"Living Legend" is a song by Lana Del Rey from her eighth studio album and seventh major-label studio album Blue Banisters. It was written and produced with her then-boyfriend Barrie-James O'Neill in 2013.
Background[]
On July 31, 2013, Del Rey posted on Facebook to her friend Jane Powers that she was her "main inspiration" and that she wrote a song for her called "Living Legend".[1] Del Rey referenced the track again while thanking Powers at the end of the Ultraviolence booklet.
The full song leaked on July 27, 2020. An alternate mix labeled "Piano Track Version" leaked on October 3, 2020.
During an Instagram livestream on October 22, 2021, Del Rey revealed that the vocal bridge is an attempt to replicate a saxophone.
A snippet of an early demo featuring different vocals and instrumental leaked on October 23, 2021. The full version leaked on June 17, 2022.
Cross-references[]
- Brooklyn is also mentioned in "Brooklyn Baby" and "True Love on the Side".
- Heaven is also referenced in "Match Made in Heaven", "Say Yes to Heaven" and "You & Me". and in the poems "In the Hills of Benedict Canyon" and "Never to Heaven", among several others.
- Horses are also mentioned in "Fine China" and "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing".
- The phrase "guns in the summertime" is also used in "Florida Kilos".
- The phrase "send me straight to Heaven" is similar to the phrase "you send me right to Heaven" from "Serial Killer".
- She also says "why" repeatedly in "Tomorrow Never Came".
- Singing in a certain key is also referenced in "Margaret".
- Sweet is also mentioned in "Fuck It I Love You", "Venice Bitch", "Radio", "Trash Magic", "Without You", "Serial Killer", "Meet Me in the Pale Moonlight", "West Coast", "This Is What Makes Us Girls", and in the song of the same name, among many others.
Official versions[]
- Album version — 4:01
- Unmastered version — 4:04
- Demo version — 2:49
- Alternate mix — 4:07
Lyrics[]
Album version[]
Mm-mm-mm-mm, ooh
Blackbirds will sing in the same key
As you play in the shoes that I bought you
And sweet baby Jane don't know a thing
About my songs, but she knows I'm a monsoon
And, baby, you, all the things you do
And the ways you move
Send me straight to Heaven
And, baby, you, what you never knew
What I never said
Is you're my living legend
Hipsters will sing just like a dream
In Sin-é or the back Brooklyn bayou
But you never cared about my name
And, darlin', I never meant to defy you
But, baby, you, all them things you do
And those ways you moved
Send me straight to Heaven
And, baby, you, I never said to you
You really are my living legend
I got guns in the summertime and horses, too
Guns in the summertime and horses, too
I never meant to be bad or unwell
I was just livin' on the edge
Right between Heaven and Hell
And I'm tired of it
Ooh, all the things you do
And the ways you move
Send me straight to Heaven
And, baby, you, what I never said to you
Is you really are
My living legend
[Vocal Bridge]
My living legend
My living legend
My living legend
My living legend
Demo version[]
Ooh, ooh-ooh
One
Blackbirds will sing in the same key
As you play in the shoes that I bought you
And sweet baby Jane don't know a thing
About my songs, but she knows I'm a monsoon
But, baby, you, all the things you do
And those ways you move
Send me straight to Heaven
And, baby, you, I never said to you
You really are my living legend
Hipsters will sing just like a dream
In Sin-é or the back Brooklyn bayou
But you never cared about my name
And, darlin', I never meant to defy you
But, baby, you, all the things you do
And those ways you move
Send me straight to Heaven
I got guns in the summertime and horses, too
Guns in the summertime and horses, too
I never meant to be bad or unwell
I was just livin' on the edge
Right between Heaven and Hell
And I'm tired of it
My living legend
My living legend
Credits[]
Personnel
- Lana Del Rey — songwriting, production, mixing, vocals
- Barrie-James O'Neill — songwriting, production, mixing, guitar, piano
- Adam Ayan — mastering
References[]
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