Music Review: Lana Del Rey "Summertime Sadness"

Lana Del Rey

Summertime Sadness

Album: Born To Die

Year: 2012

            A romantic evening ends too soon for Lana Del Rey in the  tormented  “Summertime Sadness.”

         Moody synth opens the single, setting a final tone.  Part of the chorus opens the single. The string of lights decorating the dock dot the water with tiny, golden circles. He clasps her hand in hers as she takes a sip of  Cabrnet Sauvignon. A crack of thunder can be heard. She sighs, watching him take out his wallet and put money in the black square holder. He reaches for her hand and they walk together to his car. Once on her doorstep, he caresses both of her cheeks with his hands and she closes her eyes, waiting for his lips to crash into her mouth. His tongue graces hers and she moves her hands from his shoulders to his neck, drawing him closer to her. (“Kiss me hard before you go/Summertime sadness/I just wanted you to know/That baby you're the best.”)

              She watches him drive off and twirls around on her porch in her bare feet, her imagination recreating the violins’ soft melody that accompanied them during their dinner. Her scarlet maxi dress flows, crinkling in the breeze as her hair, wrapped tight in a bun, remains firm in its in its place. (“I got my red dress on tonight/Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight/Got my hair up real big beauty queen style/High heels off, I'm feeling alive.”)

          In the pre-chorus, her body is humming; connecting to the crackling telephone wires hung high in her street. The wind scrapes her skin, leaving slivers of skin in pieces on her arm. However, she’s immune to the pain. She has let herself be kissed by someone who knows each of her sounds. (“Oh, my God, I feel it in the air/Telephone wires above, all sizzling like a snare/Honey I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere/Nothing scares me anymore.”)

            In the chorus, the humidity sets in after he leaves and all she can do is to wait for it to break to give her some relief. The next day, she will see him again and she will no longer have to miss the sun. (“Kiss me hard before you go/Summertime sadness/I just wanted you to know/That baby you're the best/I've got that summertime, summertime sadness/Summertime, summertime sadness/Got that summertime, summertime sadness/Oh, oh oh.”)

          The water blurs as they speed down the road, the state becoming a quick row of sand, water and people. Every couple miles, he goes up an extra 5 mph.  He’s had to swerve a few times. Each time, it gave her another rush. If he missed, causing her eventual death, she would be peaceful. She was with the one she loved. (“ I'm feelin' electric tonight/Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99/Got my bad baby by my heavenly side/I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight.”)

          The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.
 
         In the bridge, she is only in the city for another day. However, she will be talking about him well into her 80s, even if she can only find the fragments of her memories. He is a part of her. Even though she is older, experiencing an emotion teenagers can feel but can’t explain.  She will continue to look for him even after they lose track of each other. (“I think I'll miss you forever/Like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies/Late is better than never/Even if you're gone I'm gonna try, try,/I've got that summertime, summertime sadness/Summertime, summertime sadness/Got that summertime, summertime sadness/Oh, oh oh.”)

        The chorus is sung once to end the single.

 Del Rey’s mournful, isolated vocals are inscrutable, hiding the private moments for her own safekeeping. There’s a constant ache in her that even love won’t quell.

             The  lingering  “Summertime Sadness” cannot rest, knowing the fall will soon come.