & Monsters” for this performance as opposed to one of the obvious selections (“Video Games” or “Summertime Sadness”) is really admirable. A deep cut performed on a mainstream TV program? Weird, unexpected and perfectly freaky.
Plus, any major Lana recognition — especially when it doesn’t involve a shitty EDM remix — deserves all of the awards.
Thank you, Ryan! Thank you, Jessica! Thank you, thank you!