"Unidentified Flying Bill" (erroneously referred to as "This Year's Girl" or "Slow Burn") is an unreleased song by Lana Del Rey featuring now ex-boyfriend Barrie-James. It was recorded in 2013. Barrie-James O'Neill produced the song, likely with an unknown engineer from NightBird Studios.[S 1]
Background[]
In 2015, NightBird Studios shared a note from Del Rey on their Twitter. She mentions how she loved recording "Unidentified Flying Bill" in their studio.[1]
The song's title was first revealed by an insider on June 15, 2020. A 6-second snippet of the song leaked on October 16, under the false title "This Year's Girl". The snippet was confirmed to be from "Unidentified Flying Bill" on October 26. A slightly longer version of the previously leaked snippet leaked on November 25, and another snippet leaked the following day. A snippet of the song's intro leaked on April 1, 2021, which was followed by two more snippets leaking on July 7. The full song leaked on October 1, and in higher quality on December 25.
An insider has clarified that the song was likely not intended for any album, and was an example of Barrie-James and Lana's travels to random recording studios, recording with any studio technician that was available. The insider speculates that the song was written "for fun".[S 1]
Cross-references[]
- Beaches are a recurrent theme, as mentioned in "Bartender", "Cherry", "Mariners Apartment Complex", "Snow on the Beach", "Summer Bummer", "Watercolor Eyes", and "13 Beaches", and in the poems "Happy", "My Bedroom Is A Sacred Place Now — There Are Children at the Foot of My Bed", "Paradise is Very Fragile", and "Salamander".
- Bill is also mentioned in "Driving in Cars with Boys", "Super Movie", "The Next Best American Record", and "Trash Magic".
- Fire is also mentioned in "Angels Forever, Forever Angels", "Freak", "Off to the Races", "Sad Girl", and "West Coast", and in the poem "The Land of 1,000 Fires", among several others.
- The ocean is also mentioned in "Bentley", "Religion", and "Salvatore", and in the poem "LA Who Am I to Love You". "The Ocean" is also an alternate title for "Kill Kill".
- Supernatural things are also mentioned in "Maha Maha" and "Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)".
- Summertime is also mentioned in "Shades of Cool", "Summer Bummer", "Summer of Sam", and "Summertime Sadness", among several others.
- Wine is also mentioned in "Cherry" and "Tomorrow Never Came".
Lyrics[]
[Lana Del Rey]:
Mmm
Bill takes me down to the beach in the coat that he got from his father
He whispers to me that sometimes he thinks he sees things over the water
Like maybe UFOs or something flying in the air
Well, I don't know about those, Bill, but I don't care
Slow burn, I'm hot like a fire
I'm sober, but you're getting higher
Life is so crazy, I can't take it
But at least we've got tonight
We still got tonight
[Barrie-James]:
Bill takes me down to the beach in East Hampton and walks on the water
Says, "They don't know it yet, but I'm the second coming of the Father"
And he keeps on fishing, tryna turn one into twenty
He's turnin' the ocean into wine for the summertime
[Lana Del Rey & Barrie-James]:
Slow burn, I'm hot like a fire
I'm sober, but you're getting higher
Life is so crazy, I can't take it
But at least we've got tonight
We still got tonight
We still got tonight
We still got tonight
[Lana Del Rey]:
Talk to me, tell me I'm wrong
Come to me
Come to me, tell me I'm wrong
Come to me, save me, now
Tell me I'm wrong (Tell me I'm wrong)
Ohh
Slow burn, I'm hot like a fire
I'm sober, but you're still getting higher
Life is so crazy, I can't take it
But at least we've got tonight
We still got tonight
References[]
- ↑ Studios, NightBird (August 6, 2015). "Lana Del Rey wrote quite a few songs here @ NightBird, most recently "Flipside" recorded by Mike Gaydusek!". Twitter. https://twitter.com/nightbirdstudio/status/629367658417389569. Retrieved July 9, 2023.