Freak (song)

Lana Del Rey
Writer(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels
Producer(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels Kieron Menzies
Alternate producer(s)	STINT (alternate demo mix)
Recorded	September–December 2014
Released	September 18, 2015
Length	4:55 (See official versions)
From
Single(s)	"High by the Beach" "Music to Watch Boys To"
Promotional single(s)	"Terrence Loves You" "Honeymoon"
Honeymoon track listing
"High by the Beach"
"Art Deco"

"Freak" (originally titled "Freak Like Me Too") is a song written by Lana Del Rey and Rick Nowels that is featured on Del Rey's third major-label full-length album, Honeymoon. A music video for the track was released on February 9, 2016.

Background and release

The song was written and recorded in 2014. A snippet of the track, which Del Rey had previously described as "very sexy", debuted on September 8, 2015, alongside snippets of "Terrence Loves You", "Music to Watch Boys To" and "High by the Beach", on the pre-release album sampler. 

An early version of the song, labelled as "Freak Like Me Too", surfaced January 29, 2020. This version features different production and a new bridge with differing lyrics. An alternate mix of the demo with hip-hop influenced production leaked on October 1, 2020, and was produced by STINT. 

Critical reception

The song was generally acclaimed by music contemporary critics. DigitalSpy's Amy Davidson stated that Del Rey "dance[s] in slow motion with you before leaning in to convincingly whisper the argument towards being "a freak like me too" in your ear." Jessica Hopper of Pitchfork stated that Del Rey branched away from the normal "pop music style" that she is known for and had begun to include California girl-lyrics into some of the songs off the album include "Freak", "High by the Beach" and "Art Deco". Hopper later went on to praise the switch in lyrical styling which is sampled in the song.

Live performances

Del Rey first performed the song live on June 3, 2016, at the Orange Warsaw Festival in Warsaw, Poland. She then performed it on six other dates as part of setlist for her the 2016 Festival Tour.

Music video

Music video	Information
	Released	February 9, 2016
	Length	10:53
	Director	Lana Del Rey
	Producer	Justin Benoliel Nabil Elderkin
	Filmed	June, 2014
	Location	Los Angeles, California
	Vevo views	28+ Million views

Background

On January 25, 2016, Del Rey confirmed on social media that a music video to accompany "Freak" would be coming soon. She later announced that the video would premiere on February 9, 2016, at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, California. Del Rey stated that the video would star the girls featured in "Music to Watch Boys To" and singer-songwriter Father John Misty. The music video footage was filmed around June 2014, originally for "Ultraviolence" and clips from it were featured in The Honeymoon Sampler which was released onto YouTube on September 8, 2015.

Description

The video opens with a clip of the Earth revolving and "Lana Del Rey" alongside the title of the song super imposed in a yellow font before transitioning into a scene of Father John Misty and Del Rey walking through a rocky desert landscape as the song begins. The next scene shows Del Rey listening to Misty playing the guitar as she drinks Kool-Aid from a plastic cup before placing a tab of acid on his tongue. As the chorus starts, an overexposed pink and red filter fills the screen as Misty is surrounded by a group of women in white. Del Rey sits in front of him smiling and drinking. The scene suddenly transitions at the start of the second verse to Del Rey in a dark cabin at night. This scene is interpolated with clips of Father John Misty pacing and shouting in the desert. Del Rey places the needle of a record player on a vinyl and looks around the cabin. She walks over to a pond and puts her hand in, transitioning back to Misty on acid surrounded by women. The bridge moves back to Del Rey and Misty walking around the desert landscape, she gives him another tab of acid and shortly after a filtered shot of Del Rey lying back reaching for the Kool-Aid comes into view. A close up shot sees Del Rey pouring the Kool-Aid into her mouth then wiping the excess off her lips. The final scene during the song shows Del Rey and Father John Misty dancing in fog in all white before he bends her over his arm and kisses her. The video then transitions into clips of Del Rey, Father John Misty, Chuck Grant and the girls from The Honeymoon Sampler and "Music to Watch Boys To" who featured earlier in the film in a swimming pool as Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" plays.

Release

Del Rey announced through social media that the video would premiere on February 9, 2016, at The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles, California. It was released on VEVO a few hours after the event. The tickets for the premiere were sold out in 15 minutes. The theater has a capacity of 1,850 persons.

Critical reception

Critics responded positively to the video, with Alex Young of Consequence of Sound describing it as a "compelling, sultry visual" and Nolan Feeney of Time suggesting that the "extravagant" film could be one of the best music videos of 2016.

