Blue Banisters (song)

Lana Del Rey
Writer(s)	Lana Del Rey Gabe Simon
Producer(s)	Lana Del Rey Gabe Simon
Recorded	2020
Released	May 20, 2021
Length	4:52 (See official versions)
From
Single(s)	"Wildflower Wildfire" "Text Book" "Blue Banisters" "Arcadia"
Singles chronology
"Text Book"
"Blue Banisters"
"Secret Life"
Blue Banisters track listing
"Text Book"
"Arcadia"

"Blue Banisters" is the title track from Lana Del Rey's eighth studio album and seventh major-label studio album. It was produced by Gabe Simon and was released as a single on May 20, 2021 along with "Text Book" and "Wildflower Wildfire".

Background

Del Rey first teased the title in an Instagram post on April 10, 2021. On April 28, 2021, Del Rey announced that her eighth studio album would be called Blue Banisters. Later that day, she posted a clip of the song and its accompanying music video to Instagram with the message: "Sometimes life makes you change just in time for the next chapter", and to Twitter with: "I'm writing my own story. And no one can tell it but me"

Music video

Music video	Information
	Released	Oct 20, 2021
	Length	4:51
	Director	None
	Producer
	Filmed	June/July 2021
	Location	Unknown
	Vevo views	2+ Million views

Background and description

A clip of the music video was teased by Del Rey on April 28, 2021. The music video was planned to feature Del Rey's former partner Clayton Johnson. Clayton first posted a photo of him in his music video costume back in November 2020. The music video was released exactly five months after the song was released, on October 20, 2021, with Clayton being cut from the video. It now features Del Rey with her friends and sister painting banisters blue while also showing scenes of them baking and Del Rey on a tractor. Alongside "Arcadia", Chris Ripley is credited for filming the video, as confirmed by Chuck Grant via Instagram.

Cross-references

• Lana mentions her sister Chuck and her friends Nikki Lane and Jen.
• Chuck is also mentioned in "Motel 6".
• Oklahoma is also mentioned in "Out with a Bang".
• [Swimming] pools are also referenced in "Push Me Down", "Heavy Hitter", "Gangsta Boy", "Off to the Races" "French Restaurant" and "Trash Magic", among many others.
• Colour blue is mentioned in many of Del Rey's songs, most notably "Nectar of the Gods", "Salvatore", "God Knows I Tried", "Blue Jeans" and "Get Free".
• Lightning is also mentioned in "White Mustang", "Carmen", "Happiness Is A Butterfly" and "Mariners Apartment Complex".
• A beer is also mentioned in "How to Disappear" and "Video Games".
• Smoking is also referenced in "The Next Best American Record" and "Girl That Got Away".
• The phrase "God knows" also appears in "God Knows I Tried", "Tulsa Jesus Freak", "Pawn Shop Blues", and "Violets for Roses".
• Diamonds are mentioned in many of Del Rey's songs, most notably "Young and Beautiful", "24", "Money Power Glory", "Last Girl on Earth" and "Fucked My Way Up to the Top".
• Rain is also mentioned in "Born to Die", "Hot Hot Hot", "Salvatore" and "God Knows I Tried".
• Heaven is also mentioned in "Yes to Heaven", "Ultraviolence", "Last Girl on Earth" and "Young and Beautiful".
• Summer is also referenced in "Summertime Sadness", "Summer Bummer", "Florida Kilos", "Summer of Sam" and "Salvatore", among many others.
• Del Rey makes other general references to having children in the songs "Dance Till We Die", "How to Disappear" and "Have a Baby".
• Flowers are also mentioned in "Last Girl on Earth", "Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind", "Because of You", "Wildflower Wildfire" and "Caught You Boy".
• References to winter also appear in "Heroin", "Florida Kilos", "Wild One" and "Chemtrails Over the Country Club".
• Poetry is also referenced in "Wildflower Wildfire", "Let Me Love You like a Woman", "Brooklyn Baby", "Bartender", "Norman Fucking Rockwell" and the "Ride" monologue.
• The phrase "the diamonds, the rust and the rain" is a reference to "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez. Another reference to the singer also appears in "Dance Till We Die" and in "Joan and Bobby".
• Tex and Mex are the names of the two dogs that appear in the official album cover with Del Rey.

Official versions

• Album version — 4:53
• Single version — 4:52

Lyrics

There's a picture on the wall
Of me on a John Deere
Jenny handed me a beer
Said, "How the Hell did you get there?"
Oh, Oklahoma
Mm-hm, hm

There were flowers that were dry
Sittin' on the dresser
She asked me where they're from
I said, "A place I don't remember"
Oh, Oklahoma (Oh-oh)

Jenny jumped into the pool
She was swimmin' with Nikki Lane
She said, "Most men don't want a woman
With a legacy, it's our bane"
She said, "You can't be a muse and be happy, too
You can't blacken the pages with Russian poetry
And be happy"
And that scared me
'Cause I met a man who

Said he'd come back every May
Just to help me if I paint my banisters blue
Blue banisters, ooh
Said he'd fix my weathervane
Give me children, take away my pain
And paint my banisters blue
My banisters blue

There's a hole that's in my heart
All my women try and heal
They're doin' a good job
Convincin' me that it's not real
It's heat lightning, oh-oh-oh, oh

'Cause there's a man that's in my past
There's a man that's still right here
He's real enough to touch
And in my darkest nights, he's shinin'
Ooh-ooh-ooh

Jenny was smokin' by the pool
We were writin' with Nikki Lane
I said, "I'm scared of the Santa Clarita fires
I wish that it would rain"
I said, "The power of us three could bring absolutely anything
Except that one thing
The diamonds, the rust, and the rain"
The thing that washes away the pain
But that's okay, 'cause

Now when weather turns to May
All my sisters come to paint my banisters green
My blue banisters grey
Tex and Mex are in the bay
Chuckie's makin' birthday cake
Chickens runnin', bare feet, there's a baby on the way
And now my blue banisters are green and grey, ah-ah

Summer comes, Winter goes
Spring I skip, God knows
Summer comes, Winter goes
Spring I sleep, Heaven knows
Every time it turns to May
All my sisters fly to me
To paint, paint

Credits

Personnel

• Lana Del Rey — songwriting, production, vocals
• Gabe Simon — songwriting, production, engineering, mixing, organ, piano
• Adam Ayan — mastering engineering