Welcome to Send Me On My Way.
I'm your host, Audrey Dean Kelly.
And on this podcast, we're gonna talk about everything
from music to pop culture to reality TV
to pretty much whatever I want.
So let's get into it.
Happy Sunday, y'all.
The internet is a buzz this morning.
Everybody's talking about Lana Del Rey's nuptials
to not germane debris.
Why do I keep wanting to call this guy germane debris?
It is Jeremy Dufres.
The Alligator Tour Guide from Louisiana.
Man, did this guy win the lottery.
I mean, good for them.
Congratulations, y'all.
And I just feel like so many people are getting it wrong
about what they're saying about this marriage.
Like so many of her fans are coming on and they're like,
wow, Lana is so committed to the bit.
Guys, this is not a bit.
I hate to break it to you.
Like she's in love.
This is a soul love connection.
I have no doubt in my mind.
And you know, I did some digging on Lana Del Rey
this morning because I think that I have kind of gotten her
all wrong this time because what a lot of people are saying
is that A, that she grew up in Manhattan,
which is incorrect.
She was born in Manhattan,
but actually Ms. Lana Del Rey grew up in Lake Placid.
Now, for those of you that are not from New York,
I think you guys might hear that someone is from New York
state and immediately think that that is the same thing
as being from New York City.
And I'm here to tell you, it's very different.
It is very different.
Lake Placid is very, very, very different from Manhattan.
And look, I'm not saying it's the same as Alabama,
but it's a rural, it's a more rural area
than even where I grew up in North Littorox.
So, granted, a lot of people go there in the summers,
they have these beautiful lake houses.
So there is a very wealthy population in Lake Placid,
but in general, the people who live there year round,
it is not Manhattan, that's for sure.
And so, when Lana Del Rey first came out,
there was talk in the industry,
at least I heard these rumors back then,
that her first album, like her first music video
and everything, her dad funded all of this money
into her music career.
And in hindsight, I think that narrative
was probably created by some just jealous assholes
who were salty that she made it,
because I did some more digging.
And while, yes, Miss Lana Del Rey's father
did end up becoming successful,
her mother was a school teacher,
and apparently he didn't get successful
as an entrepreneur in domains until later on in her life.
So, the narrative that she grew up
as this Blair Waldorf, Manhattanite,
we've been getting that wrong.
And I also got this wrong because, believe it or not,
my best friend and old roommate
went to boarding school with Lana.
And they used to call her Lake Placid Lizzie,
I've heard all about her.
But that boarding school, Kent that she went to,
actually my uncle also went there,
it is one of the most prestigious boarding schools
in the country.
So, her affiliation with that boarding school
made me always think, and especially the narrative
that her father had bought her music career
back in the day,
made me think that she came from a lot of money
and that she grew up very, very wealthy
and that, you know,
that, yeah, this would be a bit.
That is why I understand why some people
are coming on here and saying like,
oh, she's into the poor core
because it's the antithesis of what she grew up with.
And I don't think that's the case.
I think she really meshed with this guy.
I mean, I don't know, they've been dating for a month.
I think, I believe they met a few years ago though.
But yeah, I mean, according to the internet,
she's been with this guy for a month.
And sorry, I need to backtrack though
back to the boarding school thing
because the other thing I found out
with, through my research, was that
she actually went to Kent
because she was battling alcoholism.
And her uncle worked at Kent
and helped her get in at a discount.
So like that framework,
knowing that like most of the kids that go to Kent
are very, very wealthy, they just are.
And that also kind of shifted the reality of the narrative for me.
But back to this idea of the bit and poor core.
Yeah, I really don't think that's the case.
I think Lana has been, you know,
recording her album in Alabama,
which all these people are talking about her being down in Alabama,
like it's so random and like,
look, if you don't know about the history of the music industry,
sure, recording in Muscle Shoals Alabama might seem random,
but anybody who knows the history of the music industry in the South
knows that that place in Alabama
has some of the richest history of music culture
since like the 60s.
