Lana Del Rey Explains That Waffle House Uniform

Back in July, some unusual images surfaced of singer Lana Del Rey. There she was, in full uniform, working behind the counter at a small-town Waffle House in Alabama. Social statement, some thought. Music video, others countered, or perhaps a foray to find inspiration for future songs. None of the above, as it turns out. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the 38-year-old Del Rey explains it was a quick, private goof that inadvertently went public.

It seems Del Rey has family ties to Florence, Alabama, and she'd been in the restaurant talking with her brother and sister one morning. "We were on our third hour, and the servers asked, 'Do you guys want shirts?'?" she tells the outlet. "Hell yeah! We were thrilled." Del Rey was even coaxed into serving a regular his Coke (sans ice). Unbeknownst to her, the manager posted a brief video online, and things took off after that. "I wish my album had gone as viral," she adds. "I woke up to, like, 10,000 texts the next morning." (Read the full interview, which covers a wide range of non-Waffle-House topics.)