"Arcadia" is a song by Lana Del Rey, from her eighth studio album and seventh major-label studio album Blue Banisters. It features writing and production credits from Drew Erickson and was released as a single on September 8, 2021.
Background[]
Del Rey posted a snippet of the song to her social media accounts on July 3, 2021, with the caption, "Album out later later... Single out soonish."[1][dead link]
The title of the song was discovered through the copyright system on YouTube by fans uploading the snippet.
On September 3, 2021, Del Rey posted the single cover on her Instagram account and revealed that the song would be released the following Wednesday, September 8. One day later a short new video snippet followed.
The version officially released on streaming services has a noticeably different instrumental than the version heard in the accompanying music video.
In an Instagram live on October 22, Del Rey revealed that the song originated as a poem. She then said that she may still consider putting the poem in her upcoming poetry book, Behind the Iron Gates - Insights from an Institution. She also noted it was written in a motel after a breakup with a boyfriend, and it is her favorite track on Blue Banisters.
The existence of a demo of the song was revealed on September 1, 2022, when it was listed for sale alongside "Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" and "Fingertips", however it was later discovered that the final version of the song was misidentified as a demo.
Music video[]
Music video | Information | |
---|---|---|
Released | September 8, 2021 | |
Length | 5:45 | |
Director | None | |
Producer | ||
Filmed | 2021 | |
Location | ||
Vevo views | 10 Million views |
Music video | Information | |
---|---|---|
Released | October 7, 2021 | |
Length | 4:24 | |
Director | ||
Producer | ||
Filmed | 2021 | |
Location | ||
Vevo views | 3.3 Million views |
Background[]
To tease the release of the song and music video, Del Rey shared three snippets on Twitter and Instagram: on July 3 and September 4 and 7, 2021 (the latter one being a silent clip). The official video was released on September 8, 2021, and features both "Arcadia" and "Interlude - The Trio". The same day, on Twitter, Del Rey stated that the video was "directed by nobody", and thanked "Charles Grant and Chris Ripley for their camera work".[2]
On October 7, 2021, an alternate one-shot music video was released without prior announcement.
Cross-references[]
- America is also mentioned in "California", "God Bless America - And All the Beautiful Women In It", "Looking for America" and "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing", among several others.
- Angels are also mentioned in "Angels Forever, Forever Angels", "Don't Call Me Angel", "Gods & Monsters" and in the poem "Never to Heaven".
- Hearts are also mentioned in "Heartshaped Chevrolet", "Million Dollar Man", "Queen of Hearts" and "Wild at Heart".
- Hills are also mentioned in "Is This Happiness".
- L.A. is a recurrent place in many of Del Rey's songs, such as "American", "Let Me Love You Like a Woman", "Off to the Races", "Radio", "The greatest" and in the poem "LA Who Am I To Love You".
- The lyric "All roads that lead to you" is similar to the lyric "All the roads lead to you" in "The Next Best American Record".
Official versions[]
- Album version — 4:23
- Music video version (with "Interlude - The Trio" outro) — 5:45
Lyrics[]
My body is a map of L.A.
I stand straight like an angel with a halo
Hangin' out the Hilton Hotel window
Screamin', "Hey, you, baby, let's go"
My chest, the Sierra Madre
My hips, every high and byway that you
Trace with your fingertips like a Toyota
Run your hands over me like a Land Rover
In Arcadia, Arcadia
All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries
That pump the blood that flows straight to the heart of me
America, America
I can't sleep at home tonight, send me a Hilton Hotel
Or a cross on the hill, I'm a lost little girl
Findin' my way to ya
Arcadia
My body is a map of L.A.
And my heart is like paper, I hate ya
I'm not from the land of the palms, so I know I can't stay here
I'm not native
My curves, San Gabriel all day
My lips, like the fire licks the bay
If you think that you know yourself, you can come over
And lay your hands on me like you're a Land Rover
In Arcadia, Arcadia
All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries
That get the blood flowing straight to the heart of me
America, I need a miracle
I can't sleep at home tonight, send me a Hilton Hotel
Or a cross on the hill, I'm a lost little girl
Findin' my way to ya
Arcadia
They built me up 300 feet tall just to tear me down
So I'm leavin' with nothing but laughter in this town
Arcadia
Findin' my way to ya
I'm leavin' them as I was, five foot eight
Western belt, plus the hate that they gave
By the way, thanks for that
On the way, I'll pray for ya
But you'll need a miracle
America
Credits[]
- Personnel[3]
- Lana Del Rey — vocals, songwriting, production, horn arrangement, string arrangement
- Drew Erickson — songwriting, production, mixing, horn arrangement, string arrangement, organ, piano, synthesizer
- Dean Reid — engineering, mixing
- Michael Harris — engineering, mixing
- Adam Ayan — mastering engineering
- Ben Fletcher — assistant recording engineering
- Jon Sher — assistant recording engineering
- Jacob Braun — cello
- Dan Fornero — trumpet
- Dan Rosenboom — trumpet
- Wayne Bergeron — trumpet
- Blake Cooper — tuba
- Zach Dellinger — viola
- Andrew Bulbrook — violin
- Wynton Grant — violin
Gallery[]
Recording session[]
On October 2, 2021, Rob Grant shared on his Instagram and Twitter accounts a picture of the recording session of the horns section for "Arcadia".[4][5]
Artwork[]
Charts[]
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
---|---|
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[6] | 21 |
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[7] | 40 |
References[]
- ↑ Del Rey, Lana (July 3, 2021). "Album out later later… Single out soonish. Have a good fourth x". Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ4sLo6pGxQ/. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Del Rey, Lana (September 8, 2021). "Thank you to Charles Grant and Chris Ripley for their camera work on Arcadia. Video directed by nobody". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210909042112/https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/1435689454241402882.
- ↑ "Credits / Arcadia / Lana Del Rey". Tidal. https://listen.tidal.com/album/196774225/credits.
- ↑ Grant, Rob (October 2, 2021). "Recording Arcadia…blending in the fabulous horn section". Twitter. https://twitter.com/robgrantdotcom/status/1444401648244232196. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ↑ Grant, Rob (October 2, 2021). "Recording Arcadia…blending in the fabulous horn section"". Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CUij2Ckvouj/. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ↑ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. November 1, 2021. https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/hotsingles?chart=5224. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ "Lana Del Rey Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
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