And some of our favorite albums,
you know, Americana albums that we've grown up with,
were recorded in Muscle Shoals.
God, I mean, Sweet Home Alabama, Muscle Shows,
he's got the Swamp Brothers.
I think that's what he's saying.
They've been known to sing a song or two.
Yes, they do.
Yeah, that's what they're talking about.
So if you're not familiar with the history of Muscle Shoals,
I believe there's a really good documentary about it,
but I'm sure there are probably 30 documentaries about it,
but that's why she's down there.
So I am excited for the music that's coming out next.
And I'm happy for her.
I think that this is a real love,
and what's interesting actually is even this guy's ex-fiance
of 12 years has come out of the woodwork,
I think in the past 24 hours.
And this woman has come out,
okay, first of all, this guy was engaged for 12 years.
That is a long-ass time to be engaged.
Like, man, if I had been engaged to a guy for 12 years,
and we broke up and he married like one of the biggest pop stars
in the world, I would be so pissed.
I would be salty as hell, man.
And that is not what this woman has come out.
She has come out saying that he's a great guy,
he has so much love in his heart, he's a giver,
and that she's so happy that he's finally in a relationship
where someone will be giving to him because he deserves it.
Like, if we need to know anything else about this guy,
I think the fact that his ex-fiance of 12 years is coming out
and singing his praises.
I mean, that kind of says something.
So, yeah, I think it's for real.
The other thing is, like, look, I mean,
one of my favorite quotes from Cher is she's like,
I'm my own rich husband.
And I mean, baby, that is the goal.
Let me tell you, that's the goal.
That's my goal.
I want to be my own rich husband.
I don't need a husband, I'm good.
I want to make my own money and I want to buy myself whatever I want.
And if I fall in love with an alligator tour guide from Alabama,
goddammit, I want to be able to marry him.
So, yeah, that is like the ultimate freedom as a woman
to be able to marry whoever the hell you want.
Like, kudos, girl.
You go get it.
You go be your own rich husband.
And you know what?
Congratulations to you and Germaine Dupree.
Oh, sorry.
Jeremy Dufres.
Jeremy Dufres?
That's right.
Our beautiful alligator tour guide.
I am excited to see what comes next, but more importantly,
I am really excited for the alligator tour guide inspired album
because I think it may be some of the best work
that's coming out of Lana Del Rey.
Yeah, I hope there is a song about the Waffle House experience
and like, girl, of all the places that you could get a part-time job,
like, respect for picking out Waffle House because that shit slaps.
It does.
There is nothing better than going to a Waffle House at like 2 o'clock in the morning,
getting an all-star breakfast.
Actually, one of my favorite old traditions to do was to go to Waffle House
either on Christmas morning or Christmas Eve
because everything was closed and we go to Waffle House.
But yeah, if you guys, because we don't have Waffle House up here in New York,
I don't think we have them even close to us, actually.
But yeah, if you guys are not familiar with Waffle House, it's really good.
So of all the places to work, girl, respect, I love it.
And yeah, congratulations.
You know, there is some chatter about this guy's political leanings.
And to be honest with you, I recorded this whole episode once
and this is the second time I'm recording it because I went into some misinformed states on Lana Del Rey.
And I had it in my mind that she was Republican and that she had supported Donald Trump
and I recorded a whole episode.
And then, thank God, I fact-checked myself and I said,
girl, you're not going to release that episode, you're going to get on here, you're going to record it again.
So here I am. Here's what I'll say.
All the research I did, she has not historically come out in support of Donald Trump.
She has had some statements about the Capitol riot misinterpreted.
She said that we needed him to happen, but then that was taken out of context
because what she said right after that was we need to reflect on sociopathy.
And I don't know if I'm saying that word right, but narcissism and how he's like shined a mirror on the worst parts of our culture.
So like, in that respect, I think it's pretty clear that she fucking hates this guy.
