"Fine China" is an unreleased song by Lana Del Rey. It was co-written with and produced by Rick Nowels. The track is registered on APRA AMCOS[1], PPL Repertoire[2] and BMI.[3] It is an outtake from Ultraviolence and Blue Banisters.
Background[]
The song was recorded during November 2013 in the same sessions as "I Can Fly", "Say Yes to Heaven", "Shades of Cool", "Sad Girl", "Is This Happiness", and "Your Girl", and was originally intended to be included on Ultraviolence before being cut. This version, produced by Rick Nowels and mixed by Rob Orton, remains unleaked. A snippet leaked on December 22, 2023. It is also rumored that this version of the song was included on an early tracklist for Blue Banisters.[S 1] The song was reportedly recorded in one take.[S 2]
During April 2014, the song was reworked by James Ford alongside "Say Yes to Heaven", with the intention of including it on Ultraviolence once again. This version leaked on March 30, 2023. Additional versions of the song produced by Emile Haynie,[S 3] STINT,[S 4] and others are rumored to exist, but have not leaked.[S 2] The song may have up to 113 mixes.[S 2]
In 2016, Patrick Warren, who had worked with Del Rey and Nowels around the time the song was recorded, was the subject of a phishing attack, where a fan impersonated Del Rey's team to convince him to send them the song and related project materials.[S 5] Warren had the stems for the parts of the song that he recorded - namely the keys and strings - and limited access to the other stems produced by Nowels and other musicians who worked on the track in 2013. Under the impression that the attack was genuine contact from Del Rey's team, Warren quickly produced a new version of the song using the limited original material from 2013, as well as newly recorded instrumentation.[S 6] This version was forwarded, alongside both the original and new stems he had, to the attacker.[S 5]
Two snippets of Warren's stem edit of the song leaked on August 15 and August 27, 2016. A full but edited version leaked on December 25, with the unedited version leaking on January 28, 2017. The song's full strings stem leaked on July 29, 2020. A snippet of a stem and a full stem of one of Del Rey's backing vocals leaked in a pack on August 14, 2024.
Cross-references[]
- Direct references to "In the Sun" and "Change", and an indirect reference to "Lucky Ones".
- Diamonds are mentioned in several Del Rey songs, such as "Body Electric", "Money Power Glory", "National Anthem", "Fake Diamond", "Young and Beautiful", and the demo version of "Diet Mountain Dew", among others.
- "They said that love was enough but it wasn't" is a similar lyric to "Loving him was never enough", found in "Ultraviolence". It is similarly found in "Born to Die" as "sometimes love is not enough" and "it's enough to be young and in love" from "Love".
- The final chant is similar to the initial chant in "Angels Forever, Forever Angels".
- Linen is also mentioned in "Fucked My Way Up to the Top", "Ultraviolence", and in her poem "Patent-Leather Do-Over".
- Being bittersweet is also mentioned in "Let Me Love You like a Woman".
Official versions[]
- Version 1 (produced by Rick Nowels) — Unknown
- Stem edit (edited by Patrick Warren) — 6:09
- Version 2 (produced by James Ford) — 5:18
- Version 3 (produced by STINT) — Unknown
Lyrics[]
I wore diamonds for the birth of your baby, for the birth of your son
On the same day my husband-to-be packed his things to run
Was bittersweet, to say the least
One life begins, one comes undone
I've always been a strong woman of faith
Strong like a tree, but the unlucky one
I'm going down now, with all of my
Fine china and fresh linen
All of my dresses with them tags still on 'em
Fine china and dull silver
My white horses and my ivory almonds
I guess they really got the best of us, didn't they?
They said that love was enough, but it wasn't
The earth shattered, the sky opened
That rain was fire, but we were wooden
I wore diamonds for the day of our wedding, for our day in the sun
On the same day my mother-to-be said she wouldn't come
It's always been that way with me
No time for change, no time for fun
It's always been that way, it seems
One love begins, one comes undone
I'm going down now, with all of my
Fine china and fresh linen
All of my dresses with them tags still on em
Fine china and dull silver
My white horses and my ivory almonds
I guess they really got the best of us, didn't they?
They said that love was enough, but it wasn't
The earth shattered, the sky opened
That rain was fire, but we were wooden
All of my, all of my fine china
All of my, all of my fine china
All of my, all of my fine china, blue
Fine china and fresh linen
All of my dresses with them tags still on 'em
Fine china and dull silver
My white horses and my ivory almonds
I guess they really got the best of us, didn't they?
They said that love was enough, but it wasn't
The Earth shattered, the sky opened
That rain was fire, but we were wooden
Fine china, fine china, fine china
Fresh linen, fresh linen, fresh linen
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by BlackoutZone, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by Carcase, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.
- ↑ This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by Carcase, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.
- ↑ This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by Unknown, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by BlackoutZone, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.
- ↑ This is speculation and should not be relied upon. It has not been confirmed by any official sources, but has been reported by BlackoutZone, who is considered a reliable insider by the community.