"Life Is Beautiful" (also known as "Life Is Still Beautiful") is a song by Lana Del Rey that was featured in the trailer for the 2015 Lionsgate film The Age of Adaline. The song is registered on PPL.[1]
Background and writing[]
“When you let everything go, you know, of course, all these little things come to you when you kind of aren’t expecting them to. I was writing a song that seemed really a little left-of-centre and too specific to be used for anything and then, like one of those things I was talking about with the movie, this guy was looking for something with a theme that was exactly what I had just written. It was called “Life Is Still Beautiful”, so it was about a guy and his best friend, and one guy is just trying to get his best friend to come back to him because life is still beautiful.”
The song was written by Del Rey and was produced by and co-written with long-time collaborator Dan Heath in 2012 during the Paradise sessions. On July 31, 2012, Del Rey explained that the track had come to her after going back to writing music following polarizing reviews and criticism during the release of her debut album Born to Die. She had written a song about someone convincing their friend to "come back to them" because "life is still beautiful". Shortly after writing the song, Del Rey was contacted by a producer who had commissioned her to submit a track for The Age of Adaline with a theme that was similar to what she had just written. Ultimately, the song was reworked for the movie in 2015, but never officially released.
On August 1, 2020, two versions of the song leaked in full online: the 2015 version, made for The Age of Adaline, and the Paradise mix from 2012. The earlier version features minimal vocal and instrumental differences. The original lossless file for the 2015 version leaked on December 25, 2020. It was titled "Life is Beautiful (RIO v3) main 16bit ref". It is rumored that a rough concept demo for the song exists.[citation needed]
Composition[]
"Life Is Beautiful" is a cinematic ballad in the key of C♯ major with a slow tempo of approximately 63 beats per minute. The track features lush strings and layered vocal harmonies in the chorus.
Release[]
On April 21, 2015, a snippet of the track was released in a trailer for the film.[3] On September 14, another snippet was released in a promotional ad on Instagram, including the end of the song's chorus and the beginning of its bridge.[4] It was rumored to be included on Del Rey's third studio album Honeymoon, since it wasn't featured on the soundtrack for The Age of Adaline, though this did not come to fruition. On June 2, 2016, a fan asked Del Rey about the song, to which she responded: "It was just for the movie".[5]
Media[]
Cross-references[]
- The title "life is beautiful" is prominently featured in "Black Beauty" as well as "Without You".
- A soul being on fire also appears in "Queen of Disaster".
- Desire is also mentioned in "Burning Desire".
- God is referenced in many of Del Rey's songs, including "God Bless America - and All the Beautiful Women in It" and "God Knows I Tried".
- The phrase "come on, boy" is similar to "come on, baby" which appears in "Cola".
- Trying to be stronger is a topic also sung about in "Venice Bitch" and "California".
Official versions[]
- "Life Is Still Beautiful" version 1 — 3:30
- Version 2 — 3:28
Lyrics[]
Version 1[]
Don't be that way, don't you pretend
You're not awake, when I know you are
I see the way you're lying there
I know you can't be very far
God wouldn’t do that, he knows how I feel
I can’t go through that and so it’s not real
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful
Don't be so still, you never are
You like to play, your heart's on fire
I don't believe this is the end
And I still feel your heart's desire
God couldn’t do that, he knows you belong
To me and me only, and so I’ll be strong
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful (beautiful)
Come on, boy, let's go
We can hit the road
We don't have to say where we're going
We can go anywhere
We can go anywhere
We can go anywhere right now
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful
Version 2[]
Don't be that way, don't you pretend
You're not awake, when you know you are
I see the way you're lying there
I know you can't be very far
God wouldn’t do that, he knows how I feel
I can’t go through that, and so it’s not real
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful
Don't be so still, you never are
You like to play, your soul's on fire
I don't believe this is the end
And I still feel your heart's desire
God couldn’t do that, he knows you belong
To me and me only, and so I’ll be strong
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful
Come on, boy, let's go
We can hit the road
We don't have to say where we're going
We can go anywhere
We can go anywhere
We can go anywhere right now
Life is still so beautiful
Life is still so beautiful
References[]
- ↑ PPL Repertoire ISRC: GBUM71502702
- ↑ Dyson, Alex (2012). "Lana Del Hooray!". Triple J. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s3557148.htm.
- ↑ Lionsgate Movies (April 21, 2015). "Lana Del Rey ‘Life is Beautiful’ - The AGE OF ADALINE (2015 Movie - Blake Lively)". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJYPYYOndBM. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Samouel, Adam (September 14, 2015). Twitter. https://twitter.com/AdamSamouel/status/643460660098113536. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Lana Del Rey Latest (June 2, 2016). "Today a fan finally asked Lana Del Rey about the song "Life Is Beautiful" and this is what she said:". Twitter. https://twitter.com/DelReyLatest/status/738494115118075904. Retrieved March 16, 2024.