But what a lot of people are talking about today is the fact that people are saying, Jeremy, not your main, Jeremy.
Jeremy is a Republican and that he's a Trump supporter.
And I mean, I'm not going to confirm that on here, but I would not be surprised.
And I think that's why people now are wanting her to come out and kind of be clear on her own stance.
But yeah, I don't know what her political leanings are, so I'm really not going to speculate beyond that.
Like, look, people marry people who have completely opposite ideals as them.
Do I recommend that?
No, not so much, but you know, shit, it happens.
And yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to think about that part of it, but I will say I do understand where her fan base is coming from in being concerned that she's marrying someone who seemingly is a Donald Trump supporter because look,
she's got a huge LGBTQ fan base.
They want her to clearly support, you know, a candidate who's not actively threatening their rights.
I mean, forget just LGBTQ as a woman, as a female.
I'm offended by anyone in this election who is supporting Trump because of what he has done to me as a woman, to every woman in this country with setting up the Supreme Court so that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
And, you know, I don't care what this man will say whatever the hell he wants to say in each room to get elected. Like, there is no way he's not going to put a national abortion ban.
So it is important to us that our pop stars, especially in this election, come out in support, you know, like we all were waiting for Taylor to do it.
And we, I mean, thank God, I'm so grateful.
And, yeah, I think you are going to see people and you're already having people online coming out just saying like she needs to make it more clear who she supports because it does matter to her community.
If you, you can't look at what happened with chapel this week, look at the backlash. And I also just want to take a moment to applaud chapel for canceling her shows because I think that prioritizing mental health is important.
It hasn't always been done with our pop stars. And she is a different brand of pop star that we've ever seen in the sense that she is not cookie cutter.
She is authentic. She is not PR polished. She is saying what she believes.
And yeah, it's going to piss some people off and it did and she fumbled. I mean, ultimately, thank God, she was like, yeah, I'm going to vote for Kamala.
Did she come out and say it in the clearest way with her message? No, but like, again, she is not this cookie cutter pop star.
We don't want that anymore. People are tired of that kind of artist. They are. And I think that's why you're seeing Katy Perry really fumble right now.
Because she is still under that playbook that is not so authentic. And that feels like I'm just sorry that women's world song people just didn't resonate with it.
And in the era of the Sabrina Carpenters and the Chapel Rowans and Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish and all these artists that are being really raw and really vulnerable and really just real in their art.
And I feel like people connected with Tortured Poets Department because they knew the shit that happened with Maddie Healey and that was such an honest album like my God, that album, what it helped me through.
I'm going to do a whole episode on that, but I'm a Swiftie for life.
But yeah, you're going to see Backlash, you're going to see Artist Fumble. You are going to see more of this, but you have to see more of this in order to get the albums that we're getting from them now, which is better pop music than we've ever seen in our lives.
It is. So if you want really raw authentic albums and like that are sexual and smart and funny and honest and clever and if you want all of that from your pop stars, then don't be surprised when you get some realness in their response.
Then why don't we celebrate that instead of eviscerating them? Why don't we encourage them to find their voice? Because like ultimately what Chappy was saying was like, obviously I support Kamala, but what I'm trying to say is that you should find the answers on your own.
People had a problem with this because look, one side is way worse than the other and her fans want to know that she's supporting their rights and like obviously she is.
She didn't handle it well, but look, I think this is the future of our pop artists and I think it's a good thing and I think we need to get away from this like cancel culture so quickly where someone says something wrong and we're like forget them.
You know, it's just unless you're Harvey Weinstein and then, bah, bah, bitch. There's a line, but like, yeah, I think it's a good thing. So I think that's all I need to say for today.
In general, Lana, congratulations girl. You are your own rich husband. I wish you and Jeremy Defray, aka not Germaine Dupree, the best.
Go catch some Alligators girl and come in hot with that next album. And as always, thanks for listening y'all. Love you.
I'm ready for the season.
Yeah.