"Body Electric" (also referred to as "I Sing the Body Electric") is a song by Lana Del Rey from her second major-label EP, Paradise, which was released worldwide on November 13, 2012. It was co-written with Rick Nowels and was produced by Nowels and Dan Heath.
Background[]
On April 11, 2012, Del Rey teased the song for the first time on its supposed recording date by posting a reference to it on her Facebook page,[1] and later referred to it as "I Sing the Body Electric" during an interview with Spanish radio station Catalunya Ràdio on June 15, 2012.[2] The song title and its overall theme directly reference Walt Whitman's 1855 poem "I Sing the Body Electric".
A snippet of the song's instrumental leaked on April 21, 2018, followed by its leak in full on October 3. An insider shared that, while Rick Rubin was working with Del Rey on "Ride", he also produced a rock version of "Body Electric".[S 1] A snippet of a demo - potentially Rubin's - leaked on May 16, 2024. Lyrics from an unknown demo were shared by an insider on August 17, 2024.[S 2]
Tropico short film[]
- Main article: Tropico (film)
| Music video | Information | |
|---|---|---|
|
Released | December 6, 2013 |
| Length | 27:08 | |
| Director | Anthony Mandler | |
| Producer | Heather Heller | |
| Filmed | June 2013 | |
| Location | Los Angeles, California | |
| Vevo views | 11 million+ views | |
Description[]
The song is one of three from Paradise that were featured in Del Rey's 2013 short film, Tropico, acting as the soundtrack to the eponymous first chapter of the triptych. Del Rey is biblical figure Eve, opposite American model Shaun Ross as Adam in the Garden of Eden. Also in this scene are actors portraying Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne as God. This chapter is intercut with scenes of a praying Del Rey portraying the Mother Mary. The chapter ends with Eve taking a bite from the forbidden fruit and fainting, soon followed by Adam, and the two are thunderously cast out of Paradise.
Tropico EP[]
- Main article: Tropico (EP)
To accompany the release of the short film, an EP featuring the tracks "Body Electric", "Gods & Monsters", and "Bel Air" was released exclusively to iTunes on December 6, 2013. This EP also includes a digital copy of the short film itself.
Live performances[]
Del Rey performed the song live for the first time at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, California, on June 3, 2012, as part of the second leg of the Born to Die Tour. It would remain on her regular set list throughout the rest of that tour and the Paradise Tour, before appearing again during the Lust for Life Promotional Tour. The song was performed by audience request during a stop on the LA to the Moon Tour at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 6, 2018. At the beginning of Del Rey's August 21, 2024, performance at Rock en Seine in Saint-Cloud, France, clips from Tropico played on the screen as Del Rey appeared on stage, to which she then performed a shortened version of the song; this performance during the Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd Promotional Tour being the first since 2018.
The song was part of a session recorded by Del Rey's live touring band in preparation for her Paradise Tour performances. The full rehearsal session, which featured Del Rey's pre-recorded vocals and were created with the intent of aiding the tour's videographer, leaked on October 15, 2020.
Cross-references[]
- Diamonds are also mentioned in "Cola", "Fine China", "Florida Kilos", "Fucked My Way Up to the Top", "Last Girl on Earth", "Money Power Glory", "National Anthem", and "Young and Beautiful", among several others.
- Directly referenced in "Hollywood".
- Marilyn Monroe is also mentioned in "Children of the Bad Revolution", "Hollywood's Dead", and the song of the same name.
- Elvis is referenced in many of Del Rey's songs, including a song of the same name.
- "I'm on fire" is a phrase also used in "Summertime Sadness", "Ben", "Sad Girl", "Baby Blue Love", and is thematically similar to a lyric found in "Lucky Ones".
- A "pale moonlight" is also mentioned in "Summertime Sadness" and "Meet Me in the Pale Moonlight".
- A reference to Friday night also appears in "Born to Die".
- The phrase "drop it like it's hot" also appears in "Ghetto Baby", "Go Go Dancer", and "Midnight Dancer Girlfriend".
- Jesus is also mentioned in "Cherry Blossom", "Diet Mountain Dew", "I Talk to Jesus", "Jesus Is My Boyfriend", "Mariners Apartment Complex", and "Tulsa Jesus Freak", among several others.
Official versions[]
- Album version – 3:53
- Instrumental version – 3:50
- Demo version (unleaked) – Unknown
- Paradise Tour rehearsal session – 4:37
Lyrics[]
Album version[]
Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn's my mother
Jesus is my bestest friend
We don't need nobody 'cause we got each other
Or at least I pretend
We get down every Friday night
Dancin' and grindin' in the pale moonlight
Grand Ole Opry, we're feelin' all right
Mary prays the rosary for my broken mind
(I said, "don't worry 'bout it")
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric
Sing that body electric
Sing that body electric
I'm on fire, sing that body electric
Whitman is my daddy, Monaco's my mother
Diamonds are my bestest friend
Heaven is my baby, suicide's her father
Opulence is the end
We get down every Friday night
Dancin' and grindin' in the pale moonlight
Grand Ole Opry, we're feelin' all right
Mary prays the rosary for my broken mind
(I said, "don't worry 'bout it")
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric
Sing that body electric
Sing that body electric
I'm on fire, sing that body electric
My clothes still smell like you
And all the photographs say you're still young
I pretend I'm not hurt and go about the world like I'm having fun
We get crazy every Friday night
Drop it like it's hot in the pale moonlight
Grand Ole Opry, feelin' all right
Mary swayin' softly to her heart's delight
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric
I sing the body electric
Sing that body electric
Sing that body electric
I'm on fire, sing that body electric
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric, baby
Demo version[]
[Snippet]:
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric, baby
I sing the body electric-
[Leaked lyrics]:
Heaven is the answer and suicide's the other
Credits[]
- Personnel[a]
- Lana Del Rey – songwriting, vocals
- Rick Nowels – songwriting, production, piano, Mellotron, strings
- Dan Heath – production, recording, orchestra, percussion
- Kieron Menzies – recording, mixing
- Chris Garcia – recording
- Patrick Warren – guitar, organ, dulcitone, Moog synthesizer, piano, bells, Optigon, Mellotron
- Tim Pierce – slide electronic guitar
- John Davis – mastering
- Technical
- Published by EMI / R-Rated Music administered by EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP)
- Mastered at Metropolis Mastering, London, United Kingdom
- Recorded at The Green Building, Santa Monica, United States
Charts[]
Weekly charts[]
References[]
Notes[]
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