"Velvet Crowbar" is an unreleased song by Lana Del Rey. It was recorded in 2010 and leaked on September 23, 2012. The track was produced by Justin Parker and is considered to be an outtake from the Born to Die sessions.
Background[]
Del Rey labeled the song as a demo and uploaded it to her now-defunct SoundCloud profile on March 22, 2010, alongside "On Our Way", "Hundred Dollar Bill", "Us Against the World", "Kinda Outta Luck", and "You Can Be the Boss".[1]
The song was reportedly part of a list of songs labeled as "b-sides" to Born to Die, which were heavily considered for release. Other songs include "TV in Black & White", "Marilyn Monroe", and "On Our Way".[S 1]
Cross-references[]
- A golden grill is also mentioned in "Every Man Gets His Wish", "Live Forever (Golden Grill)", "Queen of Disaster", and "Stoplight De-Lite".
- Crack is also mentioned in "Boarding School" and "Midnight Dancer Girlfriend".
- Hopeless lovers are a theme in many songs, most notably "Black Beauty" and "Shades of Cool".
- Stars are also mentioned in "A Star for Nick", "California", "Damn You", "Dum Dum", "Dynamite", "Lucky Ones", "Prom Song (Gone Wrong)", "Ride", "Starry Eyed", and "Video Games", among several others.
- The theme of paradise also appears in "Coca Colla", "Dark Paradise", "Every Man Gets His Wish", "Television Heaven", and in the two songs of the same name.
- The lyric "flame-colored paradise" is similar to the lyric "paradise is a hell-colored flame sky" from "Angels Forever, Forever Angels". Both of these lyrics allude to a quote from the 1955 book "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.
- Velvet is also mentioned in "Blue Velvet", "Fake Diamond", and "This Is What Makes Us Girls".
Lyrics[]
I was addicted to you, but I didn't know it
You were afflicted by booze, you didn't show it, oh
Life is a velvet crowbar hittin' you over the head
You're bleedin,' but you want more
"This is so like you," I said, "put yourself on back to bed"
You're like crack to me, I don't wanna leave
I'm watchin' you sleep, afraid you'll stop breathin'
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
Stayin' with him 'til the mornin'
You're like crack to me, so fun I can't see
With your golden grill, your purple dream
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
Gonna watch him 'til the mornin'
I was addicted to you, didn't wanna blow it
You were a dick with your crew, always on the road
You wanna touch life so hard, why can't you give it a rest?
You're not that bright for a star
Burned yourself out, nothin' left, burned yourself out, nothin' left
You're like crack to me, I don't wanna leave
I'm watchin' you sleep, afraid you'll stop breathin'
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
Stayin' with him 'til the mornin'
You're like crack to me, so fun I can't see
With your golden grill, your purple dream
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
Gonna watch him 'til the mornin'
Styrofoam on the microphone
I can't give it up, can't go it alone
Flame-colored paradise for you, darlin'
But death doesn't come with a warnin'
Life is a velvet crowbar, hittin' you over the head
You're bleedin' syrup, amour, bleedin' to death
You're like crack to me, I don't wanna leave
I'm watchin' you sleep, afraid you'll stop breathin'
My baby's on his last life, darlin'
I'm stayin' with him 'til the mornin'
You're like crack to me, so fun I can't see
With your golden grill, your purple dream
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
Gonna watch him 'til the mornin'
(My baby's on his last life, darlin'
Gonna stay with him 'til mornin'
My baby's on his eighth life, darlin'
But death doesn't come with a warnin')
References[]
- ↑ "Lanadelrey". SoundCloud. May 22, 2010. Archived from the original on May 30, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100530082249/http://soundcloud.com/lanadelrey.