Raised in upstate New York, Del Rey moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue a music career. After numerous projects, including her self-titled debut studio album, Del Rey's breakthrough came in 2011 with the viral success of her single "Video Games"; she subsequently signed a recording contract with Polydor and Interscope. She achieved critical and commercial success with her second album, Born to Die (2012), which contained the sleeper hit "Summertime Sadness". Del Rey's third album, Ultraviolence (2014), featured greater use of guitar-driven instrumentation and debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Her fourth and fifth albums, Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), saw a return to the stylistic traditions of her earlier releases, while her critically acclaimed sixth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), explored soft rock. Her next studio albums, Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters, followed in 2021. Her ninth studio album, “Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” was released on all platforms March 24th 2023. It includes singles like the title track - "Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd", "A&W", and "The Grants".
Del Rey has collaborated on soundtracks for visual media; in 2013, she wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed musical short Tropico and released "Young and Beautiful" for the romantic drama The Great Gatsby. In 2014, she recorded "Once Upon a Dream" for the dark fantasy adventure film Maleficent and the self-titled theme song for the biopic Big Eyes. Del Rey collaborated with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus on "Don't Call Me Angel" for the action comedy Charlie's Angels (2019), which peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, Del Rey published the poetry and photography collection Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass (2020).
She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for six Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century".
Interlude
Lana Del Rey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, I feel something right now
Here goes, I'ma feel it, so early
I feel it early, I feel it
I feel it early
Ooh, ooh-ooh
I feel it early and I feel it late
Oh, yeah
I feel it
I feel it heavy
Yeah, ha
I feel it heavy
I feel it, oh my God
Ah (yep), whoa, whoa (yep)
Woo, you been working hard
(It's amazing)
Oh my God (it's good)
Ooh, whoa
Yeah
(With your honey)
Ooh, whoa
(Oh, honey)
Ooh, whoa
Oh
Oh, I feel it in my soul
I feel it in my soul
Oh, I really got it going
In my soul, early
Early in the morning
Early in the morning
Hey, early in the morning, oh
(That's pretty too, how about that?) Early in the morning
Yeah, that's somethin' in there
Early in the morning
Oh, sweet
Sweet honey
In Lana Del Rey's song Burnt Norton, she borrows heavily from T.S. Eliot's poem of the same name, from his Four Quartets collection. Here, she speaks of the fluidity and interconnectedness of time, suggesting that the past, present, and future are all intrinsically linked. She posits that the past and present may inform the future, and that the future may be contained within the past.
She also touches upon a common human experience - the perpetual what-ifs and maybes that we carry with us. She notes that the idea of what could have been is an abstraction, a perpetual possibility that exists only in the realm of speculation. Here, she seems to be suggesting that the present is the only true reality, and that dwelling on the past or daydreaming about the future can be limiting.
The final lines of the song provide a fitting metaphor for the rest of the piece. Lana describes the memory of footfalls echoing down a passage, leading towards a door that was never opened, and into a rose garden. The rose garden is often seen as a symbol of beauty and love, and here it may represent a potential future that was never actualized due to past choices or circumstances. The idea of doors and passages left unexplored speaks to the idea of missed opportunities - the paths not taken, the chances not seized.
Line by Line Meaning
Time present and time past
The current moment and the past moment is equally important.
Are both perhaps present in time future
Current and past events will shape the future.
And time future contained in time past
The future is shaped by past events.
If all time is eternally present
Time is an everlasting entity that exists always.
All time is unredeemable
Time once passed can never be regained or changed.
What might have been is an abstraction
The things that could have happened are uncertain and non-existent.
Remaining a perpetual possibility
The possibility of what could have been will always remain.
Only in a world of speculation
One can only imagine in a hypothetical world.
What might have been and what has been
The events that could have happened and the past events lead to present.
Point to one end, which is always present
All events that happen in the past and future will always point to the present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Memories are like footprints that leave an echo in our minds.
Down the passage which we did not take
The path that we did not take will always lead to what could have been.
Towards the door we never opened
The possibilities that we never explored.
Into the rose garden
A romantic and utopian world that we never got to explore.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, Jon Batiste
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MoonChaser.
The way she put this in the middle of an album full of ballads is so random but I love it
@emma_peachyprimrose
BUT IT WORKS SO WELL OMG!!!
@Cie999
Why cant she make an entire project with this kind of sound? Itd go crazy!
@millennialnuisance9366
I would go crazy if she did
@foundlost
She is constantly evolving. So an era like this could be possible in the future.
@LuisHernandez-li1el
True.
@andreysousa9546
SHE LITERALLY MADE LUST FOR LIFE ERA WITH TRAP BEATS----
@Cie999
@Andrey Sousa Very true! But i want her do some sort of silly camp western album since shes already taking it there you know lmao
@anyataylor-joy1209
The way you danced to this song at the end of the arcadia is so badass
@lolitademo3
DEADASS