Beautiful People Beautiful Problems (song)

Lana Del Reyfeaturing Stevie Nicks
Writer(s)	Lana Del Rey Stevie Nicks Rick Nowels Justin Parker
Producer(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels Kieron Menzies Dean Reid
Length	4:13 (See official versions)
From
Single(s)	"Love" "Lust for Life" "Summer Bummer" "Groupie Love"
Promotional single(s)	"Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind"
Lust for Life track listing
"When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing"
"Tomorrow Never Came"

"Beautiful People Beautiful Problems" (registered as "Beautiful People") is a song by Lana Del Rey featuring Stevie Nicks. It was co-written with Nicks, Rick Nowels and Justin Parker and co-produced with Nowels, Kieron Menzies and Dean Reid. It is featured on Del Rey's fifth studio album and fourth major-label studio album Lust for Life.

Background and writing

The song was registered as "Beautiful People" with Justin Parker credited as a co-writer on APRA AMCOS during August 2015 along with "Wild One".

During a 2017 interview with Flaunt magazine, Del Rey stated that she "traded" verses with Stevie Nicks and both are featured on the song's chorus: "Consider 'Beautiful People,' where she trades verses and coalesces on the chorus with the one and only Stevie Nicks, of whom I refer to as a bonafide badass. "I didn't know what to except or that I could even ask her, Del Rey remarks. "When I went through ideas of women that could really add something to the record, she was the one we kept coming back to. 'Bonafide badass' is a great phrase for her."

Del Rey discussed the song again in an interview with KROQ radio that was released on May 21, 2017, stating that she had wanted a woman on the record, and her and Rick Nowels both thought of Stevie Nicks. "They [Nowels and Nicks] actually started the track in New York at Electric Lady Studios, and then she flew back and finished it at our studio" said Del Rey, she continued talking about Nicks by saying: "she was amazing, she's just everything you hope she's gonna be. She loved the track and she added so much to it".

On March 22, 2018, Tyrannosaurus posted an article revealing that the song, along with "The Good Life", was intended for the Tim Burton film, Big Eyes. It also revealed the original version is much darker beginning, centering in on an abusive relationship. On August 5, 2018, the full lyrics of the demo and 2 snippets were leaked online.

Live performances

Del Rey performed the song live for the first time at her Lust for Life listening party and performance hosted by Spotify at No Vacancy in Los Angeles, California, on July 20, 2017.

Cross-references

• Reference to the song "Video Games".
• Turtle doves are also mentioned in "Beautiful Player".
• "Beautiful people" is a phrase also found in the song "God Bless America - and All the Beautiful Women in It".

Official versions

• Album version — 4:13
• Instrumental version — 4:16
• Demo version (snippet 1) — 0:08
• Demo version (snippet 2) — 0:21

Lyrics

Album version

[Lana Del Rey]:
Blue is the color of the planet from the view above
Long live our reign, long live our love
Green is the planet from the eyes of a turtle dove
Till it runs red, runs red with blood

We get so tired and we complain
'Bout how it's hard to live
It's more than just a video game

[Lana Del Rey & Stevie Nicks]:
But we're just beautiful people
With beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful problems
God knows, we've got them

But we've gotta try
La-la-lie
Every day and night
La-la-lie

[Stevie Nicks]:
Blue is the color of the shirt of the man I love
He's hard at work, hard to the touch
But warm is the body of the girl from the land he loves
My heart is soft, my past is rough

[Lana Del Rey & Stevie Nicks]:
And when I love him, get a feeling
Something close to like a sugar rush
It runs through me, but is it wasted love?
(There's no wasted love)

But we're just beautiful people
With beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful problems
God knows, we've got them

But we've gotta try
La-la-lie
Every day and night
La-la-lie

[Lana Del Rey]:
Yeah, we've gotta try
La-la-lie
We gotta walk through fire
La-la-lie

Because we're...

[Lana Del Rey & Stevie Nicks]:
Because we're beautiful people
With beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful problems
God knows, we've got them
(Beautiful people)

Beautiful people
With beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful problems
God knows, we’ve got them
So beautiful

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Demo version

Green are the color of the eyes of the man I love
He's hard to take and hard to touch
And green is the color of the sea in the early month
Of mid-July, te amo much

You get so mad when I complain
You think I'm crazy but
I hear them talk they say my name
They're fucking tired of

All these beautiful people with beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful people and God knows I've got them
She wants to die and she should fucking try

Red is the color of your mouth when you drink rum punch
You like to lay in yellow sun
And red are the color of your eyes when you drink too much
You pack your place, you pack a punch

You get so tied to me to stop
I'm ruining our love
But I walk by I hear them talk
They're fucking tired of

All these beautiful people with beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful people and God knows I've got them
She wants to die and she should fucking try
She wants to die and she should fucking try
(I can tell you what I really want)
(I can tell you what I really want)
(I can tell you what I really want)
(I can tell you what I really want)

All these beautiful people with beautiful problems, yeah
Beautiful people and God knows I've got them
Beautiful people with beautiful problems
Beautiful people with beautiful problems

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
New Zealand Heatseekers (RMNZ)	5
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)	29