"LA Who Am I to Love You" is a poem released by Lana Del Rey for her first poetry book Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.
Background[]
The title of the poem first appeared as a caption for a picture posted by Del Rey on June 27, 2020.[1]
The poem was released on Spotify on July 28, 2020. Lyrics in the released version have minimal differences to the written version.
Cross-references[]
- L.A. is a recurrent place on many songs on her discography, such as "American", "Gods & Monsters", "Off to the Races", "Radio", "The Greatest", "Because of You", and references specific places of L.A. in several other songs.
- The ocean is also mentioned in the demo for "Kill Kill" and "Bentley".
- Neon lights are also referenced in "Queen of the Gas Station" and alludes in "Salvatore"
- References to money also appear in "Sad Girl", "Hundred Dollar Bill" and "Money Power Glory".
- The phrase "I adore you" also appears in "Salvatore".
- New York is also referenced in "Making Out" and "Old Money".
- Fire is also mentioned in "West Coast", "Summertime Sadness", "Sad Girl" and "Freak".
- Shores are also mentioned in "Heroin".
- A county line is also mentioned in "13 Beaches" and "Don't Call Me An Angel".
- "San Francisco" is also mentioned in "Looking For America".
- "They say I came from money and I didn't" is most likely a nod to the critics saying similar statements during the Born to Die era.
- A Tudor house is also mentioned in the poem "Happy".
- Direct reference to Eric Garcetti; mayor of Los Angeles since 2013 until now.
- Raising mountains is similar to "move mountains" found in "How to Disappear".
- Belonging to no one is also a theme used in the monologue of the music video for "Ride".
- The line "Go back to New York" is also used in "Ultraviolence", although in the poem it's used with a negative connotation (as in 'they can't go back to NY'), in contrast to "Ultraviolence" (when she sings they could go back to NY).
- "Paramahansa Yogananda realization center" refers to the "Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine" temple located in Sunset Boulevard, California.
- "Doing nothing" is also mentioned in "The Greatest" and in the poem "Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass".
- Delilah is a restaurant in West Hollywood, California.
- 'Saks' might refer to 'Saks Fifth Avenue' a designer clothing store.
- Del Rey also mentions her mother in "Old Money", "Aviation", and "My Momma". The former alludes to the latter in "Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)", and "Wildflower Wildfire".
Poem[]
I left my city for San Francisco
Took a free ride off a billionaire's jet
L.A, I'm from nowhere, who am I to love you?
L.A, I've got nothing, who am I to love you when I'm feeling this way and I've got nothing to offer?
L.A, not quite the city that never sleeps
Not quite the city that wakes, but the city that dreams, for sure
If by dreams you mean in nightmares
L.A, I'm a dreamer, but I'm from nowhere, who am I to dream?
L.A, I'm upset, I have complaints, listen to me
They say I came from money and I didn't, and I didn't even have love, and it's unfair
L.A, I sold my life rights for a big checks and I'm upset
And now I can't sleep at night and I don't know why
Plus, I love Saks, so why did I do that when I know it won't last?
L.A, I picked San Francisco because the man who doesn't love me lives there
L.A, I'm pathetic, but so are you, can I come home now?
Daughter to no one, table for one
Party of thousands of people I don't know at Delilah where my ex-husband works
I'm sick of this, but can I come home now?
Mother to no one, private jet for one
Back home to the Tudor house that borned a thousand murder plots
Hancock Park, it's treated me very badly, I'm resentful
The witch on the corner, the neighbor nobody wanted
The reason for Garcetti's extra security
L.A, I know I'm bad, but I have nowhere else to go, can I come home now?
I never had a mother, will you let me make the sun my own for now, and the ocean my son?
I'm quite good at tending to things despite my upbringing, can I raise your mountains?
I promise to keep them greener, make them my daughters, teach them about fire, warn them about water
I'm lonely, L.A, can I come home now?
I left my city for San Francisco
And I'm writing from the Golden Gate Bridge
But it's not going as I planned
I took a free ride off a billionaire and brought my typewriter and promised myself that I would stay but
It's just not going the way that I thought
It's not that I feel different, and I don't mind that it's not hot
It's just that I belong to no one, which means there's only one place for me
The city not quite awake, the city not quite asleep
The city that's still deciding how good it can be
And also
I can't sleep without you
No one's ever really held me like you
Not quite tightly, but certainly I feel your body next to me
Smoking next to me
Vaping lightly next to me
And I love that you love the neon lights like me
Orange in the distance
We both love that
And I love that we have that in common
Also, neither one of us can go back to New York
For you are unmoving
As for me, it won't be my city again until I'm dead
Fuck the New York Post!
L.A, who am I to need you when I've needed so much, asked for so much?
But what I've been given, I'm not sure yet
I may never know that either until I'm dead
For now though, what I do know
Is although I don't deserve you–
Not you at your best, in your splendor
With towering eucalyptus trees that sway in my dominion
Not you at your worst–
Totally on fire, unlivable, unbreathable, I need you
You see, I have no mother
And you do
A continental shelf
A larger piece of land from where you came
And I?
I'm an orphan
A little seashell that rests upon your native shores
One of many, for sure
But because of that, I surely must love you closely to the most of anyone
For that reason– let me love you
Don't mind my desperation
Let me hold you, not just for vacation
But for real and for forever
Make it real life
Let me be a real wife to you
Girlfriend, lover, mother, friend
I adore you
Don't be put off by my quick-wordedness
I'm generally quite quiet
Quite a meditator, actually
I'll do very well down by Paramhansa Yogananda's realization center, I'm sure
I promise you'll barely even notice me
Unless you want to notice me
Unless you prefer a rambunctious child
In which case, I can turn it on, too
I'm quite good on the stage as you may know
You might have heard of me
So either way, I'll fit in just fine
So just love me by doing nothing
And perhaps, by not shaking the county line
I'm yours if you'll have me
But regardless, you're mine
References[]
- ↑ Del Rey, Lana (June 27, 2020). "La who am I to love u". Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/lanadelrey/posts/4041426209233132. Retrieved July 6, 2023.