Photos by Neil Krug (June, 2014)

Behind the scenes

Promotional images

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank
BreatheHeavy	Top 20 Music Videos of 2016	18
Celebuzz	The 24 Best Music Videos of 2016 So Far	N/A

Cross-references

• "Like an endless summer" is a reference to the title of the Endless Summer Tour.
• California is directly referred in a lot of Del Rey's songs, including "Fuck It I Love You", "Shades of Cool", "How to Disappear", "Angels Forever, Forever Angels", "If I Die Young" and the two songs of the same name.
  • "Come to California" is similar to the lyric "Come on down to Florida" from "Florida Kilos".
• "All you need" is a line from "Peace".
• "Sun reflecting in your eyes like an easy rider" is a reference to the "Angels Forever, Forever Angels" lyric "Is the sun in your eyes, easy rider?". The lyric is also similar to the lyrics "sun reflecting in your eyes" and "death reflecting in his eyes" from "Bentley". In addition, the lyric is similar to the lyric "there are violets in your eyes" from "Honeymoon".
• The lyric "it's like I told you" also appears in "Born to Die", and is similar to the line "it's like you said" from "Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)".
• "I don't wanna fight" appears in several songs, most notably in the pre-chorus for "Playground".
• Palms (or palm trees) are also mentioned in "Methamphetamines", "Trash Magic", "Jump" and "Bel Air".
• The line "if you stay, I'll stay" may be a reference to the lyric "if you go, I'll stay" from "Say Yes to Heaven".
• Black leather is also mentioned in "Black Beauty".
• In the demo version, the bridge uses lyrics from an earlier song "Vacation".
• Found in the demo's bridge, "Loving you can't be wrong" is a phrase first used in "Dark Paradise".
• Referenced in "Tulsa Jesus Freak".
• Ice is also mentioned in "Brooklyn Baby" and "Venice Bitch".
• Fire is also mentioned in "West Coast", "High by the Beach", "Sad Girl" and "Off to the Races".
• Strangers are also mentioned in "Out with a Bang", "Strangelove", "Carmen" and "Kinda Outta Luck".
• The lyric "turn blue" could be a nod to the album "Turn Blue" by Dan Auerbach's band "The Black Keys", recorded around the same time they were working on Ultraviolence.
• 'Fire turning blue' is also a metaphor used during the Ultraviolence era when describing the record to Dan Auerbach, according to an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Official versions

• Album version — 4:55
  • Instrumental version — 5:05
• "Freak Like Me Too" demo version — 5:29
  • Alternate hip-hop mix — 5:29
• Music video version (with "Clair de Lune" outro) — 10:53

Lyrics

Album version

Flames so hot that they turn blue (Mmm-hmm-mmm)
Palms reflecting in your eyes, like an endless summer
That's the way I feel for you
If time stood still, I'd take this moment, make it last forever

Your halo's full of fire
I'm rising up, rising up
My hot love's full of fire
Love's full of fire, ah

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

Leather black and eyes of blue (Blue, blue, blu-blu-blu-blu-blu-blue)
Sun reflecting in your eyes, like an easy rider
Life makes sense when I'm with you
Looking back, my past, it all seems stranger than a stranger

So, let's dance in slow motion
Tear it up, tear it up
And let's dance by the ocean
Ah, ah

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

Ooh, you're cold as ice, baby, but when you're nice, baby
You're so amazing in every way
Ooh, you're cold as ice, baby, I don't wanna fight, baby
It's like I told you, if you stay I'll stay, yeah

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
(Take it to the back if you really wanna talk)
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do
(Take it to the back if you really wanna talk)

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

"Freak Like Me Too" demo version

Flames so hot that they turn blue
Palms reflecting in your eyes, like an endless summer
That's the way I feel for you
If time stood still, I'd take this moment, make it last forever

Your halo's full of fire
I'm rising up, rising up
My hot love's full of fire
Love's full of fire, ah

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

Leather black and eyes of blue
Sun reflecting in your eyes, like an easy rider
Life makes sense when I'm with you
Looking back, my past, it all seems stranger than a stranger

So, let's dance in slow motion
Tear it up, tear it up
And let's dance by the ocean
Ah, ah

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

Marry me, marry me
Take a long vacation
Money and power and dresses
Big standing ovation
Loving you can't be wrong
There's no complications, no

Marry me, marry me
Use all your relations
Carry me, carry me
Fuck our generation
Loving you can't be wrong
Love is our salvation now

Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too
Screw your anonymity, loving me is all you need
To feel like I do

We could slow dance to rock music, kiss while we do it
Talk till we both turn blue
Baby, if you wanna leave, come to California
Be a freak like me, too

Credits

Personnel

• Lana Del Rey – vocals, songwriting, production, mellotron effects
• Rick Nowels – songwriting, production, pads, electric guitar, bass
• Kieron Menzies – production, drums, percussion, 808 bass, recording, mixing, engineering
• Leon Michels – saxophone, synth
• Rusty Anderson – guitar effects
• Adam Ayan – mastering
• Patrick Warren – orchestrations
• Trevor Yasuda & Chris Garcia – engineering
• Phil Joly & Iris Sofia – assistant engineering